2019 Vår

Start semester

2019 Vår

60 615 Acting like Summer, Walking like Rain - Architectures of Water and Weather in Greater Oslo

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Acting like Summer, Walking like Rain - Architectures of Water and Weather in Greater Oslo

Credits:

Course code:

60 615

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Sabine Muller

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

CAD 2D and 3D (Rhino), Adobe Suite, GIS, animation softwares, hand drawing, model making. Interest and experience in design at the intersections of landscape, urbanism and architecture

Course content

Can weather be made?

Ever since the balancing of seasonal differences and geographical allocation of resources has been the driver of cultural intelligence. The creation of microclimates, through modifications of ground, planting and architectures; prolongations of blooming and growing periods; the harvest, storage, and conservation of resources has led to what we call cultural landscapes and practice. Human societies actively manipulate temperature, humidity and air flow. Societies have specific agency in modifying ecological metabolisms. In this web of dependencies water plays a centre role.

Why should it be made in the Oslo Area?

Historically a water-rich area, weather extremes and so-called seasonal abnormalities question the functionality of cultural landscapes present in the Oslo region. While flooding and its impact on traffic, real estate and water quality in intensively used areas start to be addressed in municipal planning, recently occurring droughts shift attention to water supply and agriculture - and with it to the rather extensively used, wider “support” territory. From a weather perspective, the levelling of peaks is a need and calls for new landscapes and architectures.

Greater Oslo is a growing region. With increasing urbanisation, urban-rural relationships are being redefined, often at the cost of landscape heritage. The need to make weather could be taken as a kick-off to re-imagine the region beyond inevitably short-falling city-nature dichotomies.

The heart of the region is the Oslo Fjord. Urbanisation patterns encircle the Inner Fjord, weather stability is provided by its water body. It is itself a product of a changing climate and whilst retreating to its current form it has left behind the fertile sediments of the ancient sea. The Fjord City is always also an agricultural city.

How to act summer, how to walk rain?

In this context, the studio is a call for the imagination of Greater Oslo as an urban-rural pattern in which weather conditions and the mediation of seasonal disparities are consciously designed. It is a call for architectural corner stones and landscape typologies to frame the fjord and its agricultural hinterland as heart of a weather-active and climate-adaptive urbanity. Taking on the mindset of an agronomist cultivating the land for returning yields, and geared to a wide range of actors and stakeholders, the studio will conceive publicly meaningful places, that stitch an idea of region across the sound.

In search for exploitation of the almost inexhaustible atmospheric and social potentials of water for the enhancement of the urban landscape’s quality, and with the aim of re-positioning the hydrosphere towards a fundamental role in planning, the studio will explicitly explore how weather can both be a structuring and a productive element within a socially conceived territory, and envision landscapes, architectures and a series of figures that act within, mark and organize the wider field of territorial flows while, as Vittorio Gregotti would demand, “giving meaning to the whole environment through its stronger characterization and definition”.

Learning outcome

The design and research studio will provide students with the conceptual categories to address the interrelated issues of sustainability in an urbanising regional context. Based on a systemic view on the environment a focus of the studio will be a hydrological perspective on design, and the understanding of landscape as infrastructure. Tied to a performative approach form will be discussed in relation to theories of usage, performance and place.

Acquaintance and discussion of notions of territory, region, cultural landscape as a spatial product of geological and climatic forces as well as cultural, political and economical interests and practices layered in time
Basic knowledge of regional urbanisation patterns and visions
Basic knowledge of urban-regional metabolism as a concept to describe the flows of substances and energy between and within cities and landscapes; in particular: urban hydrology and integrated watershed management
Basic knowledge of landscape as a productive, performative layer in human systems: ecological infrastructure, ecosystem services, and regenerative agriculture
Basic knowledge of concepts of a user-centered design practice: “commons”, “everyday urbanism”, “architecture of use”
Advanced knowledge of form, structure, and texture: Form as “informed” related to processes, both as a passive result of processes, and as an active modifier or catalyst of processes

Concretely, students will develop skills to envision transformation processes of cultural landscapes under development pressure with the goal to ensure adaptability to climate change and to draw on heritage while continuing to be dynamic. Research-driven, multi-layered and multi-scalar in its scope, the studio involves building the capacity to conduct a layered and perceptive analysis of the territorial/ regional context, the ability to reference precedents, to fuse technical, usability and aesthetical aspects of form giving, and finally to frame and argue for a well-resolved design proposal anchored within the scale of the territory.

Research by design: problem definition, framing of a task within a given context
Research: Capacity to select and sort, and evaluate data from greater information quantities, ability to conduct precedent analysis and transfer
Analysis: ability to carry out landscape and urban analysis based on map (GIS) and field (photography, interviews) work; explorations and evaluation towards territorial figures; description of a territory through a synthesis of mapping, drawing, diagramming, and photography, with a special attention to landscape and urban morphology and hydrological systems
Strategy: capability to develop territorial scenarios, balancing reasons and proposition of concrete case areas and programmes out of the strategic approach
Interrogative design: explicit discussion of a formal question, such as grids, lines or points as organizing a spatial field
Iterative design process: trial and error to find adequate solution, successive and interrogative usage of drawings (section and plans), physical and digital models, as well as texts variants, to test and develop proposals, in favour for “unsafe” experimental approaches
Design resolution: ability to work out a territorial approach on a detailed level, including grading, surfaces and textures, planting
Representation: capability to illustrate design through compelling plans, sections, and 3-dimensional images such as veduta and collage, as well as physical models
Communication: skill to verbally and visually argue for a project through telling of a compelling narrative

Working and learning activities

Individual and group work (2-3 students) is organized around 6 phases.

These will be supported by input lectures and readings to facilitate contextualisation and familiarization with discourse and state of the art in theory and practice.

Mapping: Constructing the context through field and map work, 3 D modelling and research (1:20 000)
Strategy: Development of strategic transformation scenarios and territorial figures on a watershed scale, based on precedent studies and an in-depth understanding of the geographical context, its problems and potentials. (1: 10.000)
Workshop Ground work: workshop to understand topography and water flows (as part of excursion)
Project: Elaboration of the design strategies into individual public space, landscape and architectural proposals, understood as a systemic object (1:1000 - 1:50)
Workshop Plant work: workshop co-planting (planned)
Communication: Visualization and “telling” the proposals to communicate to a broader audience. Production of an exhibition and studio booklet that can serve to advance the imaginary on the Oslo Region as a sustainable territory.

Curriculum

Excursion: The studio will travel abroad to Mexico City and rural Mexico for a 5-day community-based workshop on sustainable landscape and watershed management in March in collaboration with the universities UNAM, UNSLP, landscape designers TNT and CCMSS Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible.

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required		Required	Presence and discussing work at at least 80% of the desk-crits is mandatory to pass the course.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	Individual	Pass / fail	The work will be evaluated through oral and graphic presentations as well as digital hand-ins (moodle/box) at the end of each of the different studio phases, with a final presentation of the whole project’s narrative. Final grade will be based on an assessment of all the hand-ins (portfolio assessment), with a strong emphasis on design work (50%).

Workload activity	Comment
Attendance	The building of a body of collective knowledge and the exchange of ideas are essential to the studio. All students are expected to work in the studio, not off-school. Studio days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. All students will have a desk-crit of research or design-work at least once a week. New work to discuss is expected for each desk-crit.

