In 1934, the Ås students got their own building at their disposal. Architect Thorleif Jensen designed Samfunnet, the building which is a living proof that the Ås environment was also at that time a modern and culturally strong environment.
Extracurricular activity for the students
The college emphasized that the students should receive other impulses than pure academic teaching. Permission for annual funds for training and singing was given. When the chaplaincy in Ås became vacant in 1914, attempts were made to tie the chaplain closer to the college. The arrangement was such that the chaplain should hold 40 lectures each year for a small fee.
The lectures were supposed to have general topics outside of the regular teaching, this to counteract the one-sided influence on the students. It was also thought that a suitable priest could exercise a personal and character-forming influence on the students. In this way, the conditions would become more like English and American student dormitories.
Therefore, when appointing chaplains, special emphasis was placed on them being suitable for work at the college. Karl Marthinussen was a chaplain from 1914 and Haakon Pharo took over in 1916. The lectures dealt with philosophical, cultural-historical and literary topics and some of the hours were used for pedagogy. From 1921, a separate extra teacher was appointed who taught pedagogy.
Pharo led a student choir until he moved from Ås in 1923. The position then remained vacant and a chaplain from Krokstad held the lectures for a short while. The arrangement did not work as the distance became too great and the arrangement was terminated. The same happened to the grants. However, a separate song instructor was still hired.
The students’ sports club gradually took over the instruction in gymnastics and the increased activity led to the need for both a sports field and a gymnasium. A gym was rented at Ås middle school and the students worked out a sports field on the south side of Skogsdammen on a voluntary basis. From 1909-1913, 430 kroner per year was used for gymnastics instruction. The increased activity led to the need for a student house. The Student Society’s house in Bjerkehagen by Skogsdammen was erected from collected funds and from the grant from the surplus of the Norwegian Money Lottery. The original building, which was designed by architect Thorleif Jensen, was inaugurated on September 29, 1934. As a wing on Samfundet, a spacious gymnasium was built. The state granted 30,000 kroner to the hall.
Functionalism
Functionalism is the slogan for the architectural direction that was generally recognized in Europe at the beginning of the 1930s. As the word expresses, the practical functions should be decisive for the building’s design. Modern building techniques should be used, preferably with reinforced concrete, steel constructions, and glass.
The ideological motives were to bring architecture into greater harmony with the other news in the field of technology at the time. At the same time, there was a desire to create an architecture for the broad layer and focused on housing construction and simple home furnishings. Functionalism should not be considered a style, but as a work program. This led to buildings that expressed the constructive connection between function and expression and which were free from decorative elements.
Samfundet, opened 29. september 1934
Functional architect Thorleif Jensen was interested in contrasts. Therefore, he set round against straight shapes and used color contrasts. The use of geometry and proportionality in the facades is used with mathematical accuracy, a conscious means to balance the image.
Other ‘style elements’ that can be mentioned are windows. Large open windows tell that there is a main function here. ‘Band windows’ are a typical functionalist feature, their long shape gives the house the characteristic horizontal impression. It was with pride that the Ås students in the early 1930s could show a building that stood for modernity and forward-thinking thoughts and ideas. It was a clear signal to the outside world that Ås was a cultural bastion, modern and enlightened.
Plassering
Samfunnet (The Student Society building) is a dynamic building that lies in plan with the terrain. It radiates less authority than, for example, Urbygningen. It is down-to-earth and natural and invites informal interaction.
Samfunnet is located right next to burial mounds, the architect has taken this into account in the placement and design of the building. The Rose Garden originally had a porch on two sides of an atrium. The porch is known from classical architecture and from Norwegian traditional wooden architecture. The Rose Garden was never filled with the blooming flower array that was planned. For that, the place was too shady. The Rose Garden is now built in and the flower soil dug out. This resulted in Restaurant Johannes, a new addition in 1981.
Rooms and functions
Det opphaveleg trafikksentrum i Samfunnet var vindfanget. Til venstre hadde ein utleigedelen med Festsal og møterom. Gjekk ein til høgre kom ein til «members-only»-avdelinga. Det store rommet som vi i dag kjenner som kantina, var gjestehyblar og restauratørens leilegheit. Husfolkets hyblar romma samfunnskontor, idrettskontor og kontorlandskap. Lagerrom i kjellaren utgjorde eit stort rom – idrettshallen. Denne vart bruka som festspisesal og danserestaurant under UKA. The original traffic center in Samfunnet was the wind trap. To the left was the rental part with a banquet hall and meeting rooms. If you went to the right, you came to the ‘members-only’ department. The large room that we today know as the canteen, was guest rooms and the restaurateur’s apartment. The household’s rooms housed the Samfunnet office, sports office and office landscape. Storage rooms in the basement made up a large room - the sports hall. This was used as a banquet dining room and dance restaurant during UKA.
The function rooms on the north side were rental rooms as they are today, but they were closer to the Rose Garden. The wide columns in front of the serving hatch in the Rose Garden were originally the space between the windows in the function wing. This wing had a beautiful curved veranda with stairs down to the terrain. Unfortunately, it has been removed due to the new building.
Information is sourced from the Norwegian Agricultural College 1859 – 1934 and Gyldendal’s Great Norwegian Encyclopedia, and from a montage in Samfunnet written by Lars Berge.
Facts
A well-preserved building from functionalism that has great significance for the identity of NMBU students.”
The building was constructed by architect Thorleif Jensens prosessed drawings i 1934.
Rebuilt and extended by architect Leif Olav Moen i 1976 og 1980 – 1981.
Expanded with a concert hall «Halvors Hybel» i 1994.
The «Johannes» dining room rebuilt by architect Leif Tomas i 2016.