DARK Architects AS

Dark Architects AS is an architecture, urbanism and landscape firm based in Oslo, Norway. In all our projects we seek to have an open and analytic approach. We enter a project with curiosity, enthusiasm and with an urge to explore. We use our multi-disciplinary environment, from urban planners and landscape architects to interior designers, to exploit the maximum potential in every project. We will not only provide our clients with efficient houses or rational office spaces, but equally have an ambition that the projects also provides spatial, functional and architectural qualities to the city and the surroundings. Dark Architects has a large and varied production. In all our projects we seek to have an open and analytic approach to the task, where the design solutions aren't influenced by traditional attitudes and expectations. We are curious and exploratory in order to exploit the maximum potential in each project. We seek to challenge the requirements through critical analysis, so that our solutions regarding program, design and the dialogue with the surroundings can provide new answers to familiar questions. Our work style, technology, lifestyle and surroundings are constantly changing. This requires physical limitations that respond to the modern premises as well as being flexible to meet the demands of an unknown future. Teamwork and a multidisciplinary approach is an essential part of how we work. The way to find the best solutions is not by working isolated, but to interact with different fields and professions in the process. An interdisciplinary approach and teamwork in an open office environment has an advantage on several levels; from sustaining the architectural dimension in the processes towards a master plan, to the fact that we can have an understanding of the interior qualities when we shape the building volumes. The range from urban planners to designers in our academic environment makes us able to see each project in a larger context. We will not only provide our clients with efficient houses or rational office spaces, but equally have an ambition that the project also provides spatial, functional and architectural qualities to the city and the surroundings. Architecture and physical boundaries affect our behavior and well-being. Our perception of a building will at the same time be affected by our understanding of its concept and background. Through participation and dialogue, we want the users to get an ownership with the projects. The building is not seen as a final product upon delivery, but as a life that continues in a constant interaction with its users. We emphasize an active and inclusive dialogue with the users, both in the design process, during construction and after completion. In collaboration with associated companies such as Zinc and Future Fields, we have been working with the implementation of various workshops and users-aimed processes. This helps the users to be aware of their needs, at the same time as we can develop and concretize a program, rooted in the organizations.