Start semester

2019 Vår

60 614 Architecture = City

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Architecture = City

Credits:

Course code:

60 614

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Halvor Weider Ellefsen

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

STUDIO FOCUS

This studio focuses on the redevelopment of Gallery Oslo, a large structure developed in the early 1980s by LPO architects. The plot owner Oslo Areal estimates the redevelopment to comprise around 120.000 m2, and has invited five offices to develop proposals for the area, that will be revealed February 1st 2019. The Studio will collaborate closely with Oslo Areal, and use the proposals as a point of departure for critical examination of the area. Based on these discussions, Architecture = City: New Commons aims to develop a set of new and diverse proposals that explores the area and structure from different angles and approaches.

BACKGROUND

Galleri Oslo is being demolished. As Norway’s most hated building, few have voiced support for preserving the building. Rather, it has been regarded as a very very long mistake, that both in terms of volume, program and economical strategy thoroughly failed almost as soon as it was completed.

However, looking into the competition won by a group of architectural students in 1982, we can understand the scheme better: The structure was originally part of a selection of unique building types tailored towards specific functions, within a «grand narrative» for the downtown core: The configuration included a large urban living room (byhall) where the population could meet (later Oslo Spektrum), A slim tower were visitors could stay (later Oslo Plaza), a mosque catering for spiritual needs in the multicultural city (never realized) , a perimeter housing block with a pedestrian street blending in to the adjacent city (later Smalgangen), and finally: A wall of infrastructure and commerce «protecting» its architectural siblings from the infrastructure and industry south towards Schweigaards gate and the harbor. This became Galleri Oslo – A climatized shopping street and office structure connecting the station area with Grønland and integrating Oslo’s new bus terminal.

NEW PREMISES:

Today the premises have changed: The redevelopment of Oslo S and the completion of Bjørvika/Bispevika, the spatial and programmatic division between the consolidated city of an its infrastructure no longer bear relevance. Quite on the contrary: Space Group’s main argument in their winning scheme for the Oslo S area was that the east west axis at large today was replaced, or at least is complimented by a north-south axis from the harbor to Vaterland. And while a blessed few argues for its conservation, the building is here neither seen to represent the cultural value, or representative of an architecture that needs to be preserved based on its architectural qualities.

Rather, seen through the optics of the late 20th century political economy, Galleri Oslo manifested the euphoria of the 1980s property market, turning into an economical disaster as both shopping centre and real estate investment strategy. Similarly, its spatial concept, much relying on the increasing importance of Schweigaardgate as Oslo’s main infrastructural vein, was soon outdated by the time of its completion. These factors, together with the removal of the bus station and opening of the Akers Elva river, means that time is up for Galleri Oslo. However, a redevelopment that utilizes parts of the existing structure in new configurations can be a part of the studio’s discussions.

STUDIO STRATEGIES

From an architectural point of view, the larger urban scheme developed by LPO displayed how and urban plan can be driven by an emphasis on the architectural object's role and performance within the urban morphology of the city. From the perspective of political economy, this also coincides with the emphasis of the «project» as basic unit in urban planning - From now on, urban development was «project-based», where the architectural object became the center-piece in new development schemes for the city. Similarly, the studio aims towards articulating strong architectural statements that perform according to the complex infrastructural, spatial and programmatic context of the Vaterland area.

The Studio will focus on developing robust, multi purpose building structures and organizational schemes with emphasis on "new commons" for the city. Such commons include new indoor and outdoor public facilities (sports, leisure, education) that utilizes the potential inherent in the massiv infrastructural hub of the Oslo S area. The course aims to articulate large and complex but precise architectural proposals that can contribute to broaden and shed light on possible futures for the property, and present alternative strategies for urban development of the area.

STUDIO APPROACH

The course will collaborate with plot owners Oslo Areal and Akershus Fylkeskommune, and an inhouse review of the invited competition proposals will be held in February as they are revealed, to kick start our design phase. Thus, the studio will both maintain an approach that discuss and develop the area autonomously within the studio framework, while simultaneously being informed from the events and development processes of the actual sites and involved actors.

Learning outcome

The studio will introduce students for large scale architectural design within complex urban environments, emphasizing structure, organization and rationalization as key for understanding and conducting advanced architectural designs in the city. It will envisage the complex interworking between politics, economics and architectural conduct, without over-emphasizing the constraints of building law. Instead, it focuses on the latent architectural freedom of design the large scale offers, and the interrelations between housing as architectural typology, and how the European city currently is shaped and developed.

Working and learning activities

Main tools:

The studio's main working tool is a large 1:200 physical model, where architectural design are explored and discussed throughout the semester.

The methodology of the studio is based on four main topics:

The Oslo context, its current development strategies -and patterns, the Norwegian building industry, and historical and current takes on large scale housing in Oslo.
Emphasis on large scale architecture, and its role within urban planning and development.
Analysis of the Galleri Oslo site and possible infrastructural and morphological futures for the area.
Analysis of large scale architectural reference projects and organization principles.

Presentations and reviews:

Main presentations take place on Wednesdays. These sessions vary in length and content, from shorter group work assignments to individual project development critiques. Main presentations are compulsory.
Pin ups are group sessions of 4 students or teams, two teachers and 15 minute presentations.
Des-crits in studio takes place weekly and/or on demand.

The first phase called the “vase phase” is initiated by a two-week study where we conceptualize and explore the site through massing studies, and discuss the morphological and programmatic interfaces between architecture and city. What densities, what typologies, what kind of distribution? And what kind of spaces, programs, infrastructure and their distribution should be can be applied to create added value for the city? This phase is includes an assignment called Units and Commons where we approach our preliminary design structurally and programmatically in scale 1:500. Simultaneously, as the invited competition proposals are reviled, the architects and architectural project will be presented and discussed in studio.

The second phase of the studio will relate to the site and the Oslo context, including discussions with relevant developers and representatives from Oslo´s building authorities. We will discuss the quality and profile of current strategies for downtown development, conducting a due diligence of the properties and discuss first responses from the individual students. Are there morphological, phenomenological, programmatic or typological features of particular interest in site and adjacent areas? And are there alternative narratives to the current mode of development defining Oslo’s central areas?

The third phase involves visiting and studying large scale complex structures in a city TBA, meeting local developers and architects, that will contribute to revise and inform the studio’s individual projects.

The fourth phase will focus on articulating a coherent architectural project within an individual specific framework and approach, the development of a limited selection of drawings, and a model in 1:200 of the student projects, along with a project description addressing a relevant problem or topic related to the work produced.

Depending on amount of course participants, projects will be developed in groups of two students.

Curriculum

Curriculum: Tba.

Teachers:

Course responsible associate professor Halvor Weider Ellefsen. Ellefsen has a master from the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen and received a PhD from AHO.

Wenche Andreassen works at ReBuilding, and office focusing on architectural transformation. She is former junior Partner at Space Group, with extensive experience from the conceptual layout and development of large-scale archtecitural schemes.

Professor Gro Bonesmo is partner of Space Group with substantial knowledge and experience of urban development of the Oslo S area.

Professor Karl Otto Ellefsen is former dean of AHO, professor in urbanism AHO and boasts extensive knowledge of urban development and transformation-processes in city centers, as well as being a core actor in the discussion and development of Norwegian Architecture for several decades.

