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THE FLOODABLE GARDEN : From natural Disaster to ecological Hope
Full text linkIn light of the growing threat posed by climate change, the issue of flooding in recent years has emerged as a critical concern. The Diploma “Floodable Garden: From natural Disaster to ecological Hope” examines Lillehammer city center and proposes a strategy to protect it from the Mesna River’s potential floods. The project is particularly focusing on the Strandtorget area which is affected by the Mesna River and Mjøsa lake at the same time. It deals with the area’s vulnerability, emphasizing the urgent need for effective adaptation design.Thus, the asphalt-dominated shopping area, which exceeds the typical scale of the city, was transformed into a wetland park.submittedVersio
Ask Poppy – Curiosity Beyond Classrooms & Screens
No full textUnequal access to homework support hinders academic progress, especially for lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Poppy, a voice-interactive AI assistant, aims to bridge this gap by providing personalized support for middle school students (12-16).
Using Large Language Models (LLMs) and a voice interface, Poppy offers a screen-free learning experience that promotes critical thinking, communication skills, and independent learning. It encourages students to articulate thoughts, break down problems, and find solutions independently.
Designed with accessibility in mind, Poppy uses inexpensive components to provide educational support for all students.
Poppy strives to improve the homework experience, fostering a love of learning and empowering students to take ownership of their education.submittedVersio
Bodycast
Full text linkPMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder) affects about 5.5% of women of reproductive age, causing severe symptoms such as anxiety, irritability, and depression that disrupt daily life and strain relationships. Despite its significant impact, myths and stigma surrounding menstruation often leave those affected feeling misunderstood and unaware of the support available.
For many, self-tracking is a crucial first step in seeking help. Using a user-centered approach, I have explored opportunities to support women living with PMDD.
One such solution is Bodycast, a conversational AI-driven service that makes self-tracking more intuitive and empowering. By transforming tracked data into an interactive audio experience, Bodycast enables users to uncover meaningful patterns, fostering self-awareness and understanding. Additional features, including mood tracking via earbuds and tools for partner support, ensure a holistic and inclusive approach to care.
Bodycast aspires to be more than a tool—it is a source of empowerment, helping women navigate PMDD with confidence and support.submittedVersio
Immersive Educational Experience Design
No full textIn the era of globalization, history and culture serve as bridges connecting people from diverse backgrounds. Cross-cultural education is crucial for promoting cultural understanding and inclusivity. However, traditional educational models rely on linear, one-way information delivery, which fails to meet the demands of complex cultural dissemination and understanding.
“Immersive Educational Experience Design” is an exploratory VR interactive research project. It aims to guide users into an immersive interactive system through role-playing, helping them learn about the history and culture of Chinese poets in a more engaging and interactive way.
The project consists of two main components: an “Ancient China VR” game, where users take on the roles of Chinese poets to explore cultural history through VR; and a user flow that reimagines the format of educational interactions.
In this project, my vision is to use immersive, interactive narratives as a bridge to trans-form complex knowledge into perceptible and experiential content. This enables users to develop a profound “first-person” understanding, spark interest in history and culture, and foster critical thinking and cultural inclusivity.
Through VR-based experimentation and testing, the project explores how narrative structuresand multimodal experiences in immersive storytelling can help people engage with and understand abstract cultural and historical concepts.
The research findings indicate that branching narratives and action-driven interactions significantly enhance user engagement and learning outcomes, providing theoretical support and practical frameworks for future educational models.submittedVersio
The Sensory Heritage of Pliny the Younger From Ancient Literary Sources to the Renaissance Villa
No full textThis diploma thesis explores the sensory dimensions of villa architecture, tracing the origins of the villa in Antiquity and its enduring significance through the Renaissance revival. The study identifies the villa as a «sensory construct» rooted in Pliny the Younger’s letters by situating contemporary sensory architectural discourse in a historical context. Pliny’s writings provide a literary framework for understanding villa architecture, portraying his estates as immersive environments that engage distinct views, light and shadow, sound, wind, gardens and cardinal orientation. These «Plinian elements» — categorised into sight, scent, sound and tactility — establish the sensory foundation of the villa and illustrate how sensory engagement connects architecture and human experience.
Andrea Palladio shared similar motivations with Pliny in creating rural retreats, yet he notably excludes Pliny in his reference to Antiquity. This paradox highlights the intangible nature of Pliny’s villas, leaving their architectural forms open to interpretation and enveloping them in mystery. