MMW Sivilarkitekter, Norway

From Eliel Saarinen to Sverre Fehn (1997 Pritker Prize), the Nordic countries have given rise to some talented architects. But the contemporary architectural scene includes offices that break away from the well-known ‘Scandinavian model'. MMW Sivilarkitekter is one of the most avant-garde of these in terms of scenographic interpretations, exhibitions, of mobile and inflatable architecture. From the name of its leading partner, Magne Magler Wiggen, the Norwegian office constantly pushes the boundaries of construction materials and methods and takes an active part in implementing them. This pragmatic approach helps to define the formal and technical aspects more clearly by adapting them to the spaces to be created. Since its formation in 1997, MMW has carried out a number of creative projects that have earned it both prizes and international recognition. The first of them, the Fhiltex – a mobile house made of two steel containers – put the office in the spotlight. This was followed, as a response to timid architectural contributions, by some innovative solutions: The Time Machine, Caravantex, Villa Bakke, Kilden Cinema and the Břlgen & Moi restaurant or the design and fitting of the advertising agency Inferno, in Oslo . Dating from 2000, this project is representative of work on inflatable structures with an organic aesthetic. The juxtaposition of a poetic vision – hell in Dante's Divine Comedy – and a technological quest gives Inferno a young, creative and dynamic image. Entering the agency, the visitor is guided into a transparent working landscape arranged around an atrium. The three wild animals encountered by the hero in the shadows materialise through three inflatable volumes, types of light, translucent igloos (the meeting rooms), strategically positioned.

Like the rubber of the reception office, the woven PVC fabric of the three rooms, under constant air pressure to retain its structural shape, can be considered an unconventional material. This fabric is relatively inexpensive, fire-resistant and used to make North Sea survival kits. Here, it plays a key role in the emotional side of the design. The spaces are balanced and restrained, creating a coherent impression.

By way of transposition of these ideas on a large scale, the Frog, a temporary pavilion erected on the site of the future National Museum for Tullin 2005, intentionally took the narrative echoes of a fairy tale. Concave walls of opaque PVC in a green colour on the outside and white on the inside served as a background medium for the screening of films and images.

Focusing on free-form architecture, MWW thus applied its talent to icons promoted by famous predecessors, Fuller or the British group Archigram, one of the first to replace static architecture with projects involving inflatable and ephemeral structures.