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Isola di Sant'Andrea,
Venice, Italy, 2025- (ongoing)

A collaborative initiative to transform a historic site into a communal space for art and architecture, respecting its ecological and cultural heritage.

The fort of Isola di Sant'Andrea was built between 1543 and 1549 by Michele Sanmicheli for the Republic of Venice, guarding the entrance where the lagoon meets the Adriatic Sea. It was the site where the Republic celebrated the annual "Wedding of the Sea" and where the first cannons were fired against Napoleon, leading to the fall of the republic in 1797.
Since then, the island was left as military property and gradually reclaimed by spontaneous vegetation and lagoon ecosystems. Following an open tender, we were awarded a 30year concession to make the island open to the public.

The architectural strategy is built around the concept of mutual support: reclaimed timber structures brace deteriorating walls, partially reconstruct collapsed roofs, and create sheltered conditions for future use without prescribing fixed functions. Constructed wetlands, rainwater harvesting, and solar panels make the island self-sufficient in energy and water.

Development will continue through ongoing workshops and public programming, collaborating with local groups, artists, academics, and scientists across disciplines, employing bioregional building techniques and engaging the wider community in the process, with the intent of establishing a genuinely open and non-commercial space on Isola di Sant’Andrea.

Location: Google maps

Team: Paolo Rosso, Mauro Baronchelli, Sara Maggioni, Giorgio Andreotta Calò, Marco Bravetti, Kristine Jærn Pilgaard and Alexander Eriksson Furunes.

Architecture and landscape design: Alexander Eriksson Furunes (lead) with Samuel Michaelsson (vizualisation), William Ti & Arvin Pangillian (planning), Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr (drawings), Anthony Shen, Ferdinand Oswald (passive cooling) Marcin Luczkowski & Bunji Izumi (engineering) and COLOCO (landscape).

Environmental experts: Zoe Watson withBioregional and eDesign Dynamics.

Partners: Fondazione In Between Art Film, Fundación TBA21, Nicoletta Fiorucci Foundation, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, Haus der Kunst Munich, French Academy in Rome – Villa Medici, Centre for Contemporary Art Geneva, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, Politecnico di Milano, NTNU Ocean, MIT Climate Visions.

Local partners: TOCIA! Cucina e Comunità, We Are Here Venice.

photo: Giacomo Bianco, Jacopo Salvi, Joe Habben,  Matteo de Mayda &
Clelia Cadamuro.

Kunstgartneriet,
Oslo, Norway, 2025 (ongoing)

Expanding the community center with a new space for exhibitions, workshops, and art programs with the materials of an old Japanese house.

In response to the high demand and active use of Grendehuset, a project was initiated to construct an extension for the community center in Sletteløkka, Oslo. This extension, Kunstgartneriet (The art greenhouse), serves as a venue for exhibitions, workshops, events, and art projects, while also providing space for pre-cultivation of plants along the large glass facade. Kunstgartneriet will be built using reused materials from an old barn in Hønefoss and an old Japanese house, imported from Tokyo and exhibited as part of the Venice Biennale 2021.

Team: Alexander Eriksson Furunes, Sudarshan V. Khadka Jr, Ryoko Iwase, Kozo Kadowaki and Toshikatsu Kiuchi

Practice Based Pedagogy in Socially Engaged Architecture, 2025 (ongoing)

Developing innovative pedagogical strategies through mutual exchange between Norway and Japan, focusing on artistic and practice-based methodologies in architecture education.

The goal of this four-year project (2025–2028) is to develop innovative pedagogical strategies that enhance artistic and practice-based methodologies at the Department of Architecture and Planning (IAP), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway, and the Department of Architecture, School of Science and Engineering, Meiji University in Japan. By engaging with design-build projects and existing practices of mutual support—dugnad in Norway and yui in Japan—the project aims to explore new ways of learning and co-producing architecture through close collaboration with municipalities in both countries. Structured as a mutual exchange between the two institutions, the project seeks to provide enhanced learning environments for master’s and doctoral students, facilitate pedagogical development for academic staff, and conduct experimental interventions with local communities. Emphasis is placed on face-to-face activities and hands-on workshops to encourage the transfer of tacit knowledge that cannot be conveyed solely through words. This practical experience will form the basis for critical reflection through exhibitions, seminars, and publications, ultimately contributing to pedagogical development and the creation of joint curricula that will endure beyond the project period.

Team: Alexander Eriksson Furunes, Stuart Dickson, Geir Brendeland og Olav Kristoffersen (NTNU).  Kozo Kadowaki, Norihisa Kawashima, Yutaro Muraji, Manabu Okochi, Oda Renli, Hiroyuki Sasaki and Tomoaki Tanaka (Meiji University)

Library/ Conflict space,
Angat, Philippines, 2024

Community through mutual support.

The building was designed and built through the Filipino tradition of Mutual Support, Bayanihan, and sent to Italy to be exhibited at the Venice Biennale (2021). Following the return of the Philippine Pavilion from Venice, the library and conflict resolution space was rebuilt within the village of Angat, Philippines (2024). An additional building was built next to this structure to also frame an outdoor activity space, adjacent to the village basketball court. Training programmes to operate the library, and book donations have resulted in a fully functional space for the community.

Team: Sudarshan V Khadka Jr., Alexander Eriksson Furunes & the community of GK EF
Partners: Philippine Arts in Venice Biennale (PAVB), Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Office of Deputy Speaker and Antique Congresswoman Loren Legarda