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2022 Høst

80 302 Norwegian tectonic traditions

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Norske tektoniske tradisjoner
Course code: 
80 302
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
Norwegian
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
20
Person in charge
Kolbjørn Nesje Nybø
Audun Fossum
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

Studies of historical Norwegian house types, structural systems and construction methods. The focus will be on wood and wooden structures, iron and iron structures, and old masonry structures with lime mortar and plaster.

The first part of the course consists of lectures, discussions and mini excursions. Parallel to this the students will write a scientific essay, this can also involve scientific experiments or model building. The essay must be submitted and presented for the class the week before the immersion week. The immersion week will be a workshop at AHO or somewhere else, where the students will build the structural system of a small house in full scale.

Learning outcome

Knowledge: be able to identify Norwegian structures in wood, iron or masonry in an architectural-, cultural- and technical context. Be able to explain the architectural design, structural system and craft traditions.

Skills: Be able to apply the knowledge by participating in the building of a full scale structure.

General competence: Good understanding of traditional Norwegian building methods and material properties.

Working and learning activities
  • Lectures and discussions.
  • Model studies.
  • Writing a scientific essay. 
  • Workshop - building a small full scale building in timber.
Curriculum

Broch, TheodorLærebog i Bygningskunsten. Nærmest bestemt for den militære Høiskoles Elever, Christiania 1848

Tandberg, Gudolf. Kortfattet Veiledning i Bygningsvæsen paa Landet. Tredje delvis omarbeidede utgave. Kristiania 1901. (Utgitt i flere utgaver 1885-1925). 

Bugge. Andreas. Husbygningslære. Kristiania 1918

Byggforskningsrådet (1998) Jern, stål och smide i hus och miljø. Stockholm

Ekroll, Øystein: ''Med kleber og kalk''. Utg. Samlaget. 1997. {{nb.no|NBN:no-nb_digibok_2009030304094}}.

Kittelsen, Kjell H.: ''Brent kalk''. Utg. Asker og Bærum historielag. 2005. {{nb.no|NBN:no-nb_digibok_2011062808130}}.

Brekke.Nils Georg. Nordhagen. Per Jonas, Lexau. Siri Skjold.  Norsk arkitekturhistorie. Fra steinalder og bronsesalder til 21. århundreOslo 2003.

Bugge, Gunnar. Norberg-Schulz, Christian. Stav og laft i Norge. Oslo 1969. 

Christensen, Arne Lie. Den norske byggeskikken : Hus og bolig på landsbygda fra middelalder til vår egen tid. Oslo 1995. 

Christie.Håkon. Middelalderen bygger i tre. Oslo1974

Drange.Tore, Aanensen.Hans Olaf, Brænne.Jon. Gamle trehus. Historikk, reparasjon og vedlikehold. Oslo 1992

Foreningen til norske fortidsminnesmerkers bevaring, Årbok 1992. Oslo 1992

Grindbygde hus i Vest-Norge. NIKU Temaheftre 30. Oslo 1999.

Karlsen. Edgar. Lærebok i lafting. Oslo 1989

Ljøsne, Anne Grete. Naturen og menneskeverket : Vår gamle trearkitektur i nytt lys. Oslo 1993. 

Polanyi. Michael. Den tause dimensjon. En introduksjon til taus kunnskap. Oslo 2000

Rapoport. Amos. House Form and Culture. Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 1969

Schjeldrup.Helge og Brekke.Nils Georg. Hus på vestkysten gjennom 4000 år. Bergen/Stavanger 1997

Storsletten.Ola. En arv i tre : De norske stavkirkene. Oslo 1993. 

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Exercise 1RequiredA scientific essay will be written during the semester, with submission before elective course week. The essay must be presented orally and is part of the final assessment.

Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet RequiredThe elective course week is a workshop - Building a small full scale timberframed building. Active participation in the workshop is required and is part of the final assessment basis.
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Exercise
Courseworks required: 1
Presence required:Required
Comment:A scientific essay will be written during the semester, with submission before elective course week. The essay must be presented orally and is part of the final assessment.

