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80 315 Architectural Detailing

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Architectural Detailing
Credits: 
6
Course code: 
80 315
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian / English
Year: 
2020
Maximum number of students: 
12
Person in charge
Ane Sønderaal Tolfsen
Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies.

Course content

The seminar will provide a structure for understanding architectural detailing in terms of technical, structural, and aesthetic considerations in combination with aspects of material, scale, thermal condition, architectural concept and construction logic.

The seminar will primarily give students a framework for why elements are put together as they are – how climatic considerations are solved together with architectural aims and ideas. We will look at historical references to the making of architectural details and its current status in today’s building industry. We will investigate the relationship between the performer and the consumer – the performer meaning creator; the Architect or Engineer, and the consumer as client, builder or contractor. They all read the architectural detail in different ways in terms of - for example - cost, maintenance, fabrication, and even health and safety.

By re-drawing projects not only in detail, but also in plan, section, façade and schemes, students will investigate why and how elements are put together as they are. What does every line in the detail represent? How is heat flow and water controlled in the detail? Which material touch upon each other and which do not? What materials are chosen and why? How is its hierarchy and refinement? How does the detail deal with the buildings life cycle? What does the detail tell us about the ease of assembly? How does the detail even deal with a particular site? 

Architectural detailing is a subject within the field of architecture, where details give us knowledge of interventions and principals for constructing the built environment. Students will through lectures, tasks and discussions be introduced to the complexity of detailing.

 

Tutors: Ane Sønderaal Tolfsen og Ingvild Hodnekvam

 

Learning outcome

On completion this course students will have learned:

  • a fundamental understanding of architectural detailing
  • historical reference through the analysis of details
  • the climatic basis of architectural detailing
  • how a detail can develop a project and how details enforce architectural ideas
  • how todays building regulations affect detailing
  • how we detail in various architectural scales (1:5, 1:20 etc) and how details work in different size of buildings
Working and learning activities

The seminar will give the students analysis tasks of details from mainly architectural production in Norway. We will search for projects to analyze which is not necessarily architectural icons, but try to find buildings around us which is of higher architectural quality in our surroundings.  We will aim to work hands-on with archived drawings, site visits and analysis through re-drawing of built projects. In addition to two- and three-dimensional material produced during the seminar, the students will need to conclude their analysis and findings in concise, written texts and descriptions. Supplementing this, there will be other tasks and tutorials during the semester.

Course meetings with lectures and discussions will be held in the morning, and field trips, archival work and individual work will take place in the afternoon. The seminar lectures will support and complement the student’s individual tasks. 

Some lectures and discussions during the course will be given in Norwegian.

Students are expected to attend all course days and be active participants in the seminar activities.

Curriculum

The curriculum will be given out closer to semester start.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet RequiredStudents are expected to attend all course meetings and be active contributors and participants.
The seminar requires full days of attendance all Tuesdays and a full week of attendance during elective week. In addition, the students need to work on seminar tasks on their own time.
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Students are expected to attend all course meetings and be active contributors and participants.
The seminar requires full days of attendance all Tuesdays and a full week of attendance during elective week. In addition, the students need to work on seminar tasks on their own time.
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:

Start semester

40 317 Plan-drawing in Architecture

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Plan-drawing in Architecture
Course code: 
40 317
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian / English
Year: 
2020
Maximum number of students: 
12
Person in charge
Neven Mikac Fuchs
Aleksandra Ognjanov
Required prerequisite knowledge

Passed 6 semesters.

Course content

The way in which a project is drawn and represented illustrates the content and evolution of its architecture, the architect's statement and its overall intention.

Plan-drawing represents the horizontal section through the building, projected in graphic form on a 2D plane. In this way, somehow anonymously, it shows all the necessary information for imagining, understanding and producing architecture. In spite of being an abstract geometry of reality, it depicts reality as precisely as possible, showing everything that is there: physical materials and details that enclose spaces, meetings between different materials showing how architectural elements are put together, it shows construction, stairs and infrastructure, proportions, space and light and even how people live in this space.

The lines of a drawing are not just lines. We always imagine them as translated into objects and spaces. In our minds, we connect these lines of drawing into mass, space, movements and actions of people. Different thicknesses of lines distinguish what is cut in section or seen in elevation. We could read scale, proportion, light changes during the year, all of which allows us to imagine and experience space, atmosphere and material, and create beautiful architecture.

The precision and imaginativeness of the drawn information tells about the architectural content and provides an opportunity to understand, interpret and relate to the world of architecture, both intellectually, technically and emotionally. Planning is an analytical tool to study and develop in-depth the architecture of a project. Therefore, the technique of making the plan should be used precisely and efficiently, in keeping with its specific potential.

The course is imagined in two overlapping parts, which will run parallel to each other throughout the semester. In the more theoretically and practically grounded first part, the students will briefly learn about the importance, development and structure of plan drawing during the history of architecture, from Renaissance to today. The more practically oriented second part will be concerned with discussion, study and redrawing of the case study plans of architecture by Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn, in connection with the new book project on the architect. 

https://sverrefehnbook.website/

 

Teaching assistant: Aleksandra Ognjanov.

Learning outcome

1

Formulating the independent and prejudice-less knowledge about structure, development and potential of representative architectural ideas, more specifically by using the plan drawings.

2

Stimulating the awareness of one's own architectural position and attitude towards the representation of architecture and architectural space.

3

Learning about Sverre Fehn's architecture and his art of constructing spaces, his use of geometry, construction, organization of space, architectural elements,

 etc.

4

Stimulating the individual awareness of today's positions in architecture.

 

 

 

After finishing the course, the student should:

- be able to develop and consciously use his / her own way of working with plan drawings.

- be able to develop principles for structuring the plan drawing and technical skills to develop them into a project.

- be able to understand, develop and structure the architectural knowledge on the basis of specific architectural themes, given during the course.

 

Working and learning activities

The course is imagined in two overlapping parts, which will run parallel to each other throughout the entire semester.

 

The aim of the course will be:

- by acquiring knowledge about plan drawings and representing spatial ideas, to create motivation for deepening the personal understanding of architecture, space and experience of space and of architectural elements every project consists of.

- To stimulate, cultivate and articulate personal discussions with teachers, through the different tasks during the course.

-The teaching will consist of individual discussions and desk critiques, collecting and re-drawing the case studies on Fehn's architecture, and info lectures structured in-between 3 beamer reviews

Curriculum

Robin Evans: The Projective Cast: Architecture and its Three Geometries

Robin Evans: Translations from Drawing to Building

Laurent Stalder, Valerio Olgiati

Projects 2009 - 2017 by Valerio Olgiati

Per Olaf Fjeld: Sverre Fehn The Pattern of Thoughts

Per Olaf Fjeld: The Thought of Construction

Sverre Fehn The Poetry of the Straight Line, Exhibition catalog

Gennaro Postiglione: Sverre Fehn, Collected Works

Kazuo Shinohara, 2G

Axel Menges, Kazuo Shinohara

 

  

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Presence required Required
Supervision talks Required
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:
Mandatory coursework:Supervision talks
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentIndividualPass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:
Workload activityComment
Individual problem solving
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Individual problem solving
Comment:

Start semester

40 367 An Architectural Proposal

Credits: 
24
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
An Architectural Proposal
Course code: 
40 367
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian / English
Year: 
2020
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Neven Mikac Fuchs
Aleksandra Ognjanov
Required prerequisite knowledge

Passed 7 semesters.

Course content

Master studio Space and Technique is concerned with exploring ideas about architectural space and different techniques of making these ideas possible as beautiful and real experiences of everyday architecture.

www.romogteknikk.aho.no

The main goal of this studio is to produce architecture where form and space are based on the student’s understanding of architecture and life and his/her desire to implement it in the project. We call the representations of these processes which intentionally contain both physical, intellectual and emotional ‘manipulation’ of the world around us - the architectural proposal. The guest professor in the studio will be Swiss architect Pascal Flammer.

http://www.pascalflammer.com

The design work in the studio during the semester will be focused on three parts:

 

1/Self-reflection

The first phase is self-reflective and without any direct consideration of architectural form and space. The student will be asked to define what his/her fundamental interests and views are and then understand, rationalize and describe his/her motivations and fascinations. The process will be an analysis of ideas, experiences, knowledge, etc., revealing the aspects of personal significance in the questions which are universally relevant. But in addition, certain themes, that we, teachers are interested to explore at the moment, will be introduced. The given themes will be: FRAGMENTED ENTITIES, MIXING OF SEEMINGLY UNFITTING THINGS and the renewed notion of COLLAGE, COLORS, may be MIRRORS and some others.  The more explicit and inclusive the distilled “analysis” in this phase, the more effective it will serve as a guiding principle for the second phase: the manifestation of form.

 

2/Manifestation of Form

The abstract and formless self-reflection is transformed into a mental, a physical and emotional manifestation of the most holistic and feasible form and space possible.

Site, size, typology, function (chosen by students), construction, material and space will be thematically developed according to the guidelines of self-reflection. The goal is maximizing the intensity of proposed architecture, through the virtuosity, clarity and elegance of student’s intention. The full exploration and development of architectural elements, but also architectonic tools will be employed. In that work, we will focus on two notions: on creating an architecture of contradiction and interactiveness.

