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80 416 Re-Store: Values

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål: 
Re-Store: Values
Credits: 
6
Course code: 
80 416
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Erik Fenstad Langdalen
Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS).

Course content

In a time when existing monuments and buildings are in the line of fire, on one hand demanded demolished and on another asked to be preserved, there is a pressing need to discuss the premises upon which our disciplines operate. We know that we have to reorient towards the reuse of what already exist, we need to rethink our methods, working techniques and terminology, and we need to raise the question of how we evaluate our cultural heritage. This elective course aims to interrogate the theoretical and conceptual frameworks used (historically and contemporarily) to approach the preservation and reuse of objects, buildings, cities, and landscapes.

Different categories of value permeate our culture, and are prescriptive for the ways in which society perceives its material framework. A heritage object’s importance, worth, or usefulness is subject to fluctuating opinions and practices, as is its mere status as a ‘preservation-worthy’ object. But what, exactly, are the values that prompt the preservation of a monument, regulate its reuse, and allows for its continued existence? Where are these values grounded, and by whom are they defined? How do we value and sustain the integrity of what is already there in ways that allow for imaginative reuse?

Value is an abstract term with a myriad of denominations. This seminar examines the multiple aspects of “value” that each, in its way, condition the preservation, use, longevity and estimation of monuments and material heritage. 

The seminar is part of the research project "Provenance Projected: Architecture Past and Future in the Era of Circularity"

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • The course will familiarize students with the history of preservation and its current discourse.

Skill:

  • Students will develop analytical, interpretive, critical, and creative skills essential to work with preservation projects.

General competence:

  • Through individual studies and group discussions, participants will be encouraged to examine their own disciplinary position, and be equipped with the critical and communicative abilities necessary to participate in the public discourse on the field.
Working and learning activities

Drawing from a diverse pool of canonical, experimental, academic, poetic, speculative, contemporary, and historical texts, the students will be assigned readings relating to the week’s topic for discussion. Each student will get a case study (a building) to be scrutinized throughout the semester. This will form the basis for student-led discussions, informed by the predefined topic, the assigned readings, and the set case study. The archival findings and other material will be collected on the digital content platform Sanity.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / failThe final grade will be based upon weekly deliveries and the final review, as well as the quality and logic of the uploaded material to the platform Sanity.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade will be based upon weekly deliveries and the final review, as well as the quality and logic of the uploaded material to the platform Sanity.