AHO WORKS STUDIES 2012-2013
Diploma Projects
Master of Architecture
MAKE CHEESE NOT WAR
MARTIN KANDOLA
Supervisors: Studio B3; Per Olaf Fjeld, Rolf Gerstlauer and Lisbeth Funck
This project is about understanding and challenging the relationship between
humans and goats through different architectural events. Such events include
a dairy for cheese production, a massive hole in the ground, and a tower for
climbing and storing cheese. The place I have been working on is located at
Håøya on the Oslo fjord, just outside Drøbak.
This project is about producing quality cheese. But instead of starting with
the production facilities, it begins with the goats and the relationship between
nature and culture.
In the summer of 2012, Håøya was populated with goats to help trim the veg-
etation due to overgrowth and extensive tick problems. The meeting between an
existing culture and the new arrival of a herd of forty-four Kashmir goats forms
the backdrop for this project.
In the middle of Håøya a territory is found. A grassy field surrounded by
steep hills and old trees. There are some historical fragments here. One of such
fragments is an old brick building and a concrete foundation almost engulfed
by moss and rotting leaves. Trying to understand the territory through a cre-
ative process helps in establishing an attitude towards its nature and culture.
The architecture realized becomes a part of the territory, a place where nature,
goats and humans are of equal (un)importance. Now the milking of goats, and
production of quality cheese can start.
