Typology: Diploma project
Team: Beatrice Livf
Location: Oslo
Status: Paper project
Date: 2024
This diploma explores the typology of substations, a network of buildings within the nations greater power grid, and how vacant spaces within operating stations of Oslo can be utilized in the future. The project aims to work within the interface of humans and electricity, addressing the topics of proximity and protection, while also considering the architectural history of this typology and electricity itself as a phenomenon.
Due to higher demands for a more efficient electricity supply, the entire network is currently undergoing a major restructuring project based on a report by Statnett from 2015 called The Future Power Grid of Greater Oslo (Fremtidens nett i Stor-Oslo). Included in these plans is the upgrading of electrical installations within the substations of the city. This, along with the stations now being remotely controlled and no longer requiring daily staffing, has resulted in redundant spaces within these facilities.
When it comes to the architecture of electricity, the main power stations have dominated the history and literature in this field, while the smaller substations further down the distribution system have remained in the shadow of these monumental buildings. While the substations also started out as a typology expressing the great power of water and new technological inventions, it can be argued that they are now more hidden figures within our cityscape. This diploma therefore directs the focus towards the substations, emphasizing them as a part of our architectural heritage.
This diploma project addresses the topic of electricity on multiple levels; first through historical research on the electrification story of Norway and the system as a whole, followed by a typology study on the buildings of electricity. Based on this research, one building is used as a case study to explore the potentials of vacant spaces within these buildings.
The project focuses on extracting qualities from existing structures - primarily designed to accommodate electrical infrastructure - to further on explore new interpretations of these spaces as the human scale is introduced. Rather than focusing on program as a point of departure for adaptive reuse, the approach of this diploma has been to create a catalogue of spaces suitable for various scenarios.