Mandatory coursework:Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:The elective course week is a workshop - Building a small full scale timberframed building. Active participation in the workshop is required and is part of the final assessment basis.
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:
Workload activityComment
LecturesAttendance and participation in lectures is expected.
Written assignmentsWriting of a scientific essay
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Lectures
Comment:Attendance and participation in lectures is expected.
Workload activity:Written assignments
Comment:Writing of a scientific essay

Start semester

60 311 Urban theories – Global perspectives

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Urban theories – Global perspectives
Course code: 
60 311
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022

Start semester

60 313 Resource Atlas for the Anthropocene

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Resource Atlas for the Anthropocene
Course code: 
60 313
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Janike Kampevold Larsen
Required prerequisite knowledge

General mastery of digital tools such as CAD, Illustrator, InDesig

Course content

This course is founded in an idea of circular resource networks and their role in future place-based practices. It builds knowledge on local landscape practices and local biodiversity and explores the friction zones between lived practice and heritage strategies.

 

Based in contemporary theory the course discusses ways of ‘making’ landscape and how they may be ‘unmade’ both by climate change and preservation practices.

 

Leaning on the cross-institute research project Common Resources-Strategies for a circular, balanced and shared management of areas under pressure, this course locates, analyzes and describes landscape resources in the Varanger territory.

 

Aim is to make a comprehensive archive of local biodiversity and landscape practices, and to map a piece of post-Artic territory that is facing rapid changes. Known landscapes types are beach sand dune areas, thawing permafrost landscape, grazing landscapes, national parkland, peatland and arable soil.

 

 

Learning outcome

Resource Atlas – book format (joint project)

Result will be published: joint course output will be a high standard publication of local resources for future development.

This atlas of circular resources will be a document to stress the importance of sustainable land use and resource practices. It will ultimately argue for land area as cultural heritage.

 

Students will get a comprehensive understanding of place development, mapping practices and landscape analysis. The course offers knowledge of local cyclic systems and build a reflective resistance to the idea of introducing new buildings and new production in regions with a potential for expanding on traditional uasages and of refining existing practices. Student will be introduced to ethnographic methods for knowledge sharing in local communities.

 

Working and learning activities

Phase 1: Collection ad representation

The course archives by studying earlier landscape analyses, archive material and maps in order to collect information of traditional uses of local resources. Preparation of Illustrator maps.

 

Phase 2: Documentation

In-field registrations by strategic walks and visits to local reindeer herder. The course documents by digital registration of data, photography, drawing and writing. Registration takes place during the field trip in September.

 

Phase 3: Projection

We project our archive onto future practices. Geodata and environmental data will be used.

 

Activity: 4-day fieldtrip to Vardø and the nearby mainland region.

Dates: Ideally the mid-September, will be coordinated with studios.

Means of transportation: Flight to Kirkenes, minibus from Kirkenes to Vardø.

 

The course is connected to Tine Hegli’s studio course. Shared output between the two courses.

 

We will have cartographic expertise on the course.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignment-Pass / fail
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:-
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:

Start semester

40 322 Centralteateret: Building History

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Centralteateret: Building History
Course code: 
40 322
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Mari Lending
Thomas McQuillan
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

Centralteateret in Akergaten 38, Oslo is an internationally exceptional composite of theatrical architecture, and a cornucopia of time-specific expressions and ideas. Dating back to the late 18th century, its complex urban and architectural history of additions and transformation includes the work of prominent architects such as Jørgen Henrik Rawert, Herman Backer, Henrik Bull, and Jens Dunker. This first seminar in a series on Centralteateret will map the building history of this intriguing complex, spanning from its early ballrooms to the first façade in Oslo made to project moving images on.

Together with a series of studios and seminars over the coming semesters, this seminar is part of the research project Provenance Projected, and will result in an international book, exhibitions, and perhaps scenography. The series will be run in close collaboration with the theater itself. 

Due to the archival material, it is beneficial to have reading skills in Norwegian.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • The course offers critical knowledge of architectural history and historiography, both buildings and biographical oeuvres. The students will be trained in conducting archival research, and in piecing together fragments from a variety of unpublished and published sources. The learnt research techniques are based on both documenting and translating archival information into other formats and media, such as drawings and scale models.

Skills:

  • The course is about conducting research, introducing students to archival studies, visual analysis, textual interpretation, and curatorial conceptualization.

General competence:

  • The aim is to turn students into confident researchers able to command, apply and present contemporary perspectives on a historical material.
Working and learning activities

Weekly lectures/workshops, visits to Oslo archives, on site investigations, independent work, regular presentations of findings in the group, and to the students in the Transformation in Practice studio, also working on Centralteateret in the fall 2022.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / failThe final grade will be based upon weekly deliveries and the final review, as well as the quality and logic of the uploaded material (drawings/models/text) to the platform Sanity.

