Pine-ing for the Skies: Reaching New Heights with Mass Timber (Oslo, Brumunddal, Magnor and Bergen, Norway)
Pine-ing for the Skies: Reaching New Heights with Mass Timber
Oslo, Brumunddal, Magnor and Bergen, Norway
This comparison study traces Norway’s thousand year evolution of tall timber construction — from the Gol Stave Church, built around 1200 using a post and beam system of sills, staves, and clamping beams — to Mjøstårnet, the world’s tallest timber building at the time of its completion in 2019. Traveling through Norway, I was interested in how a timber rich country continues to explore the structural and cultural potential of wood, a material that still performs primarily in compression just as it did centuries ago. Both structures embody Norway’s enduring relationship and innovation with wood. The Stave Church’s pegged joints and layered bracing find a modern counterpart in Mjøstårnet’s CLT floors and glulam framing.
About the M.Arch Travel Awards Program
The Master of Architecture (M.Arch) program grants travel awards each spring for selected students to support work grounded in architectural design research. The awards facilitate research related to a range of diverse contexts, practices and cultures. Students are encouraged to take on research projects in areas of their choice that will be further developed through research papers, a thesis or independent study.