 

3/Representation

 

The transformation from self-reflection to form and space exists only in the author’s mind and remains as yet undefined in many aspects. Through the representation process, the students will design elements of mental form physically concrete, hierarchically ordered, proportioned, well-structured, etc, in order to clarify and communicate their thoughts and intentions to the others. The aim is to single out the ideal, most effective representational instrument, related to the becoming project. By means of a “language” of the project, the process will find its final form and space, and that’s what we will call “an architectural proposal”.

 

These three steps are of course non-linear, they are largely iterative and fragmentary. Nevertheless, your architectural proposal should be highly consistent. A good proposal should loosen from the hermetic of the authorship and the creative process by which it emerged., and therefore become universal.  

 

Teaching assistants: Aleksandra Ognjanov, Chris Engh

Learning outcome

Formulating the independent and prejudice-less thinking about architecture and working with its constituent elements, like the site, size, function, typology, building materials, etc.

2

Stimulating the individual awareness of today’s positions in architecture

3

Stimulating the awareness of one's own architectural position and one's own attitude toward the work with architecture

4

benefit from the work with a foreign guest-teacher and from the confrontation with his architectural thinking, knowledge, experience and imagination.

 

After finishing the course, the student should:

- be able to develop and consciously use his/her own “way of working“

- be able to argue for an individual and specific statement about his/her design aims. This statement is important as a starting point, but also as a benchmark of every architectural project.

- be able to develop principles for the structuring of both basic and complex architectural material and technical skills and develop them into a final project

- be able to develop and structure the architectural knowledge on the base of specific project themes chosen to work with during the studio and latter

- be able to learn how to creatively use architectural research in the work with architecture.

- be able to present and communicate his/her architectural ideas and his/her final project through the appropriate forms of representation, with text, drawings, models, diagrams, photos, 3Ds, etc.

Working and learning activities

The main aims of teaching in the studio will be:

- to create motivation for the self-reflective analytical thinking and the causal architectural expression

- to stimulate, cultivate and articulate personal discussions with teachers, as well as open public discussions within the studio, on the development of the projects

 

The teaching will consist of the work in the studio, the individual discussions and desk crits, case studies, public discussions, seminaries, films and lectures structured in-between 3 public reviews.

 

The work will be conducted in 3 steps with two interim reviews plus the final review. Then, the students have to present the state of their work in a consistent and convincing way. The duration of each step will be approximately 1 month, ending with a public presentation and discussion/critique of the individual work.

 

The goal of the study trip is not yet definitely decided (Mexico, Muharraq/Bahrein or Switzerland)

 

 

Workload will consist of:

- texts, drawings and models, digital and hand-produced in a different scale, photographs and 3D illustrations

- the prepared public discussions and reviews of the individual work

- the final project will be presented with A BOOK, A LARGE A1 REPRESENTATION CHOSEN BY STUDENT, 3D PHYSICAL REPRESENTATION/MODEL

 

a) A main focus during the semester is laid on the design process and critical debate about the traced ideas. This discussion will be held in weekly table critics. The performance of discussions accounts for approximately 25% of the semester mark.

b) During the semester there are two interim reviews plus the final review. Then, the students have to present the state of their work in a consistent and convincing way. The performance on reviews accounts for approximately another 25% of the semester mark.

c) The finally provided design project accounts for the remaining 50% of the semester mark. Besides the architectural qualities of the project, the qualities of the visual representations will be assessed.

The delivered complete project material for the AHO Works exhibition and for the final review 04.06.2016. The studio work is evaluated with Passed or Not Passed, cf. Regulation for Master's Studies at AHO, pt. 6-14.

Curriculum

Will be given later.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Presence required Required
Supervision talks Required
Excursions Not required
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:
Mandatory coursework:Supervision talks
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:
Mandatory coursework:Excursions
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Not required
Comment:
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentIndividualPass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:
Workload activityComment
Planning assignment
Individual problem solving
Attendance
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Planning assignment
Comment:
Workload activity:Individual problem solving
Comment:
Workload activity:Attendance
Comment:

40 301 Body and Space Morphologies : Architecture & Film XVI - Any Boarded Stories IV

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Body and Space Morphologies : Architecture & Film XVI - Any Boarded Stories IV
Course code: 
40 301
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2020
Maximum number of students: 
20
Person in charge
Rolf Gerstlauer
Required prerequisite knowledge

This elective course is reserved for the students signing up to the 40 635 Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis – Acting and The Collective master studio - or any student who either plans to stay for most parts of the semester in The LISTA Field-Studio and/or who plans to dedicate the work in this course as to somehow relating to the LISTA Peninsula.

If you are uncertain about what the above statement implies, please do contact the study administration or the teaching body of this course before you sign up to it.

Course content

INTRODUCTION: Body and Space Morphologies

Content, Overall Aims and Methods

Body and Space Morphologies is a research-based teaching program placed in the field of Architecture & Culture studies. Dedicated to Phenomenology in Architecture, the program offers Trans-Disciplinary master studios (Catharsis – Acting and The Collective, 24 ECTS) and elective courses (Architecture & Film, 6 ECTS) in explorative - architectural and pre-architectural - making, sensing and thinking.

From The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Phenomenology (2012, Dan Zahavi, ed.):
“Phenomenology shares the conviction that the critical stance proper to philosophy requires a move away from a straightforward metaphysical or empirical investigation of objects to an investigation of the very framework of meaning and intelligibility that makes any such straightforward investigation possible in the first place. It precisely asks how something like objectivity is possible in the first place.”

Our attempt is to partake in the discourse on the Phenomenology of Architecture by working and studying Architectural Phenomenology outside of the Conventions of Architecture. In theory, this can mean a free-thinking, and to some degree also a “free-making” and/or “free-looking”, yet in the realm of our studios it means the making of a dedicated Artistic Research which is looking for the Creation of a Material Practice in which the student can gain a certain expertise in and through which the discourse on the Phenomenology of Architecture can be tried on – if it not already is embodied by the material itself.

We aim at preparing and enabling students to conduct their own investigation into Architectural Phenomenology understood as a Research Creation; a working mode creating an inspired Material Practice “attuned to process rather than the communication of outputs or products” (https://thepedagogicalimpulse.com/research-methodologies/). We consider this to be the Artistic Parallel to both Traditional Scholarly Research and Common Architectural Design Practice.

SPECIFICS FOR SPRING 2020:

ARCHITECTURE & FILM XVI – ANY BOARDED STORIES IV:

This elective course is reserved for the students signing up to the Catharsis – Acting and The Collective master studio - or any student who either plans to stay for most parts of the semester in The LISTA Field-Studio and/or who plans to dedicate the work in this course as to somehow relating to the LISTA Peninsula.

Architecture & Film wants to investigate in and produce competence within the subject of The Production and Representation of Body and Space Morphologies and/or Architectural Phenomenology in Film.

The spring 2020 course entitled “ANY Boarded Stories” - the fourth take on this topic, and the ninth in the series titled Acting and The Collective that works on performativity, performance and performance studies - is a complementary study to the artistic research the students conduct in the LISTA environment when participating in the Catharsis - Acting and The Collective master course studio, or it makes an independent own filmic research finding ways to approach, capture, look at and present issues, events, situations and/or phenomena linked to the Lista environment.

The aim of the course is to provide students with the tools (video and film-making / editing) possible or needed to deploy complementary ways of working and means of creative investigations that make, demonstrate or narrate a high degree of third-party readability – a dialogue between the above-mentioned artistic research works’ inherent qualities and how those qualities through film/video works connect to (or can become) issues, phenomena and/or subjects in the world - or alternative; an independent study that manages to interfear with the complexity of an environment as to make and show any type of Boarded Stories: distinct behaviours, phenomena and/or performances captured in (or made by) video and film.

The final exercise during the elective course week will search to produce or create kinetic architectural space / or spatial narratives on video in the length of a feature film that can be published. The Problem of The Body (Maurice Merleau-Ponty –The Phenomenology of Perception) is the main protagonist and character we act and perform with. The discussion of the studio together with its final results will be published for use of The LISTA Research Creation Project.

Learning outcome

For the ARCHITECTURE & FILM Studio (as part of the LISTA Field-Studio):

Architecture & Film students discover, retrieve and nourish the discourse on phenomenology of architecture from an immediate and impulsive response, through intuitive and reflective filmmaking, by ways of approaching an environment, and spending time with its inhabitants.

After completing the course - and through experimental film-making -, the student should have:

Knowledge of

  • the basics in phenomenology of architecture and the various practices that exist within (and that can become part of) architectural phenomenology

  • the basics in affordance theory and the theories concerning objecthood and/or object relations as means to fuel and reflect upon a material practice and/or artistic research in the field of architecture

  • the basics in performance and performance studies that make body & space morphologies: ways of making, looking at, discussing and seeing/understanding qualia and perception in the working of architecture

  • the basics in disability studies and neurodiversity studies as the necessary activist movements working and re-defining the human condition from “all the world’s a stage” (Shakespeare) towards for all of the human spectrum with its diverse behavior

  • the basics of performativity, language and speech acts as the tools that can add value to the making and a work – but that not necessarily must seek to replace the issues at stake in a work or a thing

  • the foundational preparations for an advanced visual experimental architectural design research through the work on, and manufacturing of, moving imagery

Skills in

  • finding, developing and/or embracing initiatives for the making of an inspired, explorative and imaginative artistic research through the media of film and/or video