Additional resources includes Lars Haukeland of LPO, original founder and architect of Galleri Oslo, with competence of large scale architectural development and urban planning from over 30 years of practice in the Oslo area, and architect and planner Øystein Grønning of Migrant, the plot owners representative in the development process of Galleri Oslo.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	-	Pass / fail	The course has individual hand-ins related to each course phase. These are mandatory submissions that are part of the project evaluation. The final phase includes developing an individual model in scale 1:200, ande a small selection of representative drawings

Start semester

2019 Vår

40 629 SCS China Studio

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

SCS China Studio

Credits:

Course code:

40 629

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Christian Hermansen

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Most important is to be enthusiastic and positive. Architectural design skills are very important. Skills in Rhino will come in handy. Previous building experience much appreciated. This is a full-time course, all students are expected at the studio from 9:00 AM to 16:00 PM Monday to Friday, in addition to traveling to the building site for a period of around 5 weeks.

Due to the travel requirements of the studio students joining SCS will have to enrol in the 6 credit course, Jigs and Joints, which runs with the studio.

Course content

The Context

Due to the primitivness of emweb it is not possible to include illustrations - please look here for the complete description.

After decades of concentrating resources on urban industrial development which resulted in China’s explosive economic growth, the government has turned its attention to rural areas where it is sponsoring a variety of development initiatives. One of these is the Louna International Architects’ Village, a project initiated by Urban Environment Design (UED) Magazine and CBC (China Building Centre), which occupies a small, beautiful valley called Louna, in Guizhou Province where SCS built its last project, the Louna Architects’ Bookshop.

However, Louna is not the only Chinese rural initiative. In pursuance of the policy of “rural revival” and “beautiful countryside”, China is developing numerous rural initiatives throughout the countryside. One of these centres in the village of Xiamutang in Jiangxi Province, which has already been the subject of interventions, the result of international architectural competitions run by UED magazine.

This is the second semester in which SCS collaborates with Tianjin University School of Architecture (TJU). Previously TJU students joined SCS students during the building phase of the Louna Architects’ Bookshop project (see: https://www.archdaily.com/900698/the-louna-architects-bookshop-the-scarc...). In this coming semester our collaboration will be run throughout the semester encompassing design, production information, and building.

The organisation of the joint SCS + TJU studio.

Through its almost decade long existence SCS has developed a working method which combines individual inputs with group work. We start the semester with individual projects, at different phases vote for the most concepts with most potential, culminating in the last phases where everyone in the studio works on one building. The gradual homing in on the most promising ideas is done through voting. To combat the idea of individual authorship, those whose projects are chosen to progress to the following phase are not allowed to work on their own ideas. In this manner we ensure collective ownership of the final building.

During this semester, this procedure will be extended to encompass students working in China. At the end of each phase projects developed and chosen by the SCS team will be developed by the TJU team during the following phase, and projects developed and chosen by the TJU team will be developed by the SCS team. The final project to be built will thus be the product of both the TJU and SCS teams. During the production and building phases, in which both teams will be working on the same project, the work will be divided into teams composed of both TJU and SCS students.

Phase 1 of the studio. (15 February to 1 March)

The first two weeks of each semester, in Phase 1, after being introduced to the site, the program, and the clients, students develop individual architectural concepts. These proposals are not yet buildings, but rather attitudes or approaches which could later be developed into buildings. At this stage the studio encourages students to explore as many diverse ideas as possible, with the aim that from this diversity interesting ideas for buildings may emerge.

At the end of the two weeks students are asked to present their ideas to the studio, these ideas are discussed, and voted on. Each member of the studio, both students and teachers, have one vote each. The only restriction is that authors of schemes cannot vote for themselves. Studio members vote for the ideas with most potential for future development. By this means half of the concepts presented, those considered to have most potential, go on to be developed in Phase 2.

To bring together the TJU and SCS teams, the projects chosen by TJU students at the end of Phase 1, will be developed by AHO students during Phase 2, and the projects chosen by SCS students at the end of Phase 1, would be developed by TJU students during Phase 2

Phase 2 of the studio. (1 March to 15 March)

Pairs of students work on the project chosen by the studio of the other University at the end of Phase 1, that is, Norwegian students work on the projects chosen by Chinese students and vice versa. Teachers form the teams of students to work on the schemes inherited from students of the other university. At the end of Phase 2 projects should have developed beyond an architectural concept and should be recognisable as buildings. The TJU and SCS teams chose the 4 projects which are to progress to the next Phase 3

Phase 3 of the studio. (15 march to 29 March)

The procedures of Phase 2 are repeated in Phase 3. The four projects developed/chosen by SCS students are worked on by 4 teams of TJU students and vice versa. At this stage the projects should have been developed to a stage in which structure and materials have received attention. The TJU and SCS teams vote for the 2 projects which are to progress to the next Phase 4.

Phase 4 of the studio. (29 March to 12 April)

The procedures of Phase 3 are repeated in Phase 4. The two projects developed/chosen by SCS students are worked on by 2 teams of TJU students and vice versa. At this stage the projects should have been developed to a stage where they are presented with plans, sections,elevations, and exterior and interior renderings, materials will have been chosen, the structure has been calculated on a preliminary basis, the main construction details have been resolved, preliminary costings have been done, building regulations have been considered, etc.

Phase 5, Jury (13 + 14 April)

A jury of Chinese and Norwegian architects independent from SCS and TJU are appointed to choose the final project from the two presented by TJU students and the two presented by SCS students.

Phase 6, Production Information (15 April to 3 May)

In the four weeks Development Phase, students are divided into production teams who work on specialized aspects of the project. These teams are to be composed of students from TJU and SCS working together connected by means of the internet. The subjects of these teams would include: design development, structural calculations, construction details, costs calculations, building permission submission, construction scheduling, critical path analysis, construction materials, quantities and procurement, sponsorship, media (web-site, blog, Facebook), etc. One student from TJU and one from AHO will be appointed as coordinators of the project. Their roles are to make sure that information is coordinated and consistent amongst the different working groups. The coordination of the information produced by different groups is achieved mainly through the constant updating of a digital 3D model which contains all the information being produced by each working group. Assembling all information into one 3D model of the building tends to make inconsistencies and contradictions more evident. The aim of this phase is to prepare as thoroughly as possible so the teams have determined the materials needed, the way these materials go together, the tools and techniques needed to accomplish construction, and the speed of construction needed to finish the building in the allotted time.

Half way through this Phase two students from SCS and two students from TJU will travel to the site of the project 15 days prior to the 3 May to prepare for the coming of the rest of the SCS+TJU teams. Their job is to make sure building materials are located and purchased, the building is set out on the site, and the foundations are cast.

Phase 7, Building (3 May to 7 June)

The main group arrives on site two weeks after the advanced party and starts to build according to the construction details and schedules prepared in advance.

The diagram below is a graphical representation of this process: See the document

The Site and the Program

For a complete description of site and program See the document

SCS works in the context of the real world. For this reason the task and the process are not totally under its control. The clients and partners involved in SCS projects have their own aims and problems. On occasions decisions made by SCS’s clients have meant that projects have had to be cancelled, either before they get off the ground or during the period in which projects are being developed. We have been faced with clients not keeping agreements, clients not owning the sites we were supposed to build on, etc. On each of these occasions we have had to cancel the project and turn our attention to another task.

Although these occurrences are very frustrating, and SCS does its utmost to organise things so that the projects develop smoothly, everyone in the team has to be prepared for these or other factors to intervene in SCS’s work. This is the price of working with real projects, and it is part of the life of a professional architect. If anyone feels threatened by uncertainty, this is not the studio for you.

The program for the building to be designed by the SCS+TJU team will be a small community building (up to 80 m2) for the town. At present our TJU partners are liaising with the local community to determine their needs and to choose a building program which may contribute to satisfying those needs. By the start of the semester, in January 2019, the program and nature of the design/build task should have been established.

Learning outcome

Knowledge, skills and competences:

On completing the course, the student:

will know about, and develop skills and competences related to designing for the needs of a foreign local community
will know about, and develop skills and competences about detailing and specifications of small communal building.
will know about, and develop skills and competences about local building regulations and building practices.
will understand the requirements of buildings in their local climatic settings.
will know about, and develop skills and competences about building costs and budget management during construction
will have acquired the skill for using manual and mechanical tools for building.
will know about, and develop skills and competences about designing and building in conditions of scarcity.

Working and learning activities

The studio will be based mainly on one-to-one and small group discussion of student work supplemented by talks and workshops.

Students who join this studio will have to also enrol in the Jigs and Joints course because its contents and scheduling are linked to the studio program development and travel. It is a requirement of the course that students spend the time needed to construct the building in China. Although it is difficult at this stage to determine the length of the period of construction our estimation is four to five weeks. Students will have to fund their own travel, accommodation and food in China. Insurance which covers each student during the time abroad is required and will be the responsibility of each student. It is expected that the trip to China will be around April May 2019. EHS rules regarding students at construction sites will apply during the period in China.

Form of Assessment/Examination

The assessment will be on the basis of submissions, performance and participation in the studio.

The final assessment of each student is based on a combination of individual work (40%), done mostly in the first phases, contribution to group work (40%), and the quality of the final product (20%). Individual work is judged through a report done by each student documenting their contribution to the studio throughout the semester. The contribution to group work is based on a judgement by the teaching staff of the extent and willingness to contribute to the studio work which each student displayed during the semester.

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required		Required	The minimum attendance to the studio activities is 80% of organized events.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	Individual	Pass / fail	Students will be asked for specific submissions during the semester. These submissions are part of the development of the project in China. As much of the work is done in groups, participation is of the utmost importance. The final assessment will be made by the external examiner and will be based on: The individual report documenting the student’s individual work during the semester. (40%) The level of participation and contribution to the collective work. (40%) The assessment of the quality of the building and its construction achieved by the studio as a whole. (20%) The minimum attendance to the studio activities is 80% of organised events. The final decision as to the performance of each student will be taken by the external examiner (sensor) on the basis of the group performance, a report on each individual’s participation done by the teachers, and a portfolio showing the extent of each individual’s contributions to the studio.

Start semester

2019 Vår

40 628 Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis VII - Acting and the Collective VII

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis VII - Acting and the Collective VII

Credits:

Course code:

40 628

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Rolf Gerstlauer

Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS), and a desire to conduct your own experimental artistic research.

Course content

Body and Space Morphologies is a research based teaching program that offers master studios (Catharsis, 24ect) and elective courses (Architecture & Film, 6ect) in explorative architectural design, sensing and thinking. We aim at, prepare for and enable students to conduct their own architectural investigation as an artistic parallel to scholarly research.

Based on performativity theories, performance studies, neurodiversity studies as well as phenomenology and perception theories, the Catharsis studio works and investigates primal pre- architectural material/processes/phenomena/conditions and develops or performs a series of experienced distinct objects that behave relational, that inspire imagination, that provide new knowledge, architectural interests and/or architectural identities. Instead of mediating architecture through a thought process that works with abstraction, illustration and representation, and that is intentional and argumentative involving the use or development of concepts, ideas and strategies, our design process focuses on the acting, sensing and thinking with objects, and the craft of your hands in the making of them.

Students individually study the performance of and with materials of their choice. The studio emphasizes reiterated acting with a material body and gains experience and confidence in the making as a “becoming architecture”. Lectures critically reflect theories and research related to perception, behavior, performativity and performance in architecture.

Collaborations:

Julie Dind, performer/artist/scholar, Performance and Performance Studies, Brown University, Providence/USA
Jan Gunar Skjeldsøy & Anders Eik Pilskog, architects, Stiv Kuling AS, Farsund/Norway
James Carpenter, architect/light sculptor, James carpenter Design Associates Inc., New York/USA

Learning outcome

You learn to develop strong initiatives for an explorative working process that acts on impulse and that creates visual/haptic experience that again stimulates towards new architectural content. As a student in the Catharsis studio you learn how to submit to performativity as the instance in which to act a real material or event. You will experience issues of optical or haptic visuality from which it is possible to construct or perform artifacts with unique architectural identities.

Knowledge of:

phenomenology of architecture (vs. architectural phenomenology)
performativity, performance and performance studies
body & space morphologies
foundational preparations for an advanced haptic visual and experimental artistic research
the role of acting with and through a material (vs. the making of a product or proposal) in an experimental artistic research that shall lead to unique architectural content and/or identities

Skills:

Manufacturing physical works and the craft(s) deployed in the making of these artifacts
Narrative drawings and other works or media that bring out, construct and/or perform clear haptic visual identities
Performativity in speech and action
In the making and exploring of independent and new visual material

Competence:

In acting on impulse with material, objects, environments and/or events
In developing distinct initiatives and choosing the craft in which to act or work them
To conceive of and present/communicate unique architectural content/research through a visual material and the phenomena or conditions experienced in it
To present own haptic visual material together with verbal and written reflections on process and/or performance

For students in their sequel Catharsis studio:

Knowledge of the relevance artistic research keeps to perform unique architectural content and/or identities
Expertise in the making and exploring of independent and new visual material
Competence to enter a discursive space in architecture on the basis of your own work and research on relational objects

Working and learning activities

The main activity is a semester long individual artistic research work that studies the performance of and with materials or events
Mandatory reading is handed out on the respective course days, a recommended reading list is available online
Weekly 2-3 lectures
Weekly table talks / supervision
Weekly summing up w/ student driven content
Fieldtrip with workshop in Lista (Object Relations)
Study trip to Japan with the focus on architectural and/or artistic necessities
4 public reviews
2 sessions with individual reviews (not public)
Final public review with external censors
Preparations for a final exhibition with written detailed resume
Publication & Book Making

Curriculum

Catharsis VII – Acting and the Collective VII

The topic is CATHARSIS; an inspiration to “Act The Collective” or to “Act Because Of The Collective” either as the architectural “relief from strong or repressed emotions” or, as the subversive antonym to it, “causing repression and/or strong emotions”. How to free and architecturally act a desire driven emotive collective, or how to conceive architecture in response to such a collective, is the task for these semesters. Students are to develop their own personal architectural program in relation to a social construct, a built autonomous construct and a desired connection to nature/environment. The studio works on the subthemes of “expression, language and the inexpressible”.

Semester Task

Spatially to release your necessity to make something because of something. To act, react or enact the collective (a chosen group of individuals; e.g. spectators, visitors, dwellers, workers, travellers, onlookers, mourners, guests, ill, suppressed, free, animals, people etc.) through a distinct architecture / architectural awareness. To experience, reflect upon and describe the necessity/necessities made.

Body and Space Morphology - a syllabus

Body and space morphology is about the relationship between body and space. 

How it manifests itself to be human in a room; outdoors, indoor, outside and inside, and within the manmade room. Alone or together, as one amongst the thousand, or as the thousand above the one.

Body and space morphology is about your body and the room you have within. 

How it manifests itself to be human in architecture; what it inspires us to, and what it inspires as an architecture, towards an architecture. Seeing the offer that lies in architecture, the perversion of it, the infrastructure, the poesy, the container, the gate, darkness or light from darkness.

