ACTIVITY REPORT

SEE MOBILITY 2018-2019 (PROIECT EY-MPO-0083)

Teaching staff member: Marius MOȘOARCĂ

Sending Institution: Politehnica University of Timişoara

Receiving Institution: Norwegian University College for Agricultural and Rural Development

Period of the teaching activity: 09.07.2019-15.07.2019

The training mobility at the Norwegian University College for Agricultural and Rural Development

was a good opportunity to start a collaboration with the staff members from that University.

During the mobility, two meetings with the host staff members were held. The first one, which

was on the first day of the mobility, was meant to understand the main activities of the host

University better.

The mobility was focused on the exploration of vernacular architecture in the south-eastern part

of Norway, mainly in the fisher-man villages but also in the fiord areas. The core topics which

were offered by the hosts prof. Rhys Evans and prof. Johan Barstad, focused on the cultural

landscape and heritage of the Jæren region in which university is located. The area, despite being

mainly rural, is full of heritage elements, placed in a close connection with the surrounding

environment. Their interest was connected to the correct restoration and reuse of heritage

building and how they could be reused by involving local communities and minorities.

Subsequently, a lecture was held by my PhD student, arh. Alexandra Keller, about research

interests at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, concerning reuse projects, analysis

of heritage structures and assessment of the vulnerability to climate change of historic buildings.

After the meeting, a new one was decided for the last day of the mobility in order to discuss what

could be done in the future.

After the meeting, Prof. Evans and Prof. Barstad, suggested to make trips in the region to better

understand what is vernacular in the area. The trips, were following;

- to the north - Preikestolen or Lysefjorden;

- to the south - Sogndal Strand and Magma Geopark;

- in Jæren - Coastal Jæren and inland Rogaland

The next following 5 days, trips were made in the region:

- Trip 1 – Sea-side architecture – harbours and housings (farms) close to the North Sea.

This tour highlighted the main features of the local architecture, stone-based foundations and

the main structure made from timber were observed.

- Trip 2 – Traditional museums and historic mines.

Since the main features of the local architecture were observed on the first day, the second day

comprised a visit to museums with well preserved traditional houses.

The adaptation to local climatic conditions was observed in this case, with stone walls facing the

main wind speed. In the same time, to close connection of the farmers with their land and the

sea was observed.

Subsequently, since there is a large number of mines in Romania and staff members from the

faculty are involved in the revitalisation of these mines, a trip to a local mine was made, which

was part of the Norwegian Geo-Magma Park, which is a UNESCO site. The natural heritage proved

out to be once again a marking element of the experience. Also, it was observed that the cultural

heritage strategy of the area is instead focused on the natural heritage and not on the built.

- Trip 3 – Architecture in the Lysefjord area and Sandnes

In order to complete the experience, the next day focused on the vernacular architecture in the

Lysefjord area and Sandnes. Once again, the natural environment was eye-catching, leaving the

local architecture only as a discreet insertion. Sandness, on the other hand, brought the main

type of traditional fisherman houses forward, with a ground-floor and one or two upper floors

and white wooden exterior cladding. This type of house was observed all along the main

promenade street of the town

- Trip 4 – Traditional architecture in urban areas – Stavanger

The fourth day of the mobility focused on how fisherman used to live near the Stavanger bay. As

in Sandnes, the same type of house with wooden exterior cladding was observed. The colour of

the houses in this town was slightly different, the eastern shore presenting rather colourful

buildings, combining a wide array of shades for all the exterior finish elements. On the western

shore, on the other hand, the original atmosphere was preserved, the building owners were

obliged to use only white, which is offering the whole neighbourhood a very coherent and

authentic look.

In order to better understand the Norwegian culture, two of the main museums in Stavanger

were visited, focusing on the Viking age, in the Archeologic Museum and the industrial

development after the oil platforms were built in the Petroleum Museum.

- Trip 5 – Traditional architecture in the 6th century

The last day of the visit focused on the architecture of farmers from the 6th century, in order to

understand what building techniques and methods were preserved in time and how these

evolved and were adapted in order to suit new climatic conditions and living demands.

The buildings proved out to be long-houses where all the members of the community lived

together. The orientation of the main axis of the buildings and the used materials proved out to

be perfectly adapted to the meteorological conditions. Therefore, the main axis was placed in

the direction of the predominant winds and a stone wall was placed all around the building in

order to better protect the wooded main structure from climatic factors.

The most representative heritage buildings that were visited in the region are presented in the

activity report.

Subsequently, on the last day of the mobility, conclusions were drawn. The meeting started with

a presentation about what we have studied/analysed about vernacular architecture in Norway.

The presentation also included links to projects made by the students from the Faculty of

Architecture and Urban Planning, which had a similar topic. The hosts could, therefore,

understand how architecture students approach reuse and revitalisation projects and what can

be done in a future collaboration for different locations in Norway and Romania.

In the last part of the meeting, the possibility of applying together at a call for proposals, in the

topic of restoration and revitalisation of monuments. The possibility of considering an industrial

building from a mining town from the western part of Romania was discussed. In the same time,

it was discussed to continue the collaboration in the future at master and doctoral level, by

inviting the host staff members to Timisoara to hold lectures and be part of various study trips.

Prof.habil.eng. Timisoara,

Marius Mosoarca 17.07.2019

MADLAND HARBOR

JOSSINGFJORD HELLEREN

GRØDALAND MUSEUM

GAMLE STAVANGER