The final review will take place in a small exhibition of the material at Centralteateret.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade will be based upon weekly deliveries and the final review, as well as the quality and logic of the uploaded material (drawings/models/text) to the platform Sanity.

The final review will take place in a small exhibition of the material at Centralteateret.

80 416 Re-Store: Values

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

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

Course content

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

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

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

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

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

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

Skill:

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

General competence:

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

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

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

Start semester

40 323 Lightweight Architecture: Towards a New Material Paradigm

Credits: 
6
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Lightweight Architecture: Towards a New Material Paradigm
Course code: 
40 323
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Lina Elisabeth Broström
Claudia Andrea Pinochet
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

This seminar will examine the process of building- what we build with as well as how we build - we will explore how we can design with responsibility towards the environment by rethinking the way we build today. In the course students will develop an individual manifesto stating a point of view.

The predominant model for sourcing materials relies heavily on finite resources - in a time of rising prices on common building materials as well as extensive extraction, more alternatives are key. New materials can enter the building market if we increase our knowledge, through means of prefabrication, updated material cultures and regulations. We will discuss the role of the industry and the architect as a key player in this development, with its capacity to scale-up and introduce alternatives.

Take for instance wood and its journey from a traditional building material to a fully industrialized product with efficient production and prefabrication techniques. This course will reverse-read this journey and speculate on how it can be applied to other materials. We will discuss ways to re-introduce forgotten techniques of building with clay, hemp and straw among others. 

This seminar will go beyond the surface and provide knowledge on how we can take responsibility for the materials before, during and after their assembly, as well as how we can become active agents and initiate a more dynamic way of building.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • Awareness of the complexity of a building’s life cycle, how it can be built, maintained and disassembled.
  • Knowledge of material properties: physical, mechanical and aesthetic. 
  • Knowledge of building culture and local industry practice. 

Skills:

  • Articulation of tactics regarding chosen materials in a work of architecture.

General competence:

  • Demonstrate practices that can be implemented in new and innovative ways.
Working and learning activities

This seminar is organized around hands-on material investigations and analytical drawing in context to critical readings. Throughout the course, students will explore the potential of responsible materials and their role in today's practice. We will use historical and contemporary precedents to learn from traditional building techniques and material science.

Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / failThe final grade in the course will be given based on:
— Mid-review and Interim review presentation: 40%
— Final review presentation: 60%
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade in the course will be given based on:
— Mid-review and Interim review presentation: 40%
— Final review presentation: 60%

Start semester

40 549 Climate Form / Destination Varanger 2100

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Climate Form / Destination Varanger 2100
Credits: 
24
Course code: 
40 549
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Tine Hegli
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

Summary:

The Climate Form studio aims to equip the student with a knowledge platform where architecture is examined within a context of environmental sustainability. The studio curriculum and associated assignments will revolve around strategies for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and actively seek to integrate the understanding of these in form-finding processes and critical evaluation. Through studies of local climate and building traditions at present, and parallel investigations on future scenarios - both in accordance with central UN sustainability goals (SDGs) and more conservative estimates (projections with less climate mitigation than what is anticipated in the Paris Agreement), the course activities seeks to inform and discuss adequate design response. The final result of the course is an architectural project presented with drawings, models and visuals accopagnied with in-depth analysis of the final design focusing on a climate mitigation strategy introduced in introductory sub-assigments.

Background:

Humankind has a distinct relationship with environment spanning millennia intrinsically forming human interaction with nature from provision to creation to destination. Architecture’s foundation as a human centric discipline is required to respond relatively to environments not only as a specific adaption, but also relatively to its own agency in influencing those environments on many scales.

Deep knowledge of effects upon climate and ecology as a result of the practice of construction and the procurement of materials that forms and reshapes our physical environment is overdue as a fundamental driver for design in the Anthropocene. Resultant change in the prerequisites for design have duly created a demand for distinct changes in formal expression, a revivification of the architectural language of climate-adaptive existence. Examined through three distinct proponents of change; climate adaption, climate mitigation and user behaviour.

The studio’s approach method is projective prototyping – examining typology, function, materiality and form as a result of contemporary understanding of climate change implications both regionally and globally. This accompanied by a narrative of projection that should inform design work and results, generating a coherent thread from conceptualization through iterative ideation to detail.