Body and space morphology is about meeting the wall. 

How it manifests itself being human between the walls; knowing or not knowing the self, loneliness, longings and all that is imaginable. Seeing change, insights and outlooks, transparency and visibility, hideouts in an omnipresence of the stage. Seeing light come and go, seeing chairs and mirrors shrink and grow. Seeing how all things inhabit and capture the room. Beining between and at the walls. Looking at how they swallow and devour the things. Seeing how the walls become.

Body and space morphology is about the problem of body. 

How it manifests itself to face the unknown; what presents itself as new or what just became in front of you. That which yet not has a name, although it shows itself, can be touched, heard, smelled and felt. That which stands sound and nevertheless can leave, that which can or cannot be moved; moves us.

Body and space morphology is about the distance in space. 

How it manifests itself to stand still; moving just a little, approaching things nevertheless, every thing, to jump, penetrate, going into things, turning around, looking up and down, taking on the things, looking back and keep moving on.

Body and space morphology is about what we do not know and approach anyway. 

Without a map there are only lines and without a compass directions just get more, then the word world is exploded before recognition has become, and it is resemblance and closeness that which implodes us astray. This you might endure and as you wish.

Body and space morphology is about “to act necessities”;

wanton and radically so, using your hands, using the other, using your head but not meaning a thing, acting abstract, acting the figure, autonomous it is and dirty it will get, serious too; ridiculous and radically so.

Recommended Literature

Abraham, A. A new nature: 9 architectural conditions between liquid and solid

Allen, S. Points and Lines

Arendt, H. The Human Condition

Arendt, H. On Violence

Barthes, R. Camera Lucida: Reflections on Photography

Barthes, R. Empire of signs

Barthes, R, & Heath, S. Image, music, text

Benjamin, W. The work of art in the age of its technological reproducibility, and Other Writings on Media

Benjamin, W. Walter Benjamin’s archive: Images, texts and Signs

Benjamin, W. On Hashish Berger, John. About Looking

Berger, J. Why Look at Animals?

Berger, J; with Dibb, M., Blomberg, S., Fox, C. & Hollis, R. Ways of Seeing

Borges, J. L. Labyrinths

Calvino, I. Invisible cities

Deleuze, G. Francis Bacon: the logic of sensation

Deligny, F. The Arachnean and other texts

Descola ,P. Beyond Nature and Culture

Descola, P. The Ecology of Others

Derrida, J. The truth in painting

De Toledo, S. A. Cartes et lignes d’erre / Maps and wander lines: Traces du réseau de Fernand Deligny

Druot, F., Lacaton, A. & Vassal, J-P. Plus

Ellis, B. E. American Psycho: A novel

Fehn, S. The poetry of the straight line_Den rette linjes poesi

Fjeld, P. O.. Sverre Fehn. The pattern of thoughts

Flusser, V. Towards a Philosophy of Photography

Frampton, K. Labour, work and architecture: collected essays on architecture and design

Gissen, D. Territory: architecture beyond environment

Godard, J-L, & Ishaghpour, Y. How video made the history of cinema possible

Hays, M. K. Architecture theory since 1968

Hejduk, J. Architectures in Love. Sketchbook Notes

Hustvedt, S. The blazing world: A novel

Hustvedt, S. What I loved: A novel

Kittler, F. Optical Media

Kittler, F. & others. ReMembering the Body: Body and Movement in the 20th Century

Koestler, A. The Roots Of Coincidence. An Excursion Into Parapsychology

Koestler, A. The Act of Creation, a Study of the Conscious and Unconscious in Science and Art

Koestler, A. The Ghost In The Machine: The Urge To Self-Destruction

Kracauer, S. Theory of Film: the Redemption of Physical Reality

Krauss, R. & Bois, Y. A. Formless – A Users guide

Kwinter, S. Architectures of time: toward a theory of the event in modernist culture

Leatherbarrow, D. Uncommon ground: architecture, technology, and topography

Merleau-Ponty, M. Phenomenology of PerceptionM umford, Lewis. The transformations of man

Kolhaas, R. & Obrist, H. U. Project Japan: Metabolism Talks

Richter, G., & Friedel, H. Gerhard Richter: ATLAS

Scarry, E. The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World

Serres, M., Malfeance: appropriation through pollution

Skinner, B. F. Walden Two

Sontag, S. Regarding the Pain of Others

Sontag, S. On Photography

Stein, E. On the Problem of Empathy

Stein, E. Potency and Act, studies toward a philosophy of being

Stein, E. Finite and Eternal Being: an Attempt at an Ascent to the Meaning of Being

Thoreau, H. D. Walden, Or, Life in the Woods

Vesely, D. Architecture in the Age of Divided Representation. Question of Creativity ...

Viola, B. Reasons for knocking at an empty house: writings 1973- 1994

Woolf, V. Kew Gardens

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	Individual	Pass / fail	Attendance & participation – individual studio work: 20 weeks fulltime study. The work has to be conducted and performed in the studio - the working material is present at any time. Presence & participation - collective studio discussion: Weekly talks, lectures and studio discussions. Frequent work reviews. Workshop and fieldtrip. Book making. Final exhibition. Final review with invited guests-critics. Exercises (practical and theoretical), Project (individual presentation and submission) and Text/Essay as well as Presentation/Exhibition: For each of the reviews, assignments are announced and the students hand in visual and textual works which is complementary to the actual physical work made available and presented in the reviews. The final exhibition includes visual haptic material and a final book (including an essay of ca 5-10000 words).

Workload activity	Comment
Attendance	Project: 20 weeks fulltime study. The individual work has to be conducted and performed in the studio - the material is present at any time. Lectures & Discussion: Weekly two studio talks (lectures, screenings and/or work demonstrations etc.) and one weekly summing up (class discussion). Reviews, Exhibition & Publication: Four public mid-term work reviews (one to three days each). One individual work review / inventory. A final exhibition and making of publication (book). A final review with guest critics.
Workshops	Lista field-trip and workshop w/ James Carpenter (New York) and Stiv Kuling (Farsund)
Excursion	Study trip to Japan

Start semester

2019 Vår

40 627 Spatial performativity

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Spatial performativity

Credits:

Course code:

40 627

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Søren S. Sørensen

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Preliminary skills in computational design is advisory. Students with knowledge/skills in Rhino/Grasshopper or similar are encouraged to apply.

Course content

The studio is project-based and the assignment is to design a Performing Arts School // Performative Building. Disciplines to be included can be theatre, music, dance and ballet etc. or a selection of these. Art schools are simultaneously some of the most poetic and complex spaces to create. The range of disciplines and requirements related to sound, light, ventilation etc makes this a complex project, but is also offering rich and exciting possibilities for the architectural design and solutions.

The facility must bring together spaces for art, theater, dance or music, as well as faculty offices, a cantina and multipurpose performance hall, etc. Students are free to select the program(s) they would want to work with and include their ideas of an ideal learning space. In the design, students must consider technology integration, transparency, multipurpose space and outdoor learning. The studio will focus on an iterative design process to test and evaluate performative aspects of designs in relation to environmental impacts and functional inquiries. This is done through a range of parametric analysis that is based on the focus of each design project in the studio. The expected general evaluations include daylight inquiries, acoustics, natural ventilation and dimension of various spaces in addition to materiality, adjacencies, etc.

Study trip: Lisboa and Oporto, Portugal.

