Rector’s graduation speech summer 2023

Dear graduates,
It’s a pleasure to welcome you all here today to the diploma ceremony at Oslo School of Architecture and Design for the graduates of summer 2023.
 
A warm welcome to you graduates of Architecture, Design and Landscape architecture. Welcome to the PhD students who have received their doctorate degree this semester.
 
And also, a warm welcome to your family and friends, and to all the members of faculty and staff who has been an important part of your education and journey here at AHO.
 
For me as rector of the school this is something I have been looking forward to. It’s such an honor to send you on your path with this speech.
 

Summer has indeed come to Oslo

Graduation day is a day of celebration and summer has indeed come to Oslo to celebrate it and marks the end of the study year as well as the conclusion of your studies here with us. Before the exams this building was active and busy during all opening hours – it was buzzing with your energy, speculations and worries about your projects your work and your exams. Then came the concentration and anticipation during the diploma week. Now this is already behind you and last week we could feel you started to pack up and move out.
 
I can imagine you feel the sensation of joy, of accomplishment, of pride. And you should. You have worked hard – and you have made great results. Your graduation projects are reflecting our time and the challenges we meet
so many of you managed to bring new clever solutions and ideas to the table. High quality, highly relevant – profoundly creative and artistic. Its impressive!
 
You all have different stories and reasons for choosing to study here. You have been here with us at AHO for your PhD or master's degree, many of you also for the bachelor. You also have in common that you have worked hard to get into the school and that you have worked hard studying here.
As a generation you are told you have all the choices in the world – you chose AHO. We are thankful for that.
 

What holds the future?

You are graduating at a time of great change in the world. And perhaps in such a time it can feel more challenging to face the next step you must now begin.
 
I recently came across a thought-provoking statement that resonated with me:
The statement was: "It is actually positive that humankind has stopped to think about the future as promising - because this is what might save the world in the end".
 
In these words, I found inspiration, for they reminded me that embracing realism does not equate to surrendering our dreams; rather, it empowers us to forge a path towards genuine progress.
 
We find ourselves living in a time when the world faces numerous complex and interconnected challenges—environmental degradation, social inequities, technological disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, to name just a few. It is understandable that the weight of these challenges might overshadow the optimism that once permeated the visions of previous generations. However, in acknowledging the daunting road ahead, we open ourselves to the possibility of change and the motivation to make a difference.
 
Many generations before you have felt something similar, but I still believe that the state the world is in today is special and simultaneously affected by many incredibly complex crises.
 
How should you, as newly qualified designers, architects and landscape architects, address this - which paths should you take? What does the future hold?
 

The scope of our professions is changing

For a few decades, we have experienced a transformation in the design profession – the understanding of design has moved from object focused to a larger scope spreading into other domains and forming new pathways. A similar process is currently also happening for the architectural profession and for landscape architecture, which at the moment is undergoing enormous change
 
So as our profession grows their scope, they also become more difficult to define. Architects do more than design and build new buildings, designers do not only design objects, landscape architects are not only designing the surroundings and urban architecture is much more than city planning.
 
Our professions have of course always evolved and changed accordingly to the societal change and needs but with the big challenged we experience right now, for example just to mention the climate crisis and the need for sustainable solutions addressing also social inequality, our subject matters have become core; Design, architecture and landscape architecture could be a part of the solution but is also part of the problem.
 
We have for a while been moving away from being mostly object focused to a much larger domain – yet to be fully grasped and understood. At the same time, our professions have always had an impact on society and contributed to building up, creating prosperity and growth. And these fundamental values ​​are also changing.
 
The Ghanaian-Scottish architect, academic, and novelist Lesley Lokko who curated this year's architecture biennale in Venice wants to bring the entire issue surrounding the global south into the middle of the table and the discussion about architecture. And by doing so she also renders visible that traditionally architecture has been highly about western architecture and values. I think the same can be said for design.
 
And here she brings in very interesting perspectives.
 
She says: “Things that Africa might now teach the world include the rearrangement of old disciplines. In Africa "things are often not stable. In that instability you have to learn how to be very adaptive.”
 
"Often," she says, "the global south is perceived in terms of its problems. There is a strong narrative of lack. Things like imagination and creativity are perceived as the prerogative of the global north – it’s assumed that you need resources for them.” The reverse could be true, that "beauty and joy and inspiration" are both more likely to be found in less prosperous countries, and more essential. “They are really powerful political tools,” she says, “not frippery.”
 
