Al Borde
Before Incineration, 2025

For across, with, nearby, the architecture collective Al Borde was asked to make it possible for the public to engage with the Traces that have carried forward ideas and responses from the Cross Courses, which have been taking place at Bergen School of Architecture over the past years. In doing so, Al Borde created a site-specific installation that uses discarded garments from Bergen’s Haukeland hospital, which come together to form Before Incineration at Bergen Assembly’s Open Office. 

In research conducted by students at Bergen School of Architecture it was discovered that an enormous number of medical garments are discarded — often due to pen ink stains in the pockets. Washing machines cannot remove these marks and protocols prevent the reuse of marked clothing. Each year a huge volume of discarded material is collected and incinerated in waste-to-energy plants. Continuing the spirit of the Traces, the material was then further explored in another Cross Course led by Blenda Groth Albrektsson and Sofie Hviid Vinther.  

As a collective, Al Borde is known for working with both reuse and spatial constraints. In a continuation of their practice, they have worked with the constrictions of the Bergen Assembly Open Office space by suspending thousands of medical garments from the ceiling. The Open Office is a busy, shared environment that functions as a kitchen, workspace, meeting room, and venue. Given that its floor and walls are in constant use, Al Borde recognised that the ceiling is the only viable surface. Draped upon metal hangers, the garments form a shifting mass overhead that is continually rearranged and reactivated in alignment with the daily rhythms of the space. 

Within this structure, an entire set of Traces is also held and revealed. These include works developed by artists, writers, and researchers who were invited to follow and respond to each Cross Course. Rather than documenting the classes, the Traces aimed to respond to emerging conversations, methods, and ideas — producing sounds, drawings, texts, performances, and more. Al Borde’s contribution extends this work into a public setting, creating a structure that gathers and releases the Traces while holding discarded garments in a brief moment of continued suspension. Reflecting the office’s ethos of openness and trust, the work invites gentle interaction between people, objects, and space, holding fragility and function in careful balance.