Teaching staff: Søren S. Sørensen, Sofia Martins de Cunha and Sareh Saeidi.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

of the architectural and computational design themes pursued by the studio.
of associative modelling.
of tools for analysis and simulation relating to environmental impact and performance.
of successful built examples of equivalent projects.
of Virtual and Augmented Reality for architectural visualisation and design.

Skills:

in computational design in architecture.
in utilizing associative modelling systems for architectural design.
in using simulations, analysis tools and advanced visualization as part of the design process.
reflective thinking and evaluation as a tool of developing design ideas within the design process.

Competence:

the ability to develop designs based on specific performative criteria in an integrated manner from the conceptual stage to the material articulation through computational design.
the ability to set up and follow through a design process that leads to the desired result.
the ability to utilize design as a method of research in architecture that facilitates the conception of novel architectural designs.

Working and learning activities

Pedagogy:

The learning approach is project-based. The students develop architectural projects, with tasks given and advised by the staff through studio supervision. Lectures and workshops focusing on selected themes will contribute to knowledge and skills relevant for the project.

The ACDL studio foregrounds research by design with strong emphasis on computational design. In the studio students will work independently or in small teams with an emphasis to enable lateral exchange of knowledge and skills.

The studio will be organized in three phases:

1st Phase: Program; Formulation of the design idea (concept) based on reflections on the site and surroundings.

2nd Phase: Development of the design; Analysis of the project performance. Iterative process in which materials and technical aspects are considered and evaluated.

3rd Phase: Consolidation; Finalizing the design and development of smaller scales of design. There must be a deep understanding of the main spaces.

Students are expected to present their projects at interim deliveries during the semester with drawings, models, renders, and digital presentations. Deliveries are mandatory.

Curriculum

To be specified and delivered at studio-start.

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required	80%	Required	Attendance and participation in announced reviews, lectures, meetings, seminars and workshops is mandatory.
Exercise	3	Required	3 interim deliveries and presentations.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	Individual	Pass / fail	The portfolio assessment consists of subtasks and a main architectural design project and final presentation. There will be several subtasks w/ presentations throughout the semester. The subtasks must be delivered and approved before the main project can be assessed.

Workload activity	Comment
Attendance	It is recommended that all work be done in the studio on a daily basis.
Excursion	Those who do not have the opportunity to participate in excursion will receive a task / a project that replaces this.

Start semester

2019 Vår

40 626 Multistory Buildings

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Multistory Buildings

Credits:

Course code:

40 626

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Bente Kleven

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

The most important issue about making architecture sustainable is to design and build buildings capable to adapt to changing users and programs over time. That is not always the case nowadays.

Lots of buildings are being demolished because of lack of adaptability to new users and programs. Practicing architects with their clients should always consider a holistic building design that takes care of durable solutions so that a building can last as long as possible framing the activity of different users to different times.

The Multistory buildings course will therefore focus on the architectural potential of various structures as a framework for good architectural spaces with general usability over time. An important aim for the course is to explore, study and play with the architectural potential of the loadbearing structure of a building in terms of materiality, design and how the structure can play an active role in framing good spaces for different use.

Another issue is to study and explore is the impact of a building's internal vertical infrastructure with concerns to building structure, multi-story spaces for stairs, lifts and shafts for service and technical equipment.

The building envelope do for sure also play an important role for a holistic architectural quality concerning daylight, indoor climate, materiality and how the architecture of a building fits into the actual surroundings. The climate shell will always deal with rough impact due to weather conditions and need special investigation and care in an architectural design process.

The first part of the semester will deal with investigation and research of actual structural materials and configuration of loadbearing elements for multistory buildings. These studies will include interesting historical examples, projects from architectural competitions and student projects.

The students will also investigate possible structural configurations in physical and digital model studies.

The second part of the semester the students will choose an actual plot and further investigate architectural ideas for a holistic multistory building in or near Oslo, and prove through sketches the adaptability for different users and programs (living- ,working- and public use spaces). The students have to choose specific topics that their own project will specially concentrate on.

Learning outcome

Knowledge about:
- how to explore, create and organize good architectural space for different programs in a given context.
- how to deal with different structural materials and loadbearing principles

- different principles for organization and design of vertical communication space and space for service-/technical equipment
- different building envelopes physical structure and materiality

Skills:
Being able to discuss, consider and explore:

- spatial and tactile qualities within a holistic architectural concept.
- various structural materiality and principles impact on architectural quality customized for different use and program for a building over time.
- architectural qualities and possibilities of different organization and design of vertical communication space for users and service

- a building envelope design

- architectural expression and materiality in relation to an actual location context.

Being able to document and present a conclusive and comprehensive and sustainable architectural project on an actual plot through excellent illustrations and a physical model.

General competence:
Being able to apply the acquired knowledge about structures, vertical communication spaces and building envelope into a sustainable building project with great architectural qualities usable for different programs. Get skills in discussing, evaluating and exploring the actual architectural topics.

Working and learning activities

The studio will be carried through with a main emphasis on architectural projects to be completed in groups of 2 students. Project material is expected to be detailed using digital tools, as well as small and largescale models. Preliminary sketching and development of ideas is to be done using analogue tools.

Otherwise, the course includes various activities:
• initial subtasks on current topics
• theme-oriented lectures
• private and group input / lectures and discussions
• inspection of relevant local projects
• a foreign excursion
• reviews every second week

It is possible to inform the study administration by an e-mail the name of your fellow student you plan to co-work with when you sign up for the course.

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required		Required	A general attendance of minimum 80% is required. - Attendance at lectures is required. - Participation in individual or group supervision is required, adapted to individual needs. - Participation in workshops and reviews is required to pass. - Development, presentation, and review of a completed project design is required to pass.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Project assignment	Individual	Pass / fail	The student must attend all project reviews. Final project presentations will be assessed as passed/failed by an internal and external examiner after a final review. There will be made a written evaluation.

Workload activity	Comment
Lectures	Mandatory attendance at all project reviews and active participation in discussions around the course different topics at lectures and other arragements.

Start semester

2019 Vår

40 625 In Balance: Carbon-neutral and climate responsive housing at Svalbard

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

In Balance: Carbon-neutral and climate responsive housing at Svalbard

Credits:

Course code:

40 625

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Tine Hegli

Sissil Morseth Gromholt

Moritz Groba

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

The project task will be to develop a housing typology fitted for an artic climate and based on a zero emission building methodology.

The Arctic region represents a unique area among Earth´s ecosystems, and is the area where the ongoing climate change is most prominent. With the ice melting follows new opportunities as well as severe challenges, and the region has these days got global attention. The settlements at Svalbard – the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean – has a strong international character due to the Svalbard Treaty. The coal industry is now decided phased out, while well-established academic research institutions as well as a tourism continue to grow. The increasing interest in the region has led to a need for general modernization of infrastructure, service institutions and housing/accommodation and a lot of planning activity is ongoing both in Svalbard and on a national level.

In response to the observed changes in the vulnerable ecosystem, and the up-coming transition from fossil to renewable energy sources, the time is right to exemplify how we can plan for the zero emission society, using Svalbard as a case. Relating to buildings, the target of a zero emission is reached by balancing the total emissions counted for during the buildings lifespan (lifecycle perspective of 60 years), by production of renewable energy integrated in the building itself. The lifecycle includes all phases, from production and transportation of building materials, through energy used for operation of the building to re-use/re-cycle scenarios eliminating waste when the building is being demolished (end of life). This methodology is in use by the research center ZEN Research Center on Zero Emission Neighborhoods in Smart Cities hosted by NTNU, and is the established methodology for national guidelines and standards (ex FutureBuilt).

