http://variousarchitects.no/site/rss_2.0/ en ibrahim@variousarchitects.no Copyright 2012 2012-05-15T09:03:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/partner_james_dodson_leaving_va/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/partner_james_dodson_leaving_va/#When:09:03:00Z   Amicable split opens for new collaborations   Various Architects AS partner and co-founder James Dodson has decided to leave Various Architects to pursue new collaborations and creative directions. VA was started in 2008 by Elhayawan and Dodson after 13 years as friends and colleagues at Snøhetta where they participated in the design and construction of many of Snøhetta's best known public and cultural buildings. For 4 years the pair have led  Various Architects to win international recognition for their ambitious, creative and sustainable designs. "Starting up Various Architects with Ibrahim has been an amazing, intense, and fruitful experience that I don't regret in the least. We have pushed each other to create a body of work which I am intensely proud of. In 4 short years we have achieved many of the ambitious goals we set for ourselves when leaving Snøhetta, despite the financial crisis. I look forward to watching Various continue to develop under Ibrahim's leadership. I think it will also be good for us to go back to being just friends instead of friends and business partners. Ibrahim was best man at my wedding, and he and his family will continue to be an important part of my life. "  - James Dodson"Four years ago, when we started up a new company, Jim chose the name Various Architects to reflect our idea of creating a collaborative design firm. The past 4 years have been an amazing and intense experience. We had over 22 people from 10 different nationalities working at Various. Jim has an incredible talent of connecting people together. He created an extremely valuable network for Various. It is sad to see him leaving but his vision and ideas will always remain with us. We wish him the best of luck in his future directions. I am confident that our interlinking networks will create other opportunities to collaborate together in the future. Jim has been one of my closest friends since I moved to Norway 15 years ago." - Ibrahim ElhayawanJames has established Dodson AS as a platform for future explorations. He can be contacted at JDodsonAS (at) gmail (dot) com or +47-47280770. Ibrahim is currently the sole shareholder in Various Architects AS. Both Various Architects AS and Dodson AS have equal rights to all Various Architects projects dated prior to James' departure. By agreement, James and Dodson AS will continue working with Cebra as local architect and representative for Mesterfjellet 1-10 School in Larvik, as well as further development of the Mosseveien 16-20 project in Fredrikstad. 2012-05-15T09:03:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/tpac_groundbreaking/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/tpac_groundbreaking/#When:10:56:00Z   The construction of Taipei Perfroming Arts Center started on the 16th of February 2012. OMA asked Various Architects partner Ibrahim Elhayawan to the groundbreaking, which was led by Taiwan President MA Ying-Jeou, Mayor Hau Lung-pin together with OMA partners-in-charge, Rem Koolhaas and David Gianotthen. The ritual of the groundbreaking  ceremoney created a very positive atmosphere. It recieved a lot attention in the Asian and global media.   The project consists of three theaters that are plugged into a central glass cube. These theaters can function seperately or can be conneted together in many configurations including a Super Theater configuration with a 60-meter long stage. The central glass cube is lifted from the ground allowing the street to extend into the buliding and drawing people into the Public Loop where the heart of the building including the backstage areas are made visible to the public.   Ibrahim Elhayawan lived in Hong Kong for 16 months leading the Design Team through Prelimenery Services phase, schematic design phase and the early stages of detail design phase. VA partner Jim Dodson also joined the design team as an adivisor. This was the first time that Ibrahim had a chance to meet with the Design team since he moved back to Norway one year ago.    Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson 2012-03-06T10:56:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_nabovarsel/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_nabovarsel/#When:14:32:01Z Neighbor notice sent for planning application  Various Architects have sent out formal notice to the 28 effected neighbors of Mesterfjellet School as the first step in the building permit application process. The notice typically includes a site plan, facades and snit drawings of the building. Neighbors have two weeks to make comments or complaints before the rest of the planinng documents are sent in to Plan og Bygningsetaten in Larvik. The complete nabovarsel is presented as images above. For more information contact Jim Dodson at Various Architects.     