Petter Bergerud

Bergerud’s artistic research focuses on experimental structures in wood.
His project consists of four levels:

Understanding of form – material, strength and construction: aim – ‘to push boundaries’. Here, Bergerud’s projects aim to break new ground, challenge existing standards and experiment with possibilities.

Spatial and experimental structures: aim – ‘to inspire’. Exploring formal and spatial qualities through the interaction of lines, surfaces, volumes, lighting and various other techniques.

Learning by doing: aim – ‘to engage’. Developing large-scale structures that offer experience and knowledge – instruction-based. As professionals in the field of design and architecture, we must keep the subject alive by constantly trying out new ideas and creating opportunities for experimental play.

Societal role: aim – ‘to excite’. As an educational institution, our artistic research must play an active part in the cultural arena.

Projects: 
Mood Catcher: in autumn 2012, a 32-metre tall tree structure was erected at Festplassen in Bergen. It was composed of ten units, the shape of each unit consisting of doubly curved surfaces, or more specifically: a hyperbolic paraboloid made of straight slats. To date, this is the last in a series of experiments and results: Romdomen – 2003, Spilegalskap – 2004, Romgloben – 2004, Spiletårnet – 2005, Lotus – 2006, Svermere – 2007, Arigato – 2008, Bybarn – 2009, Lysende tredetaljer – 2011, and now Mood Catcher – 2012. All of these projects have – individually and collectively – been based on international collaboration (for Mood Catcher: Ole Vanggaard, Prof/Engr, Copenhagen; Peter McClary, Prof/Engr, Philadelphia; Enric Soriano and Pep Tornabell, both Arch/PhD, Barcelona). The projects push boundaries constructively and reveal new spatial, formal and experiential structures. The projects and their creators have been invited to presentations and lectures in a number of places.

All of the above projects have been included as part of the curriculum. Students have participated in the idea and development phase, and have been responsible for carrying out the work and evaluating the results.