Neil Forrest
Fire Table
Firetable is a joint project of students from the Oslo School of Architecture (AHO) and students from the ceramics department of the Oslo National Academy of Art (KHIO).
Børre Skodvin (formerly Dean of Architecture at AHO) and me (while professor at KHIO) developed this course for our students in 2011 to emphasize the plastic role of material knowledge for architecture, and develop conceptual design methods for artists.
Students defined an idea for an ‘outdoor living room’, which evolved to include seating, a table heated by a wood fire, a topographic wall/wind break, a floor/slab-on-grade and fire bowl. Students learned a variety of fabrication techniques, clay types, glazes and kiln practices in the short period of a single semester...including installation.
​
Skodvin (AHO) and me (KHIO) undertook this joint research with the intention to introduce an interdisciplinary approach to craft, art and architecture to our respective institutions.
Firetable
​
2011
​
5 m l. x 4 m w. x 2 m h.
16’ l. x 13’ w. x 6’ h.
​
Stoneware, glazes, wood, concrete
Firetable is sited on the grounds of the Institutt for Arkitektur (AHO), across the river from KHIO, in Oslo.
Firetable fabrication + glazing facilitated by Knut Natvik, workshop manager at KHIO ceramics, in Oslo.