Amanda Costa Thompson, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Kyrre Sundal 2012-01-05T14:32:01+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/happy_holidays_2011/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/happy_holidays_2011/#When:10:23:00Z From all of us at Various Architects!  2011 has been a great year for us at Various Architects! We started the year with 3 intense months of competitions that paid off in two winning projects - Mesterfjellet 1-10 School together with Cebra and Østengen & Bergo, and OPPDAL+ with Adept and Lalaland. We were also among the three finalists in the invited competition for a new Archaeological Museum in Stavanger.   2012 will start with a new single family house in Oslo, and the delivery of schematic design in Larvik. We look forward to new collaborations, and new possibilities this year, and wish you all the best!      Amanda Costa Thompson, Birgitte J Haug, Eunice N. Schumacher, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Kyrre Sundal, Leif Houck 2011-12-31T10:23:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_user_group_update/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_user_group_update/#When:12:53:00Z 1:25 scale model presented to users in Larvik  Various Architects, Cebra, and Østengen & Bergo participated in two days' of user workshops in Larvik, hosted by our client Larvik Kommunale Eiendom. A 1:25 model of the building was carried to Larvik to allow the users to better understand the inner workings of each floor. The building's future users were divided into groups by floor for a detailed walk-through and a chance to make comments and ask for changes. The response from the users was overwhelmingly positive, and we used up two whole packs of sticky-notes to record their comments.   The 1:25 model was the product of weeks of hard work from VA staff and model building helpers. The final day of building has been captured in a time-lapse film, here on YouTube.         Anders Svendsen Almesveen, Eivind Danielsen, Eunice N. Schumacher, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Kyrre Sundal, Nora Nilsen 2011-09-12T12:53:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_faces_at_va_in_2011/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_faces_at_va_in_2011/#When:11:21:00Z Collaborators, architects, and interns in 2011  Various Architects has always been an office that prioritizes creative collaboration with talented individuals and companies. We are a small core of experienced architects that works closely with our employees and interns. The office is always open to new impulses and influences, growing slowly organically over time. As an office, we believe it's important that everyone who works here gets credit for their contributions, which is why you'll find a complete list of staff, presenta and past under Architects on our website.   2011 has been a very busy and successful year so far! We've submitted four competitions, won two, are in negotiations as a finalist in the third, and are awaiting results of the fourth. In addition to our competition projects, the extension and pool on Ulvøya are under construction, Mosseveien 16-20 in Fredrikstad and Thorvald Meyersgt 89 have both been submitted for planning approval. We have achieved our long-term goal of winning a school competition and Mesterfjellet School in Larvik has given us the opportunity to add new full-time staff to the office. We have also had several new interns and old friends who have played important roles in our projects this year, so we thought we'd give a shout out to our collaborators (so far!) in 2011.   Daniel Peter Barth - our most competition-winning intern ever. Daniel worked on all three of our competitions this spring, and is now back at AHO for his final year of architecture school. Taylor Ferring - a former colleague from Snøhetta (and fellow UT Austin alumni). Taylor played an important role in our Stavanger Archaeological Museum competition entry.  Nora Nilsen -  joined us for a short, but productive internship July-Sept. She is now back at the AA in London for her final year of school. Kyrre Sundal - new full-time employee from August 1. Kyrre comes to us straight from the cover of Arkitektnytt and Denmark where he graduated from Århus and was formerly an intern with our friends at CEBRA. Anders Svendsen Almesveen, Eivind Danielsen and their 20 magic fingers (self proclaimed Various Modelbuilders) have worked with us on the Larvik 1:25 model. They will hopefully stop by occaisionally between classes at AHO to help out whenever we need a few extra hands. Thanks guys!       