E8 - Infrastructure and Landscape
Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:
E8 - Infrastructure and Landscape
Credits:
20
Course code:
65 601
Level of study:
Master
Teaching semester:
2015 Autumn
Language of instruction:
English
Required prerequisite knowledge
Passed 1st semester studio and theory course
The subject is a part of the study programme Master in Landscape Architecture and cannot be taken as a single course
Course content
In spite of being a characteristic feature of all landscapes, road networks seldom attract much attention among architects involved in urban planning and landscape architecture. One reason can probably be found in the dominance of the zoning approach to planning, where road networks easily becomes reduced to a matter of traffic management and transport economy. Another possible reason could be, as suggested by Australian landscape architect Christopher Sawyer, that road networks like other infrastructures are conceived ‘outside’ the more visually oriented domain of landscape architecture at a much larger and more abstract territorial scale. This is not to say that infrastructure does not operate within the landscape, it obviously does, but rather that it does not originate there. According to Sawyer, infrastructure is conceptually located elsewhere and thus is not strategically accessible to landscape architects working only in the realm of landscape. As a consequence infrastructure often becomes something landscape architects work around rather than engage with and alter.
If Sawyer is right, how can we as landscape architects engage with road planning and design in profound ways that move beyond the purely visual and pictorial? Is it possible to conceptually re-locate road networks in the landscape? This question will be pivotal in the Spring Studio 2015 at Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies, in which we the main objective is to investigate and explore how the planned extension of the main highway E8 though Ramfjord can be thought as an integrated part of the landscape. The studio will be organised in collaboration with Troms County Municipality and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration together with experts from UiT - The Arctic University of Norway
Specific issues to be addressed in relation to the study of E8:
• Landscape analysis and survey of potential highway alignments
• Concepts for the integration of infrastructure and landscape
• Site-specific solutions in relation to highway design
• Strategic plan for urban development and landscape protection
Learning outcome
After concluding the studio course the candidate should have the following learning outcome:
Knowledge
• Basic knowledge of landscape transformation and urban development
• Extensive knowledge of landscape architecture in relation to infrastructure planning and design
• Specialized knowledge of the subarctic landscape and its specific topology, geology, hydrology and ecology
Skills
• Ability to analyse landscape and communicate its specific qualities and transformation processes
• Ability to develop architectural concepts on the basis of case studies and on-site investigations
• Ability to combine overall strategic considerations on a territorial level with design solution addressing the material and spatial qualities of the specific landscape as well as topological, geologic, hydrologic and ecologic conditions
Competencies
• Critical and reflective attitude towards to study of landscape and territory
• Basic understanding of and experience with concepts, methods and design development in relation to landscape architecture
Working and learning activities
Studio based teaching with lectures and practical exercises. Desktop research in combination with fieldwork. The studio in organised as a collective group work with individual tasks and contributions. Tutoring will be done both collectively and individually.
| Presence required |
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| Not required |