What We Share. A model for cohousing
What are you willing to share with others? This question is the starting point for the exhibition What We Share: A Model for Co-living with the architectural firm Helen & Hard. The exhibition is curated by the National Museum, which in 2021 is responsible for the Nordic pavilion during the Venice Biennale of Architecture.
This main theme of this year's biennale is How will we live together? and deals with how architects can create new communities.
In Venice the National Museum and Helen & Hard address the biennale's main theme with a completely new project designed especially for the Nordic pavilion. Helen & Hard invited a group of people to work with the architects to develop a cohousing project with a number of shared functions. All the residents were asked how much they were willing to share with their neighbours. The installation shows how collaboration and spatial design can create both a community and a sustainable living environment.
Explore the exhibition in 3D
Navigate by dragging the view around, and by clicking on the arrows in the exhibition. With a smartphone you can choose to navigate by motion, or use VR glasses for better immersion.
Meet the residents
In Venice, you can move around in a section of the cohousing project that includes communal areas and semi-private sub-zones. Here you can catch a glimpse of the residents' everyday life through a scenography created by film director Pål Jackman and scenographer Nina Bjerch-Andresen.
Here you can get to know the residents and hear their thoughts about life in a cohousing project
A simple and environmentally friendly building system
The exhibition in Venice is made with an innovative building system consisting of elements in solid wood that are connected by dowels (wooden plugs) that can be used to build walls, floor dividers and furniture. They can also be filled with different materials, such as insulation in the walls.
he advantage of this system compared with glued solid wooden boards is that no glue is used, which makes it more environmentally friendly. It also makes it easier to produce building elements locally using local wood products. In addition, the system is flexible: because the elements are small and manageable, you can build it yourself and make alterations later.
See how the exhibition took form
Attitudes about sharing more
Norway has a large proportion of single households. A more social form of housing can help counteract loneliness and contribute to increased security. At the same time, sharing space and equipment is better for the environment. Although there are few cohousing communities in Norway, quite a lot of people are interested in more communal forms of living.
Read more about housing models and attitudes to cohousing in Norway
A personal story from a co-living community
Is cohousing appropriate for people in all life situations, or is it reserved for people with more resources? Artist Anna Ihle is one of the residents who has participated in the development of What we Share. She lives in the cohousing project Vindmøllebakken in Stavanger, which was also designed and developed by Helen & Hard. In the film “Building a bed. Building a home”, made especially for the exhibition in Venice, Ihle reflects on life in a co-living community.
Helen & Hard
Helen & Hard ble grunnlagt i 1996 av den norske arkitekten Siv Helene Stangeland og den østerrikske arkitekten Reinhard Kropf. Arkitektkontoret har i dag 26 medarbeidere og kontorer i både Stavanger og Oslo, og er blant annet kjent for innovativ bruk av tre som byggemateriale og for eksperimentelle boligprosjekter.
Det nordiske samarbeidet
Den nordiske paviljongen i Venezia eies av Sverige, Finland og Norge. Ansvaret for biennaleutstillingene rullerer. I 2021 har Nasjonalmuseet hovedansvar for utstillingen på vegne av landenes representanter; Stina Högkvist (Nasjonalmuseet), Carina Jaatinen (Finlands Arkitekturmuseum) og Kieran Long (ArkDes, Sveriges nasjonale senter for arkitektur og design).
Utstillingen støttes av Utenriksdepartementet og Nordisk Kulturfond.
Presseomtaler
– Så enkelt, så bra!
– Endelig åpning i Venezia
– Best of the national pavilions
Intervju med Helen & Hard
The 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale Highlights, in Photos
WHAT WE SHARE: THE NORDIC PAVILION IN VENICE EXPLORES THE POTENTIAL OF PARTICIPATIVE COHOUSING
– Timber housing is a real *thing* at this biennale – the Nordic, Finnish and US Pavilions all focus on it. All are interesting explorations, but a favourite is the Nordic Pavilion.
– Perhaps this less frenzied environment (…) is the proper setting to appreciate the Nordic Pavillion’s exhibition What We Share. A model for cohousing, which, in its optimistic outlook speculates as to the benefits of meaningful cohabitation.
Nordic Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale is a full-scale co-housing modeVenice Biennale: the value of sharing at the Nordic pavillion
Nordic Pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale is a full-scale co-housing model
Radical Co-Housing: An Interview with Helen & Hard Architects
– helen & hard transform the nordic pavilion at venice architecture biennale
Intervju med Siv Helene Stangeland (arkitekt) og Bodil Lande (beboer i Vindmøllebakken)
– One of the most visually spectacular exhibitions at the Venice Biennale is also one of its most down-to-earth.
Simen Joachim Helsvig
Senior Communications Adviser91 76 43 27simen.joachim.helsvig@nasjonalmuseet.noJoin the digital opening 20 May from 14.00 CET
