TOTO GALLERY·MA will be holding an exhibition featuring the young architect unit TYIN tegnestue Architects (Andreas G. Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad) based in Norway.
In 2007, the two architects had been working on a renovation project for the Rundhallen student house, which was a university-wide competition project that they had won as students at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), when they began to question the common practice of spending lavish budgets to make architectural projects with a heavy interest on design. Searching for new possibilities for their future as architects, they set off on a journey to Thailand.
Through working on a project to build an orphanage in a conflict zone in Thailand, they developed a methodology for making architecture by working together with the local residents and using native materials and techniques. Holding to their belief that architecture is a resource that can improve the lives of a community, TYIN tegnestue has continued to conduct workshops at each of their project sites and has joined forces with local residents and university students and staff from NTNU to realize their work. By practicing a method of "thinking while building", through which they make adjustments to their ideas while taking in the thoughts and ideas of the local people, TYIN tegnestue has been able to realize buildings that are rooted in their location and are socially sustainable. Recognized for their work internationally, TYIN tegnestue was awarded the Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2012.
Currently, they are based in Trondheim, where they are teaching at their alma mater while engaging in a wide range of design projects for houses, landscapes, and interiors, and they are applying the approach that they had developed during their time in Asia to their various projects, workshops, and educational activities.
This exhibition aims to introduce the projects generated from their pragmatic style of making architecture through models, photographs, and movies, and it also places focus on what they call their "Human Toolkit", which describes the network of diverse people who have been involved on their projects and serves as an indispensable resource for establishing their architecture.