  • conducting this artistic research with the desire to make or pursue a feature film containing, or inviting for, reflections in phenomenology of architecture / architectural phenomenology

  • deploying film-making as a particular means of creative investigation that makes, demonstrate or narrates a dialogue between works, behaviour environment and spectator

  • maintaining a personal diary of the making that can be worked into documents of the making aiming at a third-party readability

  • through film-making approaching environments, situations and discussions phenomenological and applying and recognizing performativity in speech and action as productive means from which to provoke and receive social employed knowing

Competence in

  • approaching and acting on impulse with all sorts of material, objects, environments and/or events and gaining valuable experience and film/video footage from this

  • conceiving of and presenting/communicating unique architectural content/research through a visual material and the phenomena or conditions contained and experienced in it

  • understanding the mechanisms and rhetoric of systems of oppression, learned behavior, eugenics and stigma that are un-productive and unsustainable (in the field of architecture as well as in the systems we call architecture)

  • developing and/or pursuing life-long initiatives for a material practice in architectural phenomenology that is independent of, and/or adaptable to, any kind of professional commission

  • not knowing a thing, but having the passion, dedication, endurance and imagination to wanting to get to know it

Working and learning activities

Organization, Workload and Activities

Exercises in video-sketching* (and later in the semester also video-editing) make up weekly self-studies in which students experiment with film/video-making to strengthen their awareness for film as a media with the capacity to influence, further understand and develop architectural - and otherwise performative or kinetic – body, environments and space – aiming at becoming a filmic investigation as a self-study about the making of an artistic research in (or about) the LISTA environment.

All reviews/discussions take place in the office of Stiv Kuling AS in Farsund/Lista - students not present in Lista on Tuesdays are reviewd and discussed on skype. The elective course week is organized as a seminar / workshop in which we discuss and craft a final film.

The final films in feature length are meant to make and support the argument for a future LISTA Research-Creation Project. (For the LISTA Field-Studio and the LISTA Research-Creation Project, please see the course description for the main studio 40 635 Body and Space Morphologies : Catharsis - Acting and The Collective IV)

Curriculum

Curriculum, Teachers and Main Collaborators

The curriculum/syllabus of the course is taught online through the Moodle-platform and starts with a brief historical, theoretical and philosophical discussion on space in general, and on the perception of kinetic representation of architectural space in particular – be it on film, literature, in the arts or in religion etc...

The recommended reading list is shared with the main studio Catharsis - Acting and The Collective. The distinct readings (curriculum) for the Architecture & Film elective course are handed out weekly.

The Body and Space Morphologies studios collaborate with capacities in other fields of the Humanities (and the Science) providing us with the Trans-Disciplinary syllabus (lectures, readings and field-studies / excursions) necessary to individually and collectively ponder and reflect on Phenomenology in Architecture; the Human Condition and the Creative Act it is to make and conceive of Relational Objects or Architectural Phenomenology.

The teachers and main collaborators to the Body and Space Morphologies studios are:

Rolf Gerstlauer, professor, architect and multimedia artist/researcher at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, AHO. Head of the Body and Space Morphologies research and teaching program. Maintains an artistic practice together with Dind and collaborates with her in implementing aspects of Disability and Neurodiversity Studies into the teachings of the Body and Space Morphologies studios.

Julie Valentine Dind, performer/artist/phd-student, Theatre Arts and Performance Studies, Brown University, Providence/USA. Dind’s scholarly work provides the Body and Space Morphologies studios with an updated syllabus on Performance and Performance Studies, Disability Studies and the Neurodiversity Movement. The Body and Space Morphologies studios serve as laboratory in which this work is sought to be implemented into architectural education – and architecture per se.

Jan Gunar Skjeldsøy & Anders Eik Pilskog, architects, Stiv Kuling AS, Farsund/Norway. Skjeldsøy and Pilskog, both former AHO students, are long-term collaborators to the studios and since 2019 also our teaching assistants. Together they sign responsible to run the LISTA Field Studio (2019/2020). The weekly Tuesday sessions on the works in the Architecture & Film elective course take place in their office in Farsund.

Inge Eikeland, head of the section of culture and sports, Farsund Commune, together with other public, private and academic institutions and local as well as international capacities or resources that assist us, or spar with us, in finding ways of entering the Lista Peninsula as the ground that gives affordance for the making of a future Research Creation Project.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentIndividualPass / failIndividual artistic research work: On each of the ten Tuesday course days, the self-study (video footage captured throughout the week) is discussed in plenum. The material handed in for that weekly discussion consists of between 1-20 video-sketches and a short text.

