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Oda Olafsrud
CEO and founder of HOUSE OF CREATION, Oda Olafsrud, is a Norwegian architect and designer. HOUSE OF CREATION is an interdisciplinary design studio and agency that works on all scales from interior architecture, product design, installation, art and styling. It is a platform that focuses on showcasing female creators, to unify and collaborate with. As a former dancer, Oda is influenced by where the different aspect of movement, rhythm, artforms, fashion, installation, and fabrication collide. Beginning her education in Oslo, Norway where she was born, she made the decision after three years of studying, that she wanted to do something else. And that something else? Working for one of the leading architectural design companies, Snohetta. Enquiring about possible internships, she was turned down by an advisor in the company’s Norwegian office. Not wanting to give up, she proceeded to contact their New York office, where she received a similar response. As tenacious as ever, Oda still persisted until she was told that she could send over her portfolio. “They suddenly just emailed me 'you've been accepted.' And from that point on, everything escalated, because then I had to suddenly move to New York,” she exclaimed. “I was supposed to stay just for a half a year as an intern, and then they wanted to have me longer. So, I extended it for a year and then I sort of fell in love with New York and the mentality there; the hustle and that drive.”
WOTC: That's actually what struck us when you spoke on the WOTC ‘Now Woman’ Summit. In short, you said that in America, nothing's impossible, whereas in Europe, thinking is quite caged.
Oda: Yeah, and I think that's probably the reason why I wanted to leave Norway. I feel I found my place here [in NYC]. Not that I felt like I was too good for this, it was nothing about that. It was more about the fact that I felt like I wasn't understood. I felt like nobody got my vision about things. I just didn't find my place, but in New York, it was like everything fell into place - even though I've never worked so hard in my entire life [she laughs]. Because in New York, it's a city which does not sleep. There is no balance I would say. In other cities, there's more of a balance. New York, there is none. You go hard or go home, but in a good way. It opens up a world of opportunities and possibilities, which I probably would never have had back in Norway.
After I finished my internship at Snohetta, I realized that, one, I was not done with New York, but two, I didn't want to work for such a big corporate company. You kind of lose your voice. When you have fifty to one hundred employees, you become one of many. Even though it was a great, great opportunity and experience, I just realized I wanted something else.
I applied to Parsons, which is mostly known for its fashion program, and I got accepted into the architectural program there. I also wanted to merge over fashion and do the hybrid of both, because I do think they relate, [they're] just different “skins”. So, my whole thesis eventually became about the fabrication of merging architecture and fashion together. It became about choreographing spaces with different atmospheres. When I was done with my thesis after three years at Parsons, because that’s the thing about studying to become an architect, it's a long program, you have to dedicate everything into that. It's not a short span, but I got to develop as a person, critical thinker and designer. That was the beauty of Parsons. I got to develop my artistic voice. They allowed you to experiment and really create what was going to be your language as a designer, which I think is a beautiful thing. That's something you can't do as much when you go out in the business world, you just have to get on with it, but you have a lot more freedom when you're a student.
When I was done, I had two options. I could either go back home to Norway or I could figure out a way to stay. I contacted the dean because he had seen my work, so he knew my aesthetics. And I said to him, 'I'm not interested in going into a company. What options do I have?' We had a conversation about what the options were. I also realized there weren't as many agencies that hosted architectural designers and interior designers. There’s a lot of agencies that represent models in the fashion industry and the photography world. But it's not as many agencies that represent that other part of the design world.
I had a few meetings with different agents, to figure out where I could go if I didn't want to be a part of a big corporate company, because there's a lot of them in New York. And then suddenly, I got an email from a potential client. They wanted to meet with me as they had a connection to the dean at Parsons. They had a potential project that they needed a designer for, but I didn't really know much. We had a meeting at the property on the Upper West Side. They had purchased a duplex apartment and they needed a designer to complete the project and turn it into a habitable living space.
They wanted me to convert the space based on their wishes and they weren't sure if they were going to keep it or sell it. That was like an ongoing back and forth dialogue between us. The process turned out to be a lot bigger as we went on, because they wanted me to do more than just a simple design aesthetic. It became a full gut renovation project. I had to be the project designer, expeditor, coordinator and stylist. The project was completed in January, in the middle of a pandemic, and that of course was a challenge itself.
I just made a decision that I was going to stay. It was an amazing opportunity and it's a unique opportunity where you get a project like that straight out of graduation. You usually don't get that much creative freedom as a designer, especially an architect or interior architect straight out of school. Usually you have to go through a company to learn the process because there are a lot of things you don't learn in school.
One thing is, what the books tell you, this is a totally different game: being a project leader and the project designer. I wish that they had taught more of that in school, because managing is its own game, pretty much [she laughs]. But again, I got an amazing experience and that led me to believe that if I can do this, I can start my own company. If I could manage going through that phase, which was extreme - it was extremely challenging, the reward is amazing.
WOTC: You’ve spoken about not initially knowing what your options were in architecture. For the young women who would be reading this and wanting to follow in your footsteps, what would describe (interior) architecture as?
Oda: Oh, wow, that's a great question. I think it’s one of those components where it's hard to describe it as one thing because there could be so many and that's what I discovered with my project. What I find fascinating with architecture and interior architecture as a hole is that it has the power to generate a feeling. That itself is powerful. The way a shape or form can tap into our emotional aspects and how one material relates to another. For me architecture is about the pureness in forms, the attention to detail and the curation of materials. I want to choreograph serene atmospheres that holds that emotion, but also naturally allows interactions.
WOTC: Whenever anyone envisions architecture who doesn’t understand the field well, it’s likely they only think about the person that would essentially be building the exterior. But we don't often think about the interior, much like the project you just completed, which was to transform an apartment.
With what you now know about the industry and what you've learnt, what change do you personally want to make? And are you looking to eventually offer mentorship, internships, things like that for the next generation?
Oda: First of all, especially in the architecture industry, it's very male dominated. It still is. Especially the leaders on top, property developers and investors. That's across every discipline, not just architecture and interiors. And I think we need to question ourselves, ‘why is it like that?’ That's an ongoing debate we're still dealing with. And second of all, it's also about diversity. Representing different races and cultures is really important - another element, especially fashion, has been dealing with that lately. I think those two are really important. For me, when I was finishing this project, it became super important for me to find female representatives. I wanted a female photographer. That wasn't that easy. I wanted the artwork to come from a female. Even furniture designers - the majority of them are male. So, it became this mission of mine, I would say, to find that. There are only a few big, names out there that are or have been the head of an architectural company that are female. I think for the younger millennials, pointing those things out would be important in order to broaden your understanding. You don't have to work for a big corporate company. I think it would be important to implement more of this as a mentor program while you are in school and get taught the right tools for what your options are once you graduate. If I can be a mentor for that, or be offering guidance to others about my journey, I would absolutely do that.