Task description:

The studio’s main assignment autumn 2022 is to design an accommodationfacility for the tourism industry now entering Finnmark and Varanger. This region seeks to attract new users and industries to dam up for ongoing depopulation, simultaneously the region experiences rapid changes in local climate and weather due to expedited climate change in the Arctic. This again demands urgent attention to the management of areas to foreseewhere to develop land and to which use. A tourism industry wanting to establish buildings and infrastructure close to the shoreline will have to build to withstand radically different conditions than what are observed on site today, requiring a long-term perspective in the planning and development of potential facilities. Setting the scene in 2100 will require students to create design concepts as adaptable to projected changes, while knowledge on mitigation strategies and post-carbon economies will initiate a new take on both user behaviour and needs, material palettes and consequently form.

 

Learning outcome

Categorized into Knowledge, Skills and Compenetences, the students should after the course be able to:

Knowledge

  • Discuss climate impact indicators, relevant SDGs and associated climate adaptation and mitigation strategies for the building industry at large.
  • Identify projected climate change consequences for a given region and site, communicate the findings in a site analysis through architectural drawings and models and respond to these findings in their form-finding process.
  • Identify material sources and construction principals adequate for the design task taking both climate adaptation strategies and climate mitigation strategies into consideration.
  • Demonstrate circular design principles in the final architectural project through presentation of environmeltal impacts (quantitative measures such as emissions) and architectural qualities (qualitative measures represented through drawings and models).
  • Demonstrate design solutions for natural climatization (heating, cooling, ventilation and daylight).

Skills:

  • Develop a climate analysis for a given region and site with the use of available data (GIS, Kartverket, NVE etc) and digital tools (Rhino and relevant plug-ins).
  • Communicate findings from climate observations that can inform / inspire design development with the use of digital and analog media. Both external and internal climate included.
  • Execute a simplified lifecycle assessment (LCA) for a material and / or construction principal.
  • Produce a coherent set of architectural 2D drawings at given scale.
  • Produce an architectural 3D models in Rhino.
  • Produce physical models for investigation of space and material qualities

General competence:

  • Analyze quantifiable parameters relevant for reaching relevant SDG goals (climate mitigation and climate adaption) as integral part in the architectural form-finding process.
  • Develop an architectural project in an interdisciplinary context as a group exercise using different medias.
  • Communicate environmental design strategies through architectural drawings and models.
Working and learning activities

Course structure:

The core teacher team running the course are practice oriented, represents architects and engineers and cover a broad approach to the topic of sustainable architecture. The course is structured as an extended collaboration between several competences within AHO and includes knowledge on Arctic landscapes (Institue of Urbanism and Landscpe) and cultural heritage. Further, the studio set-up is based on local involvement, both with the municipality and relevant industry partners as active partners. Most of the assignments given throughout the semester will requires student group work, changing from task to task. Still there is a possibility to work individualy if this is the preference of the student.

The teaching resources will conduct lectures, workshops and structure assignments within the following fields:

Climate change adaption / Climate and weather “forcasting” as tool to forsee future scenarios for a given site and enable a form-finding process responding to potential climate risks as well as revealing possible climate change benefits.

Climate change mitigation / Lifecyclemethodology used as tool for investigation of material properties, circular construction principlas and energy measures that can reduce climate footprint in accordance with the IPCC 1,5 degree goal.

User behaviour / Through workshops with a relevant tourist destination developer we will be mapping out possible concepts for their product “nature destinations”,  discussing how the human footprint can be minimized through redefining preconceptions of required user comfort. This section of the studio teaching will include learnings on indoor climate and natural climatization.  

The course will include:

  • Introductory sub-assignments that generate a common knowledge base for the studio curriculum 
  • Tutoring in the studio
  • Workshops
  • Lectures by teachers and invited expertise
  • Plenary reviews
  • Field trip to Varanger and Vardø first week 35 (TBC)
  • Study trip to Malmø and Copenhagen (AHO study trip week)

Final project delivables:

-    The final project will be presented with a site and climate analysis (free use of media media for representation of findings), site plan and site section 1: 1000/1: 500, set of architectural 2D drawing 1: 200 describing the project in plans / sections / elevations. A selected part of the project will be presented with details 1: 10/1: 20 describing conceptual ideas and central construction principals.
-    A physical model of the project (scale to be considered) will be part of the deliverables and used for visualization of space qualities (free use of media).
-    The main semester assignment (final project) will be presented in plenum and evaluated together with an external critic.
-    The evaluation of the main assignment includes a written report where a topic of choice (individual or groups) is investigated with the use of tools and methods introduced in the sub-assigments. Each student/student groups reports will be collected and later published as a common studio report.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet Not requiredRequirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings.
It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Annet - spesifiser i kommentarfeltet
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Not required
Comment:Requirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings.
It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignment-Pass / failThe main semester assignment (final project) is the basis for the final grade.