The final seminar and workshop week runs from Monday to Friday. Each student works on her/his own final-film and a written critical reflection on what the film makes and presents.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:Individual artistic research work: On each of the ten Tuesday course days, the self-study (video footage captured throughout the week) is discussed in plenum. The material handed in for that weekly discussion consists of between 1-20 video-sketches and a short text.

The final seminar and workshop week runs from Monday to Friday. Each student works on her/his own final-film and a written critical reflection on what the film makes and presents.

Start semester

65 607 Nixtopia Tromsø

Credits: 
20
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Nixtopia Tromsø
Course code: 
65 607
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2020
Person in charge
Kjerstin Uhre
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Prerequisites/Admission requirements: Bachelor in landscape architecture/architecture

Recommended previous knowledge:  working knowledge of hand-drawing/sketching, Adobe InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop, CAD. 3D modelling and GIS experience is an advantage.

Course content

Tromsø is an urban island that abounds with snow from the Polar night through spring-winter. Daily routines for snow handling and storage are required five to six months of the year. A warming climate poses new disruptions with sudden thaws and rain on snow entailing challenges to human and animal livelihoods both within and outside the city. The Arctic is warming six times the global average, and Tromsø is growing in a thawing environment. The course Nixtopia Tromsø combines traditional, scientific, and practical snow-how with landscape design strategies. Winter actions broadly define the conditions for snow critters and plant species, liveable, and pleasurable areas in spring and summer.

The studio will run parallelly and collaborate closely with the course Ecology for Landscape Architecture. Shared knowledge between the two courses helps to understand the importance of coordination of seasonal routines and ecological life cycles in the maintenance of green, blue and white infrastructures.

Latin names of plant species are used in the ecology course, mirroring this, the course name Nixtopia combines the Latin word for snow, Nix and the suffix -topia, which means both place and community. Nixtopia Tromsø aims to explore the possibilities for civic meeting places and connections throughout the Tromsø island’s city centres, forests, and plains. The studio aims to develop an awareness and critical reflection on topics that contribute to positioning landscape architecture in the public discourse.

The students will work with on-site field investigations and landscape architectural projects at localities on the Tromsø Island/Romssasuolu. Each student starts as location scouts to find a suitable location where snow practices may be experienced, staged and studied. We expect that the students use their site actively in their design research and concept development. 

Learning outcome

Knowledge

  • Site-specific project work during winter and spring-winter period will provide and produce knowledge on:
    • Sub-arctic snow and water features in urban environments, materiality, opportunities and structure
    • The forces at work in snow management
    • Ecology in relation to site-specific spatial and climatic conditions of the sub-arctic
    • Human practices in the landscape, with a particular focus on sub-arctic conditions
       
  • Landscape architectural mapping and modelling as a medium in transdisciplinary urban research

 

Skills

  • Perceive and represent ephemeral landscapes and landscape transformation
  • Produce tangible knowledge through developing landscape design concepts
  • Urban landscape programming and location strategies
  • Visual communication and architectural drawing
  • Visual analysis and communication of elemental geological, ecological, meteorological, and cultural understanding
  • Design conceptualisation and experimentation with form in changing environments

 

Competences

  • Ability to acquire knowledge and develop sensitivity to input from site, science and culture as well as the specific local context
  • Ability to make this knowledge instrumental to the development of strong concepts and design proposals with artistic quality
  • Ability to conceptualize and develop integral landscape architecture design rooted in seasonal, local contexts
  • Landscape architectural projects as constructive and critical statements in urban transformation
  • Collaboration with peers in research and design development
Working and learning activities
  • Excursions/mini-study trips to significant landscapes in the region, including overnight stays
  • Site-specific analysis and spatial experiments at the Tromsø Island /Romssasuolu
  • Seminars with guest lecturers
  • Book production, and articulation of landscape texts
  • Workshops in applied climate knowledge, infographics, model building, and Arctic Urbanism
  • Approximately 19 weeks of supervised design research and development in the studio
Curriculum

·         Relevant texts are provided as part of studio resources

·         Students will have access to workshop facilities

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentGroupPass / failFinal studio work is presented in group review evaluated by external sensors. Details on deliverables will be provided with the detailed studio plan but usually includes digital presentation and exhibition of model work together with printed posters/boards.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Group
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:Final studio work is presented in group review evaluated by external sensors. Details on deliverables will be provided with the detailed studio plan but usually includes digital presentation and exhibition of model work together with printed posters/boards.

Start semester

65 403 Ecology for Landscape Architecture

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Ecology for Landscape Architecture
Credits: 
10
Course code: 
65 403
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2020
Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to AHO and successful completion of three years bachelor level studies (180 ECTS) in landscape architecture or architecture from university or university college.

The course is part of the Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies and requiers that the students live in Tromsø for the duration of the course.

