The course focuses on ideation and drawing techniques through a design process, comprising ideation, conceptualization through drawing techniques, mock-up techniques, visualization through product sketches, oral and visual client presentation.

The diploma at the Institute of Design is the final project in the Master programme. The Institute takes a broad approach to the design profession that includes products, services, systems and interactive experiences. The education brings together aesthetics and technology, creativity and design methods, culture and research. The programme has roots in Industrial Design, but today also includes Interaction Design, Service Design and Systems Oriented Design. This is reflected in the width of our students’ diplomas, and the broad range of themes that they address.

The diploma concludes our five-year Master in design and is done in the final semester. The diploma is a self-initiated and self-organised project that takes place over 18 weeks. The students develop and define their own project-descriptions (the diploma programme) in a pre-diploma’ course, in the semester leading up to the diploma. During the diploma project the students have a main supervisor at the Institute, but can also seek additional input and guidance form across AHO and externally. Diplomas are typically done as individual projects, but can also be done in groups.

The diplomas at the Institute of Design are characterised by variety and breadth. The diploma projects are typically initiated and developed by the students, and they are free to explore different themes and formats. These can be creative explorations, product development and theoretical projects, or collaborations with commercial companies, public services or researchprojects. Diplomas can also be discursive design projects that seek to raise questions or challenge societal or cultural issues. Often our diplomas are ‘hybrids’ that bring together different methods and actors, or span across our different design specialisations.

The purpose of the diploma is multi-layered. The students have to bring together what they have learned throughout their education to define and develop their own project. A challenge here is how the project is followed through, how it is developed and how it is executed as a design project. In the scope of the Master, the diploma is a relatively large project that demands that the student is self-driven, organised, structured and creative. At the same time, the diploma is a possibility for the student to explore his or her own identity as a designer, to research topics she or he finds interesting, or to challenge the students acquired skills and methods. The diplomas should therefore be understood holistically as projects where the students get to choose their own themes, approaches and processes, but where the challenge is also about organising and developing the project itself. Defining and developing the scope and plan for the project is done both in the project-description (diploma programme), as well as throughout the process.

It is important to note that in doing a holistic evaluation of the diplomas, the focus should be on the project itself rather than how closely it follows the initial description or diplomaprogramme.

Kurset er en introduksjon til arkitekturteori og arkitekturtenkning gjennom historien. Ulike tanketradisjoner og perioder belyses ved hjelp av originaltekster, forelesninger og diskusjon. Kurset er organisert som en forelesnings- og seminarserie. Forelesningene finner sted en gang i uken, etterfulgt av obligatoriske leseseminarer. Seminarene foregår i flere parallelle grupper og er ledet av seminarlærere. Kurset begynner med samtidsteorien og går gradvis bakover i tid. Innimellom legger vi inn skriveseminarer og skriveøvelser.

6. semester utgjør overgangen til masterstudiet, som i større grad enn grunnundervisningen preges av individuelle valg og faglig spesialisering. Dette skal reflekteres både i oppgavestilling og undervisningsform på GK6. Studioet inneholder aspekter fra de øvrige semestrene i grunnundervisningen, og er ment å samle og videreutvikle allerede tilegnet fagkunnskap. I tillegg skal studioet styrke studentenes teoretiske kompetanse og evne til fagdiskusjon som del av et individuelt prosjektforløp. Studioet reflekterer kompleksiteten i arkitektfaget sett som praksisform, hvor en gitt oppgave kan være preget av ulike faglige innfallsvinkler og ha mange mulige formsvar. Oppgaven som stilles vektlegger undersøkelse og avveining av til dels motsetningsfylte faktorer i en kompleks bykontekst, hvor møtet mellom program, struktur og morfologi skal formuleres i et større arkitekturprosjekt.