-The main semester assignment will be presented in plenum and evaluated together with an external critic.
-The evaluation of the main assignment includes a report where a topic of choice (individual or groups) is investigated with the use of tools and methods introduced in the sub-assignments.
-For description of final project deliverables see Course information: "Working and learning activities".

Important activities during the semester that will have influence on the final project:

- Course responsible will hold an interview with each student at the start of the semester, mapping out themes of interest and personal learning ambitions. This will be followed up in an individual mid-term evaluation, as well as in a written form at the end of the semester.
- The teacher team will arrange a mid-term evaluation in plenum.
- Sub-assignments will be formed as design tasks specific to the three main topics (climate adaptation, climate mitigation and user behavior) and evaluated in plenum sessions where the students present their work for each other and the teacher team.

Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:-
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The main semester assignment (final project) is the basis for the final grade.

-The main semester assignment will be presented in plenum and evaluated together with an external critic.
-The evaluation of the main assignment includes a report where a topic of choice (individual or groups) is investigated with the use of tools and methods introduced in the sub-assignments.
-For description of final project deliverables see Course information: "Working and learning activities".

Important activities during the semester that will have influence on the final project:

- Course responsible will hold an interview with each student at the start of the semester, mapping out themes of interest and personal learning ambitions. This will be followed up in an individual mid-term evaluation, as well as in a written form at the end of the semester.
- The teacher team will arrange a mid-term evaluation in plenum.
- Sub-assignments will be formed as design tasks specific to the three main topics (climate adaptation, climate mitigation and user behavior) and evaluated in plenum sessions where the students present their work for each other and the teacher team.

Workload activityComment
ExcursionThose who do not have the opportunity to participate in excursion will receive a task / a project that replaces this.
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Excursion
Comment:Those who do not have the opportunity to participate in excursion will receive a task / a project that replaces this.

Start semester

40 550 Re:Source Pavilion (Timber Studio)

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Re:Source Pavilion (Timber Studio)
Credits: 
24
Course code: 
40 550
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2021 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Ute Christina Groba
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

 

Course content

 

Re:Source Pavilion

Part of master course series: Timber Studio

 

The pavilion as a building task

For many, the pavilion is a contested building task. As its function tends to be limited and its construction less durable, the pavilion may be criticised for its use of resources. However, it may also be a testbed for new architectural ideas and for solutions that are not (yet) possible in commercial contexts; it may explore potential future building techniques or resource applications; it may exhibit these to both the professional world and to the broader public; and it may create new professional networks. Furthermore, both the building material sourcing and scenarios for subsequent uses may be active and conscious part of the conceptualization and design of the pavilion.

 

Four focus stages of material sustainability: "Plan A/B/C/D"

Previous "Timber Studio" master courses at AHO* and an associated PhD** have been evolving along ideas about sustainable material use stemming from the study of literature and built precedents along with invited lectures. Even when employing renewable resources that in addition store carbon, such as timber, these environmental benefits are maximized when the materials are in use as long as possible and when their use is planned in a cascading circle that does not end in a landfill, but feeds into energy or soil production.

This cascading circle may be understood as a perpetual succession of four use stages, or focus areas, that each try to minimize material or energy losses along the way.

"Plan A": The first focus should always be on extending a building's life span. This is supported by the construction's durability, the layout's and surfaces' adaptability and the building's overall lovability.

"Plan B": If at some point, the building needs to be taken down, it should be possible to reuse it as a whole or its components with the least modification and the least loss of material possible (design for disassembly).

"Plan C": When building components do not allow any further reuse, their materials' recycling will give them another life. Even when flagged as "upcycling" however, this new life is sometimes a dead end, for example when the materials' treatment only allows for later disposal in a landfill.