Daniel Peter Barth, Kyrre Sundal, Nora Nilsen, Taylor Ferring 2011-09-05T11:21:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/amot_school_competition_delivered/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/amot_school_competition_delivered/#When:11:14:00Z In collaboration with KANT and Østengen & Bergo  Various Architects has recently delivered our fourth school competition, this time together with collaborators from Kant Arkitekter and Østengen & Bergo landscape architects.   The jury in Åmot has begun their work, and we look forward to hearing the final outcome in the coming months. The project will be published here once the results have been made public.     Daniel Peter Barth, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Kyrre Sundal 2011-09-02T11:14:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/finalist_in_archaeology_museum_competition/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/finalist_in_archaeology_museum_competition/#When:13:37:00Z "Stratigrafi" one of three finalists in Stavanger  Various Architects, together with our frequent collaborators at Ramboll UK and landscape architects Østengen & Bergo have made it to the final round of the University of Stavanger Archaeological Museum competition. 34 international architecture firms initially applied for the competition. 6 teams were prequalified and asked to submit designs for the 5500m2 extension. The jury organized by Statsbygg, the Norwegian State Building Authority, has chosen 3 finalist teams who have been asked to submit additional materials before final contract negotiations.   The three finalist projects and teams are: Stratigrafi,  Various Architects AS, Ramboll UK, and Østengen & BergoStrata, Tupelo Arkitektur as, Narud Stokke Wiig AS, COWI, and Gullik Gulliksen Rosetta, Schmidt Hammer Lassen architects – Lund+Slaatto Arkitekter, Bjørbekk & Lindheim, Seim & Hultgreen, Rambøll Danmark, and ECT   All finalist teams have all been asked to submit their additional materials in August, with a final decision of the winner to be made shortly therafter (hopefully). Various Architects would like to congratulate all of our fellow finalists. We are looking forward to this final phase of the competition. May the best project win. Aleksandra Danielak, Daniel Peter Barth, Francois Chevalier, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Leif Houck, Taylor Ferring 2011-06-21T13:37:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_user_group_presentation/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/mesterfjellet_school_user_group_presentation/#When:07:42:00Z Project development and a 1:25 model presented in Larvik  For our second meeting with the future users of Mesterfjellet School in Larvik, Various Architects, Cebra, and Østengen & Bergo presented the revised competition scheme as it has developed until now. A large 1:25 scale model of the southern half of the building was presented to allow the users to get a better feel for the project and the central space of the school. Kari Bergo presented the landscape plan and proposed changes to the roadway. Mikkel Schlesinger of Cebra and Jim Dodson of Various Architects presented the devleopments to the school's interior and exterior. The gathered crowd of teachers, administrators, staff, and other interested individuals were pleased with what they saw. We look forward to their feedback, and further discussion to help us optimize and improve on our design.   Many thanks to our model builders Anders Almesveen og Eivind Danielsen, both architecture students at AHO for building the model. We look forward to completing the other half soon!     Anders Svendsen Almesveen, Daniel Peter Barth, Eivind Danielsen, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson, Kyrre Sundal, Nora Nilsen 2011-06-14T07:42:00+01:00 http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_amot_school_competition_prequal/ http://variousarchitects.no/site/new_amot_school_competition_prequal/#When:11:37:00Z VA qualifies for our 4'th school competition    Various Architects are again invited to work on a prequalified competition in Åmot, Norway. Together with Kant Arkitekter and Østengen & Bergo, our team was one of 5 teams out of 15 invited to design a new school for the local community. Project teams were chosen based upon reference projects (30%), experience (35%), and a written understanding of the challenges of the project (35%). We are proud to have scored a full 100 points based upon our submitted materials, and look forward to the opportunity to compete for this project.   The other qualified teams include L2 Arkitekter with Gullik Gulliksen, Filter arkitekter with Grindaker Landskap, Ratio arkitekter with Bjørbekk og Lindheim and Arken arkitektkontor with Rambøll. There is a planned site visit and project kick-off on June 9'th, with competition delivery in mid-August. More details to come after the competition has been delivered. Daniel Peter Barth, Ibrahim Elhayawan, Jim Dodson 2011-06-08T11:37:00+01:00