Metode, in collaboration with the Oslo Architecture Triennale, has launched an open call for experimental essays under the title What if Waste. The initiative is part of the Triennale’s 2026 programme, What if Nature Comes First?, and invites participants to explore waste as a conceptual and material condition in architecture and design.
The call addresses waste not only as discarded matter, but as a cultural, spatial, and epistemic category: from construction debris and surplus materials to abandoned ideas, unfinished projects, and overlooked narratives. It asks how waste might be reconsidered as a starting point for design, memory, and future-making, rather than an endpoint.
Selected participants will develop their essays over a nine-month collaborative process, combining writing, peer review, and workshops. The programme includes:
26 June 2026 – first workshop (Oslo + online) 26 August 2026 – online workshop 23–24 September 2026 – in-person workshop during the Triennale (mandatory) 23 October 2026 – final online workshop
The process culminates in the publication of essays in February 2027 on Metode’s platform.
The work is situated within the Triennale exhibition at Sofienberg Church in Oslo, a building currently undergoing transformation. The exhibition framework explores reuse across scales, from materials to systems, positioning decay, residue, and transformation as central design questions.
Applicants are invited to submit a proposal (max. 500 words) outlining their approach to waste through architectural, artistic, curatorial, or research-based practice. Optional visual material may accompany the submission.
The deadline for applications is 11 May 2026.
The call is open to practitioners and researchers interested in experimental methods, collaborative writing, and critical engagement with material cycles and their broader cultural implications.
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