Start semester
65 605 Lofoten Biosphere
Credits:
20
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål:
Lofoten Biosphere
Course code:
65 605
Level of study:
Master
Teaching semester:
2019 Spring
Assessment semester:
2019 Spring
Language of instruction:
English
Year:
2019
Required prerequisite knowledge
Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).
The course is part of the Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies and requiers that the students live in Tromsø for the duration of the course.
Recommended prerequisite knowledge: Working knowledge of hand-drawing/sketching, Adobe InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, CAD (Civil 3D). Basic 3D modelling and GIS experience an advantage
Course content
This studio takes the local Lofoten initiative to become part of the UNESCO Biosphere as a point of departure. The students will develop projects that can support and promote sustainable development in the region with a particular focus on ecology and practises in the landscape.
Launched in 1971, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.
MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and the equitable sharing of benefits, and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable.
The studio will run parallelly and collaborate closely with the new theory course «Ecology for landscape architecture». This combination will inform the students in defining their design programs within the scope of the studio. The teachers of the ecology course will also tutor in the studio- work and be part of group reviews.
The Arctic face climate and industrial changes that affect the ecosystems and the human settlements. The knowledge and know-how that is produced by studying these changes closely where they happen transfers to a more general range of landscapes across the world.
Learning outcome
Knowledge: Local knowledge and site-specific project work will provide and produce knowledge especially on ecology concerning spatial conditions and human practices in the landscape, with particular focus on sub-arctic conditions included the northern social and political context for the practice of landscape architecture.
Skills: The studio seeks to develop the students’ ability to acquire knowledge and develop their sensitivity to input from site, science and culture as well as the specific local context. The studio aims at training the skill to make this knowledge instrumental to the development of strong concepts and design proposals with artistic quality. The studio will work with drawing/sketching, digital tools, physical models and presentation/communication of ideas/designs.
General competence: The students are expected to learn how to use their knowledge and skills to conceptualize, coordinate and execute integral designs rooted in the specific local context and the knowledge of human-made and natural systems with special awareness of approaches to development that is ecologically sustainable and socially and culturally appropriate. The studio aims to develop an awareness and critical reflection on topics that contribute to the general professional and public discourse and to position their work in relation to this.
Working and learning activities
The students will work with chosen localities in Lofoten and the themes described above. The studio will work with models, mapping, visualisation tools and design development. The students will also be involved in on-site field investigations at localities in Lofoten with a planned study-trip/site visit during the cod-fishing season in February. This field-work will also include collaboration with the ecology teachers as well as other scientists at the University of Tromsø.
The studio will also include a ten-day study-trip to Canada where students will engage in fieldwork on ecological systems together with landscape architecture students from The University of Calgary. The trip is supported financially by funds from The Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education.
| Form of assessment | Grouping | Grading scale | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project assignment | Group | Pass / fail | Final studio work is presented in group review evaluated by external sensors. Details on deliverables will be provided with the detailed studio plan but usually includes digital presentation and exhibition of model work together with printed posters/boards. |
| Workload activity | Comment |
|---|---|
| Excursion | Lofoten (NO) and Calgary (CA) |
| Attendance | Lectures, tutorials, workshops and group reviews have expected attendance at 90%. Mandatory hand in of all designated deliverables. Mandatory attendance to oral examination with external sensors. |