Course content

Course responsible:

Eva Breitschopf

 

An introduction to ecology for landscape architecture.

The terms ecology/ecological will be examined and defined. The focus will be on how ecology as science has relevance for landscape architects as inspiration, information and qualification in their work and their design.

Fundamental ecological theories, terms and concepts describing different plant types or plant forms, including their traits, coupling to soil, soil organisms and ecological function, are central to the course. It will be emphasized how ecological function is linked to plant form and thus how design based on plant form has a link to ecological function.

The course will also introduce the term biodiversity, including examples of how biodiversity is an integrated part of ecosystems and essential for ecosystem services. Examples of naturally vegetated areas in cold climates and borders towards these will be given particular focus.

 

 

Teaching and learning are centred on lectures, assignments, small laboratory project work and includes training in and introduction to:

  • What is ecology
  • How plant form and function is linked
  • How plants, soil and soil organisms are coupled
  • Design and ecological interpretation
  • Biodiversity
  • How biodiversity, ecosystems and ecosystem services are linked

 

In addition, a significant amount of the course will be focused on the interpretation of existing landscape architecture projects, how they have integrated ecology and how ecology can be integrated more.

The course will work in close collaboration with the parallel studio course “Nixtopia” and give ecological input applicable to the project. The integrative approach of both courses will be supported by tutoring and participation in group-reviews for the studio project by the teachers.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • Definition and delimitation of the terms ecology and ecological
  • Basic knowledge of how exterior plant traits and form are linked to ecological function
  • Basic knowledge of the relationship between plants and soil, with particular emphasis on:
    • Ecological niche as a term and how an ecological niche is reflected in anatomy, physiology and basic living conditions for individual species
    • The concept of ecological interaction and associated concepts such as competition, facilitation and symbiosis between species
    • The concept of ecological processes and related concepts such as decomposition and nutrient cycling in soil
  • Definition of the term biodiversity
  • Knowledge of how biodiversity is an integral part of an ecosystem and ecosystem services

 

 

 

Skills:

  • Confident with the definition of ecology as a term
  • Can explain differences in anatomy, physiology and ecological function for different growth forms such as forbs, grasses, shrubs and trees, at a basic level
  • Can integrate abstract ecological concepts into the understanding of how plants and soil work together in a system
  • Can provide an interpretation of ecological function based on the plants present in a given landscape
  • Confident with the definition of biodiversity, ecosystem and ecosystem services as terms
  • Can identify how and to what extent ecology is integrated into existing landscape architecture projects

 

General competence:

  • Basic understanding of ecology as a relevant discipline for landscape architecture
  • Knowledge and experimentation with plants and soil
  • Know examples of ecological concepts applied to plants and soil
  • Know examples of how biodiversity is central to ecosystem services
  • Explain ecological content, written and orally
  • Ability to be inspired by ecological concepts and theory in the development of landscape architecture
Working and learning activities

Practical organisation and working methods:

  • Teaching will be provided in the form of lectures, seminars/workshops and lab work
  • Joint reviews where students submit individual or group work will be an important part of the training
  • The contact between teachers and students takes place in one-on-one discussions, in groups or in plenum.

 

 

Examination

  1. Written exam, assessed as pass/fail
  2. Home exam, written report, assessed pass/fail
Curriculum

The course responsible provides relevant literature prior to the according topics.

70 700 Pre-diploma Design

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Pre-Diplom Design
Course code: 
70 700
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian / English
Year: 
2020
Person in charge
Lise Amy Hansen
Required prerequisite knowledge

Completed 240 ECTS in total.

Course content

The PreDip course aims to help students to develop a solid launch pad for their diploma projects, one that will allow them to start their design/research process from a knowledgeable and critical position and with a clear plan.

The choice of theme is primarily in the hands of each student, and the direction in which this subject is to take is mainly the result of consultations between each student and their supervisor, the institute leader, and the course staff.

The course is organized in two main phases. The first phase focus both on the individual student’s own skills and interests and the choice of the actual theme of the project. This first phase will be presented and assessed at a midterm-presentation (after app. 1 month). The second phase deals with designing the actual project with a feasible project proposal as its main and final delivery.

 

Learning outcome

KNOWLEDGE

- A reflective, constructive and critical stance to his or her own disciplinary interests, strengths and weaknesses.

SKILLS
- An ability to pitch concepts for as well peers as for potential tutors and partners.

- An ability to develop a feasible diploma project as required at the Institute of Design at AHO.

- An ability to plan an independent or colloborative project.

GENERAL COMPETANCE
- An ability to convey his or her maturity as a designer at a level that make a positive outcome for a diploma project at AHO very likely.

- An ability to conceptualize design ideas into an actionable project proposal

- An ability to propose, discuss and plan an independent study and design project.