The studio encourages both qualitative and quantitative evaluations and investigations during the form-finding-process. 3D printing and computer-aided design are paired with sketches and manual models. An idealistic and innovative approach merges with a commercial scenario, on a real site at Svalbard. The site/sites will be visited during the study trip to Svalbard in week 10.

Pedagogy

The learning approach is project-based. The students develop architectural projects, with tasks given and advised by the staff. Lectures and workshops focusing on selected themes will contribute to knowledge and skills relevant for the project.

The studio will focus on bringing in the following topics and connected competence:

Previous and ongoing research at AHO in regard to infrastructure and architecture in the artic region (in collaboration with UNIS)
Previous and ongoing research at NMBU in regard to technology for harvesting renewable energy in the artic region (in collaboration with UNIS).
Previous and ongoing research at NMBU in regard to the use of wood in the artic region.
Previous and ongoing research at NMBU in regard to climatic simulations (CFD)
Ongoing research at NTNU in regard to relevant energy sources and related emissions (ZEN The Research Center on Zero Emission Neighborhoods in Smart Cities)
Consultancy within the building industry working on geo- and solar energy applicable for the arctic region
Local politicians and stakeholders for test of relevance in choice of site/typology and building technique

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

on designing a building suited for an artic climate
on designing a building that can respond to the future needs for housing at Svalbard, seen in the light of a society undergoing radical transformation on many levels
on form-finding-processes focusing on adaption to the local climate (wind, snow, sun etc).
on form-finding-processes that include quantitative measurements of energy use and related emissions
on how different structural systems and building materials, interact with the relevant architectural strategies.
on designing a building based on a zero emission building methodology (ZEB/ZEN)
on which tools are available to assist the design process based on the above parameters
on best-practice climatically informed and inspired architecture, as well as architecture with very low carbon footprint

Skills:

To be able to critically engage in the development of a housing typology
To use computer-aided design in the form-finding -process and evaluation of results
To 3D print models as part of architectural exploration and documentation.
To use 2D projection drawings as a tool for planning.
To use refined techniques for communicative visual and written presentations.

General Competence:

To plan and design a medium-sized building for houing
To develop a sustainable conceptual design based on a zero emission building ambition
To understand the interrelation of architectural strategies and the impact on energy use and related emissions in a medium-sized building.
To realize the design through form, materials and details
To make and argue for decisions on sustainability and architectural quality
To develop a position to the questions of sustainability and architectural quality.

Working and learning activities

Other AHO instructors in the course: Sissil Gromholt, Moritz Groba og Arnkell Petersen.

The course will include (preliminary plan):

Introductory tasks in groups that generate a common knowledge base for the studio
Main task: Work in groups or individually on 1-3 given sites
Tutoring in the studio
Lectures and workshops by staff and invited architects and specialists
Study trip to Svalbard
Plenary reviews

Curriculum

1. Thermal Delight in Architecture
Author: Lisa Heschong

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Delight-Architecture-MIT-Press/dp/026258039X/ref=pd_sim_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=026258039X&pd_rd_r=N7MNKPGYNX04QCCTVG05&pd_rd_w=lhd7z&pd_rd_wg=kF2uK&psc=1&refRID=N7MNKPGYNX04QCCTVG05

2. Anne Britt Børve: publikasjon om snødrift og lokalklima (i forbindelse med doktorgrad)
https://snl.no/Anne_Brit_Børve

3. Sun Rhythm Form. MIT Press. (1981, Paperback ed. 1985) ISBN 9780262110785
Author: Ralph Knowles

4. Ritual House: Drawing on nature’s rhythms for architecture and urban design. Island Press. (2006) ISBN 9781597260503
Author Ralph Knowles

5. How buildings learn
Author: Stewart Brand
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_Buildings_Learn

6. Operating manual for Spaceship Earth
Author: Buckminster Fuller
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operating_Manual_for_Spaceship_Earth

7. Sun, Wind, and Light: Architectural Design Strategies 3rd Edition
Author: Mark de Kay, G Z Brown
https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Wind-Light-Architectural-Strategies/dp/0470945788/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530272688&sr=1-1&keywords=wind+sun+light

8. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things
Author: Michael Braungart, William Mc Donought
https://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Remaking-Way-Make-Things/dp/0865475873/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530272924&sr=1-1&keywords=cradle+to+cradle

9. Sustainability in Scandinavia – Architectural Design and Planning
Author: Ali Malkawi, Marius Nygaard, Anne Beim, Erik Stenberg
https://www.amazon.com/Sustainability-Scandinavia-Architectural-Design-Planning/dp/3869050128/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530273178&sr=1-1&keywords=sustainability+in+scandinavia

10. Zero Emission Buildings
Author: Anne Grete Hestnes, Nancy Lea Eik-Nes
https://www.fagbokforlaget.no/Zero-Emission-Buildings/I9788245020557

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	-	Pass / fail	The portfolio assessment consists of subtasks and a main project. There will be several subtasks w/presentations throughout the semester. The subtasks must be delivered and approved before the main project can be assessed.

Workload activity	Comment
Attendance	Participation and attendance in lectures, supervision at the desks in the studio, seminars and workshops is expected.
Excursion	Those who do not have the opportunity to participate in excursion will receive a task / a project that replaces this.

Start semester

2019 Vår

80 413 Portfolios and Political Compasses

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Portfolios and Political Compasses

Credits:

Course code:

80 413

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Joao Doria de Souza

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course participants must be able to keep a steady workflow, iterating in every week in order to build complexity over time. The course methodology will facilitate for that but it is each student's own responsibility to assure continuity in their participation.

Course content

Portfolios and Political Compasses is a part-seminar part-workshop elective course dedicated to discussing the dynamic relationship between a student's own set of intentions and the multiple ways in which their portfolio-object/thing can enable, enhance, expand and create an actual experience of said intentions.

Inspired by Alejandro Zaera Polo's "Well Into the 21st Century: Architectures of Post-Capitalism?" reflections already initiated in 1998 and revisited in an article published in El Croquis in 2015, the course will equip its participants with a modest cross-media publishing toolkit through a series of exercises to speculate an own political compass for their Design and Architecture practices.

In short: what's involved in showing your work in public, and how to make it personal while at the same time relevant to others?

Some practitioners have an online presence, some don’t. Some write for newspapers, some don’t. Some make collages, other make photoshoots, other make 3D renderings. Some film videos, some do livestreams. Some write articles, some use memes. Some do all of it together and more. Some say nothing should be done. Great things have been done through sketching on napkins in bar conversations (we won’t drink in class).

Guest faculty in Art History, Graphic Design, Architecture, Journalism, Curatorial Studies and Public Programming will join us over Skype, enhancing our collective investigation.

Learning outcome

Our collective speculation on Portfolios and Political Compasses will be articulated through prototyping portfolio formats in different media (print, film, web and performance) together with discussions about dissemination strategies that can establish one's set of ideas as a thing in the world.

Working and learning activities

Course participants will exercise short writing, documentation methods, collective critique and intensive editing of their own body of work, iterating presentations to their colleagues with increasing complexity towards a final prototype to be critiqued by an expert panel by the end of the semester.

Short software tutorials will be offered in class regarding methods for image collection and catalogging, together with simple techniques for harnessing AHO's own print lab infrastructure with a particular focus on rethinking objects such as boards, post-it walls, and xerox printing.