"Plan D": Materials should always be treated in a way that does not impede their later composting for soil amendment or their combustion for energy production. However, some paints or impregnations turn wooden materials into hazardous waste, and composites are often impossible to separate into their organic and inorganic constituents.

 

Re:Source Pavilion

While the previous "Timber Studio" courses have mainly dealt with "Plan A", this course's task is designed to predominantly address "Plan B" and "Plan C". It will focus on wooden construction materials and pay special attention to their provenience (e.g. pre-used, cut-offs, waste, left-overs) and to their afterlife (not impeding composting or combustion). It will furthermore engage in design for disassembly and scenarios for subsequent uses.

During the fall semester, we will focus on the conceptualization of the pavilion and the design and rough dimensioning of its construction system and details. We will work with sketches on paper, physical models, digital models, 1:1 detail mock-ups and visualizations. We will also document the study of sources used in this course, such as lectures or the analysis of example projects. The teacher team will have expertise in architectural design and theory, timber construction, parametric design and timber engineering. A continuation of the course is possible in spring 2023, when it is planned to build and exhibit the pavilion along the World Conference on Timber Engineering 2023 in Oslo. The disassembly and relocation to the pavilion's subsequent location will also be part of that semester.

 

Teacher team

Ute Groba (AHO, course responsible)

Samuel Blumer (sblumer ZT GmbH, Graz, Austria)

Rune Veslegård (Snøhetta)

Moritz Groba (Oslotre)

 

* ‘Low-rise High-density Prefabricated Timber Housing’ (fall 2016); ‘Housing Individuals’ (fall 2020); ‘Timber Topping’ (fall 2021); ‘Timber Housing Cycles’ (spring 2022).

** Groba, Ute. 2021. ‘Timber Tales : A Qualitative Study of Timber Materiality in Housing Projects’. Oslo: The Oslo School of Architecture and Design.

 

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • about timber properties and how they impact design, construction and detailing
  • about state-of-the-art timber techniques as tested and displayed in international timber pavilions
  • about timber construction systems and details

Skills:

  • Use of physical models, sketches, drawings and 3d-programs
  • Communicate with engineers, producers, and develop solutions together

General competence:

  • Coherence of general architecural ambition, concept, material choices, design, constrution, details
  • Collaboration with student teammates and consultants

 

Curriculum

Click here for reading list in Leganto.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Presence required RequiredRequirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings. Unless impeded by new Covid-related restrictions, all meetings will take place at AHO. Physical attendance is required.
It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Supervision talks RequiredRegular supervision meetings are required. The student is expected to advance the project between supervision meetings and to prepare the necessary models and drawings for each supervision.
Exercise RequiredSmaller accompanying tasks will be part of the mandatory coursework, such as the analysis of example projects, lecture reports or reading tasks. Their submission will be required according to a course book template.
Excursions RequiredThe participation in local site visits and the study trip are part of the mandatory course program. Those who have a justifiable reason not to join the study trip will receive an alternative task to be completed during the study trip week.
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Requirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings. Unless impeded by new Covid-related restrictions, all meetings will take place at AHO. Physical attendance is required.
It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Mandatory coursework:Supervision talks
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Regular supervision meetings are required. The student is expected to advance the project between supervision meetings and to prepare the necessary models and drawings for each supervision.
Mandatory coursework:Exercise
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Smaller accompanying tasks will be part of the mandatory coursework, such as the analysis of example projects, lecture reports or reading tasks. Their submission will be required according to a course book template.
Mandatory coursework:Excursions
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:The participation in local site visits and the study trip are part of the mandatory course program. Those who have a justifiable reason not to join the study trip will receive an alternative task to be completed during the study trip week.
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Project assignmentIndividualPass / failThe final grade will be set on the basis of:
- engagement during class meetings and steady effort over the entire semester
- interim presentations and models
- documentation and presentation of the process and the final result
- final presentation
- demonstration of creative, analytical and critical thinking skills
- clear argumentation; coherence with conceptual, spatial, functional and technical design solution
- ability to communicate the project visually and verbally
- (spring 2023: built pavilion as a group result)

Requirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings.

It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Project assignment
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade will be set on the basis of:
- engagement during class meetings and steady effort over the entire semester
- interim presentations and models
- documentation and presentation of the process and the final result
- final presentation
- demonstration of creative, analytical and critical thinking skills
- clear argumentation; coherence with conceptual, spatial, functional and technical design solution
- ability to communicate the project visually and verbally
- (spring 2023: built pavilion as a group result)

Requirements to pass:
Active participation in lectures, workshops, group meetings and desk crits are required, as well as the steady development of the project with regular supervision meetings.