Working and learning activities

The course will mix lectures, own research and writing with presentations and tutoring.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
ReportIndividualPass / fail The student is responsible for taking required initiatives to make agreement with both main and secondary tutor. Furthermore, the student should submit the required deliverables and present the given assignments in plenary presentations according to the timetable of the course. The final submission consists of a final written project description and a final plenary presentation, which both are compulsory. Passed course requires approved written project description and oral presentation.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Report
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment: The student is responsible for taking required initiatives to make agreement with both main and secondary tutor. Furthermore, the student should submit the required deliverables and present the given assignments in plenary presentations according to the timetable of the course. The final submission consists of a final written project description and a final plenary presentation, which both are compulsory. Passed course requires approved written project description and oral presentation.

60 701 Pre-diploma for urbanism and landscape architecture

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Pre-diplom for urbanisme og landskapsarkitektur
Credits: 
6
Course code: 
60 701
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
English
Person in charge
Janike Kampevold Larsen
Luis Callejas
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 courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Presence required Not requiredPresentation of exercises in the group, individual supervision
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Not required
Comment:Presentation of exercises in the group, individual supervision
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
ReportIndividualPass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Report
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:
Workload activityComment
Written assignments
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Written assignments
Comment:

65 701 Pre-Diploma Landscape Architecture (Tromsø)

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Pre-Diploma Landscape Architecture (Tromsø)
Course code: 
65 701
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian / English
Year: 
2020
Required prerequisite knowledge

Successful completion of 60 credits. Last semester before diploma. Knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign is recommended, as well as CAD and GIS.

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
  • An understanding of the complexity of a chosen site and research topic.
  • An ability to frame landscape architectural research.
  • An understanding of the different conditions that govern landscape architecture.
  • An ability to communicate ideas and plan project work.
  • An understanding of one’s position within the discipline.
Working and learning activities

The course is an individual research assignment with periodical supervision and one interim presentation of the different research components. It concludes with a pre-diploma report in an A4 format containing the following elements:

 

  • Description of the research topic and research question.
  • Site presentation including maps dealing with selected issues (min. three maps). These can be used to present an analysis of the site, highlight existing qualities, etc. The chosen scale should be adapted to the printed A4 format and the content of each map.
  • Reviews of relevant literature (min. three examples). These can be books, articles, reports or other relevant sources. Each review should include a summary of the chosen literature and a paragraph highlighting the relevance of this piece of literature for the diploma work.
  • Summaries and discussions of interviews with experts (min. three interviews). In this context experts are people with specific knowledge relating to the chosen topic and or site.
  • Presentations and evaluation of reference projects (min. three reference projects). Each review should include a brief description of the essential elements of the chosen reference project and a paragraph highlighting the relevance of this reference for the diploma work.

 

In addition to these required elements, the pre-diploma report includes a cover page, an identification page and a table of content. It can also include pictures, diagrams, timelines, historical records and any other element that supports the research question.

 

The pre-diploma report should be contained within 35 pages (not including cover, identification, table of content or other title pages).

 

A detailed schedule for the pre-diploma course will be provided at the start of the semester.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet Not requiredOne interim presentation
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Not required
Comment:One interim presentation
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Report-Pass / fail Please, see above for specifications.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Report
Grouping:-
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment: Please, see above for specifications.

12 701

Credits: 
30
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Diplom arkitektur
Course code: 
12 701
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2020 Spring
Assessment semester: 
2020 Spring
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian
Year: 
2020
Person in charge
Erik Fenstad Langdalen
Thomas McQuillan
Lisbet Harboe
Required prerequisite knowledge

Admission to AHO and successful completion of 300 ECTS including 12 400 Pre-diploma (6 ECTS).

Course content

The diploma semester at AHO is an independent research and design task on a theme chosen by the candidate.

In consultation with his/her advisor, the candidate is to produce a complete work of exceptional quality.

Learning outcome
  • An ability to give form to architecture through artistic and scientific research
  • An understanding of the given natural, social, cultural and technological conditions that govern architectural work
  • A mastery of the methods, tools and media inherent in architectural design
  • An awareness of architecture’s historical, societal and theoretical underpinnings
  • An ability to communicate ideas and results to professional and laypersons
  • An independent and responsible attitude to individual learning
  • An understanding of one’s own individual position with the discipline
Working and learning activities

The diploma semester is an independent study whose methods and topics are to be outlined in an approved pre-diploma brief.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentIndividualPass / failYou are assessed on the submitted material, conveyed through presentation and exhibited project. Diploma is assessed by at least 3 external examiners.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:You are assessed on the submitted material, conveyed through presentation and exhibited project. Diploma is assessed by at least 3 external examiners.

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