So, she highlights some of our profession's traditional core values ​​as important values ​​for change: Beaty, joy, and inspiration.
 
This is a perspective that can also be found in the European discussion and likewise at a political level. For example, the creation of New European Bauhaus (NEB); an environmental, economic, and cultural project launched in 2020 by President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leiden
The NEB places the focus on community building and bottom-up approaches to implement the European Green Deal by promoting beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places, products, and services.
The project points at that not only science and technology will solve the crisis we also need art and culture.
 
The headline of the project is: Beautiful – Sustainable – Together.
 
Going back to the question – what does the future hold? The answer still isn't a simple one. But I truly find that what you bring to the table will be vital for creating the change that we need. It’s in your mindset already and its highly visible in your diploma projects.
 

New big challenged in the horizon

Before I conclude I would like to touch on another new crisis or challenge that we might or most probably will be facing soon – the question of AI.
 
As AI is not new, but within the last years new powerful AI tools have been launched.
 
I can ask you: Do you think this speech was written by a chatbot?
A question I couldn't ask a year ago.
 
This speech wasn’t created by a chatbot but I have worked with the open AI chatbot as many other people and been amazed by what it can do.
 
To quote the famous Israeli public intellectual, historian and professor Yuval Noah Harari who have just recently published some very interesting articles, interviews and talks on the subject:
 
“AI has gained some remarkable abilities to manipulate and generate language, whether with words, sounds or images. AI has thereby hacked the operating system of our civilization”.
 
Harari has stated before that the hope for humankind lies within the human superpower in creating stories and beliefs (using language)– and that is what potential could make the necessary change we need to solve the crisis of the world. Seen in that connection the fear of what the new AI tools can do is real.
 
AI is also going to be a part of your future professional life – and what it exactly will mean is yet to be discovered. But as discouraging Harari's prospective for the danger of AI, if not controlled, I also see some hope.
 
The power of creating and shaping the future using language: words and visuals are within the power of our professions.
This is a possibility design, architecture and landscape architecture hold not only creating change but a change that will improve life.
 
And by doing so don't forget these powers that also are political tools and agents for change:
Beaty, joy and inspiration (Loko)
Beautiful – Sustainable – Together (NEB)
 

Using AI

As a fun fact I asked the Open AI Chat GPT:
 
Do you have any specifics about AHO that could be useful for our graduate students to highlight?
 
The chatbot wrote a one page long answer in 2 seconds. I will not read all of it. Just a few points.
 
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO), or "Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo" in Norwegian, is a renowned institution that holds a distinctive position in the world of architecture, landscape architecture, and design. Here are some specific details about AHO
 
And then it mentions 5 points.

1. Interdisciplinary Excellence
2. Design Research and Innovation
3. International Perspective
4. Focus on Sustainability
5. Design Excellence and Recognition

Each point was elaborated and explained.
 
These points are real and yet not real. I am sure I wouldn’t have described the specifics of AHO in the same way. It does tell me that the tools are still less clever than humans and to a large degree simulating. In this case: What is the common way to describe a university in the contexts of today's challenges?
Anyway:  Go use the AI ​​for positive feedback and help. Be critical. But not afraid. This might be even useful while building up your CVs. But moving on it will also be crucial for your professions. And your critical perspectives will be needed.
 

Embarking on your professional life

As I said before: Architecture, design and landscape architecture are important subject matters for the transformation the world needs.

Your graduation projects have demonstrated that you are fully aware of this
 
I look forward to seeing which paths you choose, which paths will open and where you will go. As I said in the beginning: You are now no longer our students – you are our colleagues, and I can say on behalf of AHO that we hope you will come back to us. That we will collaborate with you in the professions you will take on, that you will come back for further education, some will perhaps come as teachers or PhD students. That you will participate in critical debates about where our professions and educations are heading, that you will visit exhibitions, lectures and much more. In short, we look forward to seeing you in the future.
 
Today is the time to celebrate what you have already accomplished! Your great achievements and that you now – in a few minutes will stand with your diplomas in your hand. It is a day when you should take a break, indulge yourself and enjoy the moment and celebrate this together with your family and friends. And together with everyone you have met here during your studies at AHO.
 
Lastly, I wish to express my gratitude: to you for all you have contributed while being here -and also to your excellent teachers!
 
Congratulations again!
Thank you for now - and hope to see you again.