It is mandatory to attend and meet the requirements of midterm and final review.
Workload activityComment
Excursion
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Excursion
Comment:

Start semester

40 551 Transformation in Practice: Centralteateret

Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Transformation in Practice: Centralteateret
Credits: 
24
Course code: 
40 551
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
16
Person in charge
Erlend Skjeseth
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Part of course series: Transformation in Practice

Course content

The studio will work with the transformation of Centralteateret in the centre of Oslo. The theatre is a cultural building of complex provenance, making it an ideal case study for working with existing buildings. The first iteration of Centralteateret dates back to the late 18th century, and the theatre has since gone through several transformations. Unique to Centralteateret, these layers are still visibly intact to reveal the rich history embedded in the building's fabric. The different areas share a near undisturbed patina. These qualities should be cultivated rather than sanitised in future scenarios.

A theatre is a machine for illusion and storytelling, where the architecture is working hard to signify and symbolise, flatter, and seduce. The studio will study these aspects of the building to look for ways to improve the existing condition. The studio will propose projects transforming the theatre through a surgical analysis of the many spaces and components of the building. The studio's output will be a series of interventions, provocations and extensions that balance the need to preserve the existing condition with the building's potential for future use.

The studio will be organised into three parts:

Survey: The studio will lend considerable attention to understanding the building through on site investigations to study the interwoven layers of theatrical architecture from different historical periods. Surveys will quantify physical properties and the qualified values such as significance, symbolism, and tradition. Recordings will document the intersection between historical periods to understand the evolution of architectural thinking about a particular typology.

Artefact: The survey will be the foundation for the artefact, a large-scale material model that starts the inverted design process from fragment to building. The model is a physical and material manifestation of an essential component or junction found in your survey, translated into a three-dimensional piece at a detailed scale. This 'hot-spot' is a free-standing bricolage of materials that suggests something more than the sum of its parts. The original is not a prescriptive tool but the starting point for new designs and the representation of new artefacts.

Proposal: Students will work iteratively to find an appropriate and feasible way of constructing an architectural project that has contemporary relevance and engages with the existing building. Building on close observations of the context, students will develop their own architectural and technical agenda (an architectural intervention, a strategy for maintenance, a performance or a methodology to improve the use of the building based on an understanding of current challenges).

Projects will answer to the specifics of the building whilst being relevant to the broader discourse on the future of this type of building. The architectural proposal will be developed through large-scale material models, both analogue and digital, and architectural drawings. Craft will inform contemporary construction methods and material exploration by learning from what has already been built.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • The students will learn to make precise measured surveys, using analogue and digital surveying technology, and produce quantitative and qualitative documentation and interpretation of an existing building. They will be trained in employing archival material in individual architectural proposals, and to identify the architectural qualities in one's own work that demonstrate a relevance to the field. The students will get insight into the heritage guidelines and value structures that govern architectural projects in the field of building heritage, and learn to convey key terms, definitions, and concepts of preservation in relation to actual design work (oral presentations and writing).

Skills:

  • The studio will introduce students to methods for research driven approach to working with existing buildings. Students will be introduced to surveying existing buildings through on site fieldwork. Large scale model making and architectural drawing as a vehicle for transformation will be essential skills developed throughout.

General competence:

  • Students will learn to practice as an architect within the field of building transformation. 
Working and learning activities

The studio does not consider research to be a separate exercise from ‘propositional thinking’, the act of reading, observing, surveying and fabricating new artifacts is all propositional by nature and therefore a powerful asset within design thinking. The work phases will be supported by workshops and seminars.

Students will be expected to work on site for parts of the semester, and attend twice-weekly tutorials, seminars, peer to peer feedback sessions, pin-ups and reviews with invited critics.

Site: Centralteateret, Akersgata 38, Oslo

Main output of the students work: Research on the existing building, survey drawings of the existing building 1:50, architectural model of theatre (collective) 1:50, Artefact (large material model) 1:10 or 1:5, Architectural drawings 1:50.

It is highly recommended to take the Centralteateret: Building History elective course in conjunction with this studio.

