What

The concept is simple, open-ended, attractive, and resilient. It consists of solid wood boxes from Norwegian hardwood of three sizes and a rack for storing them. This is a case study for TeknikkenSør, a development in Stavanger finished in 2026. H02-01 is 57 m2 and has three bedrooms, a kitchen/living room, an entrance, and a bathroom. All the boxes have the same width and depth, 550mm x 400mm. This is a comfortable size to handle; you fit five under a standard bed, and it is just shorter than the depth of a kitchen counter. The boxes come in three heights. 150 mm, 250 mm, and 330mm. The small and medium are designed for the racks, and the large are to go under benches, sofas, and beds.

How

System-oriented design provides a framework for understanding and analyzing complex systems, offering insights into how systems operate, evolve, and can be influenced. I have used systems thinking to inform the design process to create a resilient solution both in itself, but also for the entire system. By collaborating with Helen & Hard Architects and talking to dwellers of Vindmøllebakken in Stavanger, Think Inside the Box builds on the strength of the concept of Gaining by Sharing and develops it further by offering a resilient solution for storage in the dwellers’ homes.

Why

This thesis is based on the need for a paradigm shift in consumption for Norway to reach its goal of becoming a low-emissions society by the year 2050. Gaining by Sharing offers a coliving concept to drastically reduce the footprint of the dwellers by sharing functions and objects that are not the core of everyday life. The homes at Teknikken are compact. They range from 34-80 m2 and have one to four bedrooms. The project has revealed that dwellers have experienced a paradigm shift in consumption and need to find more resilient ways to organize their homes and everyday lives.