NO / EN
Workshop med Al Borde på Bergen Arkitekthøgskole (BAS)
Dato: 25–27.04.25
Tid: 9:30-16:00
Arrangør: Bergen Arkitekthøgskole (BAS)
(Workshopen vil bli holdt på engelsk)
Join us for a hands-on workshop with acclaimed Ecuadorian architecture studio Al Borde, known for their radically thoughtful and socially grounded approach to architecture.
This workshop invites you to explore architecture as a process of identifying “beautiful needs”—turning limitations into opportunities for creative, sustainable design. Over the course of three days, participants will engage in a design-build process that emphasises environmental and social sustainability through the use of accessible, low-impact materials.
We’ll begin by analyzing a brief and collectively identifying which aspects are most meaningful to us—where we want to invest our energy and attention. From there, we’ll explore techniques and materials with the potential to become powerful tools for architectural expression. One of our materials will be discarded medical uniforms from Haukeland Hospital, marked by ink stains and wear—an example of how “waste” can become a resource with both aesthetic and functional value.
Throughout the workshop, you’ll get to know the methods and mindset of Al Borde, whose work is shaped by place, people, and participation. Their projects are deeply connected to context, speaking to local customs, stories, and needs—always questioning and evolving.
This is a chance to step into an already in motion, collaborative project at the Bergen School of Architecture and learn more about how architecture can engage with broader questions of sustainability and society, we invite you to join us.
Dates: Friiday 25th - Sunday 27th April 2025 (9:30-16:00)
Location: Bergen School of Architecture (BAS)
Open to the public (spaces limited) N.B. those unable to participate Fri 25th are still able to attend Saturday and Sunday.
About Al Borde:
Al Borde is an architecture studio based in Quito, Ecuador, founded in 2007 by David Barragán, Pascual Gangotena, Maríaluisa Borja, and Esteban Benavides. The practice inhabits a space of constant questioning, where assumptions about what architecture should or shouldn’t be are always under construction. Their ideas are developed through making—refined on site, in direct conversation with context.
Conscious of the energy invested in building, Al Borde works with the resources and techniques of each place. Their projects become x-rays of their sites, revealing the customs, histories, challenges, and needs of the communities they engage. They advocate for architecture as a collaborative process, where users actively participate in design and construction.
Their work addresses the sustainability of life at its core—resources, consumption, co-responsibility, gender, and social inequality. The diversity of their projects reflects a collective willingness to embrace ideas, take risks, and engage deeply in shaping shared spaces.
Al Borde’s work has received international recognition, including the Swiss Architecture Award (2024), and has been exhibited at the Venice Biennale and the Sharjah Architecture Triennial.