The studio will be closely linked to the practice work of Kastler Skjeseth Architects. http://www.kastlerskjeseth.no/

Teachers in addition to course responsible is: Benjamin Sjöberg and Alena Rieger.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Presence required RequiredAttendance and design production for twice-weekly studio meetings is mandatory.
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Attendance and design production for twice-weekly studio meetings is mandatory.
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)-Pass / failThe final grade in the course will be given based on:
- Attendance and design production for twice-weekly studio meetings: 30%
- Mid review and Interim review presentation: 30%
- Final review presentation: 40%
The oral presentation is a part of the portfolio assessment.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:-
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade in the course will be given based on:
- Attendance and design production for twice-weekly studio meetings: 30%
- Mid review and Interim review presentation: 30%
- Final review presentation: 40%
The oral presentation is a part of the portfolio assessment.

Start semester

40 552 Moving Monuments: Rome

Credits: 
24
Full course name in Norwegian Bokmål: 
Moving Monuments: Rome
Course code: 
40 552
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching semester: 
2022 Autumn
Assessment semester: 
2022 Autumn
Language of instruction: 
English
Year: 
2022
Maximum number of students: 
10
Person in charge
Eirik Arff Gulseth Bøhn
Required prerequisite knowledge

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

Course content

OCCAS Moving Monuments: Rome offers a study of historical monuments. The course teaches you about buildings but also about the techniques and approaches that you need to know to become a scholar.

The students work on one monument throughout the semester. To aid that investigation, the OCCAS team presents a spectrum of approaches to architectural research, intended to guide both you and the monument through history – and history through its many mediations.

“Moving” may refer to the transportation of architecture, but also to the recreation and circulation of monuments in various media and materials, museums and models, print- and preservation strategies. Experts in respective fields join forces to teach you not only about past monuments but also about the methods that enable us to think, talk, and write about them.

Learning outcome

Knowledge:

  • The course offers extensive knowledge of buildings, sites and monuments (primarily in Rome) and the media and materials that convey them, ranging from plaster casts to the popular press. In short, the aim is to turn students into confident researchers able to command and apply contemporary perspectives on a historical material.

Skills:

  • The course is about conducting research, introducing students to topics such as hermeneutics, archival studies, visual analysis, and textual interpretation.

General competence:

  • The aim is to turn students into confident researchers able to command and apply contemporary perspectives on a historical material.
Working and learning activities

Activities count weekly lectures/workshops, field trip to Rome (3 days organized program), the submission/ presentations of three essays, and a final 30-minute lecture.

The excursion to Rome is mandatory and expenses for the trip must be covered by the student.

Course responsible: Eirik Bøhn

Co-teachers/advisors: Tim Anstey, Mari Hvattum, Mari Lending, Thomas McQuillan, Even Wergeland.

Curriculum

Click here for reading list in Leganto.

Mandatory courseworkCourseworks requiredPresence requiredComment
Exercise RequiredSubmission and presentation of three short essays during the semester in addition to work on a final lecture.
Excursions RequiredThe course includes a mandatory excursion to Rome and expenses for the trip must be covered by the student.
Presence required Required
Obligatoriske arbeidskrav:
Mandatory coursework:Exercise
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:Submission and presentation of three short essays during the semester in addition to work on a final lecture.
Mandatory coursework:Excursions
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:The course includes a mandatory excursion to Rome and expenses for the trip must be covered by the student.
Mandatory coursework:Presence required
Courseworks required:
Presence required:Required
Comment:
Form of assessmentGroupingGrading scaleComment
Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)IndividualPass / failThe final grade is based on attendance, three essays, and a final paper/ presentation.

• In the essays, the students present their selected monument from the various perspectives examined and discussed during seminars.

• The final presentation takes the form of a 30-minute lecture for an invited audience, based on a manuscript and complete with pictures.
Vurderinger:
Form of assessment:Portfolio assessment (Vurderingsmappe)
Grouping:Individual
Grading scale:Pass / fail
Comment:The final grade is based on attendance, three essays, and a final paper/ presentation.

• In the essays, the students present their selected monument from the various perspectives examined and discussed during seminars.

• The final presentation takes the form of a 30-minute lecture for an invited audience, based on a manuscript and complete with pictures.
Workload activityComment
ExcursionThe course includes a mandatory excursion to Rome and expenses for the trip must be covered by the student.
Forventet arbeidsinnsats:
Workload activity:Excursion
Comment:The course includes a mandatory excursion to Rome and expenses for the trip must be covered by the student.

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