The course will also present current / pre-existing tools for online publishing and problematize public presentation formats such as Pecha Kucha and Keynote/Powerpoint/TED-talks, discussing the match between intentions with presentation situations.

Students are encouraged to bringing their own/previous portfolios (if existent) as an initial body of content.

Curriculum

Zaera-Polo, Alejandro. Well Into the 21st Century: Architectures of Post-Capitalism? El Croquis 187: Sergison Bates Architects 2004–16, 2016.

Manovich, Lev. “Database as Symbolic Form.” Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 1 June 1999, doi:https://doi.org/10.1177/135485659900500206.

Wall, Jeff. Pictures of Architecture - Architecture of Pictures: a Conversation between Jacques Herzog .. Walter De Gruyter & Co, 2004.

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required		Required	80 % presence required

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)	-	Pass / fail	— 30% presence — 50% iterative exercises — 20% final delivery

Start semester

2019 Vår

80 414 OCCAS on Style

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

OCCAS om stil

Credits:

Course code:

80 414

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

Norwegian / English

Year:

2019

Maximum number of students:

Person in charge

Mari Hvattum

Required prerequisite knowledge

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

The course is open for all students on Master level at AHO, but is best suited to students with a keen interest in history and theory.

Course content

‘Style’ has long been a reviled concept in modern architecture. From Mies van der Rohe equating style with formalism, to Rem Koolhaas parroting Le Corbusier’s ‘The “styles” are a lie’ in his S,M,L,XL glossary, style has been viewed with suspicion by architects and historians for most of the twentieth century. The scepticism persists. Apart from a brief comeback in the 1980s, style still seems to ring with modernist allegations of lie, deceit, and historicist masquerade.

Modernist critique notwithstanding, style was for centuries a way of dealing with meaning in architecture and a subtle vehicle for thinking about architecture’s referentiality and historicity. Whether one studies nineteenth-century style theory or twentieth-century anti-style rhetoric, the centrality of the concept to modern architectural culture can hardly be overestimated.

This elective course investigates style as theory and practice. Through lectures and reading seminars, we trace the formation of the modern concept of style in architecture; investigate the particular idea of history underlying it, and probe into key examples of style at work.

‘On Style’ is an elective course linked to OCCAS’ on-going research project Printing the Past (PriArc).

Learning outcome

On completing the course the students will have gained knowledge and understanding of key concepts in modern architectural thinking. They will have gained experience in academic writing and practice in analyzing historical and theoretical texts.

Working and learning activities

The course is organized as a series of lectures and reading seminars. The students are expected to read and discuss texts throughout the semester. The evaluation will be based on seminar participation and a final 3000 word essay. The essay is assessed according to its originality, use of sources, and academic craftsmanship.

Curriculum

The curriculum texts will be available on moodle. Some key texts are:

Boffrand, Germain, Book of Architecture: Containing the General Principles of the Art, red. C. van Eck. Aldershot: Ashgate 2002.

Joseph Mordaunt Crook, The Dilemma of Style. Architectural Ideas from the Picturesque to the Post-Modern. London: John Murray 1987.

Caroline van Eck m.fl. (red.), The Question of Style in Philosophy and the Arts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1995.

Gottfried Semper, Gottfried, «Über Baustile» (1869). In: H Semper and M Semper (eds), Kleine Schriften. Mittenwald: Mänder Kunstverlag 1979. pp. 395–426.

Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy, “Style”, fra Dictionnaire historique d'architecture (1832), trans. Samir Younés, The True, the Fictive, and the Real: The Historical Dictionary of Architecture of Quatremère de Quincy. London: Papadakis 1999.

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Project assignment	Individual	Pass / fail	The evaluation will be based on seminar participation and a final 3000 word essay. The essay is assessed according to its originality, use of sources, and academic craftsmanship.

Start semester

60 701 Pre-diploma for urbanism and landscape architecture

Emnenavn på Norwegian Bokmål:

Pre-diplom for urbanisme og landskapsarkitektur

Credits:

Course code:

60 701

Level of study:

Master

Teaching semester:

2019 Spring

Assessment semester:

2019 Spring

Language of instruction:

English

Person in charge

Sabine Muller

Required prerequisite knowledge

Successful completion of 60 ECTS mastesr level studies. Last Semester before diploma. The course is open to students of architecture and landscape architecture.

Students need to be present at AHO while doing their pre-diploma. Students working abroad will not be allowed to participate in the course.

Course content

The pre-diploma semester at AHO is an independent research task on a theme chosen by the candidate. In consultation with the course teacher, fellow students and a chosen advisor, the candidate is to produce a report that details a topic to be studied, an approach or methodology, a spatial program and a plan of work. This report is the foundation of the diploma work.

Learning outcome

At the end of the course, the students will have acquired the necessary knowledge to proceed with the independent diploma assignment: ∙ An understanding of the complexity of a chosen urban or landscape site and topic ∙ An ability to frame artistic and scientific research ∙ An understanding of the given natural, social, cultural and technological conditions that govern urban or landscape design work ∙ An awareness of the topic’s historical, societal, theoretical and methodological ramifications ∙ An ability to communicate ideas and plan work ∙ An understanding of one’s own individual position with the discipline

Working and learning activities

The course is an individual research assignment with group discussions and interim presentations of the different research components. It concludes with a pre-diploma report containing the following elements: - Topic description - Site presentation - Maps of selected issues - Reviews and discussions of relevant literature - Summaries and discussions of interviews with experts - Reference projects presentations and discussions

Mandatory coursework	Courseworks required	Presence required	Comment
Presence required		Not required	Presentation of exercises in the group, individual supervision

Form of assessment	Grouping	Grading scale	Comment
Report	Individual	Pass / fail

Workload activity	Comment
Written assignments

Mandatory coursework:	Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:	Required
Comment:	Presence and discussing work at at least 80% of the desk-crits is mandatory to pass the course.

Form of assessment:	Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:	-
Grading scale:	Pass / fail
Comment:	The course has individual hand-ins related to each course phase. These are mandatory submissions that are part of the project evaluation. The final phase includes developing an individual model in scale 1:200, ande a small selection of representative drawings

Mandatory coursework:	Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:	Required
Comment:	The minimum attendance to the studio activities is 80% of organized events.

Mandatory coursework:	Exercise
Courseworks required:	3
Presence required:	Required
Comment:	3 interim deliveries and presentations.

Mandatory coursework:	Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:	Required
Comment:	A general attendance of minimum 80% is required. - Attendance at lectures is required. - Participation in individual or group supervision is required, adapted to individual needs. - Participation in workshops and reviews is required to pass. - Development, presentation, and review of a completed project design is required to pass.

Languages

2019 Vår

Start semester

60 615 Acting like Summer, Walking like Rain - Architectures of Water and Weather in Greater Oslo

Start semester

60 614 Architecture = City

Start semester

40 629 SCS China Studio

Start semester

40 628 Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis VII - Acting and the Collective VII

Start semester

40 627 Spatial performativity

Start semester

40 626 Multistory Buildings

Start semester

40 625 In Balance: Carbon-neutral and climate responsive housing at Svalbard

Start semester

80 413 Portfolios and Political Compasses

Start semester

80 414 OCCAS on Style

Start semester

60 701 Pre-diploma for urbanism and landscape architecture

Pages

Workload activity:	Attendance
Comment:	The building of a body of collective knowledge and the exchange of ideas are essential to the studio. All students are expected to work in the studio, not off-school. Studio days are Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. All students will have a desk-crit of research or design-work at least once a week. New work to discuss is expected for each desk-crit.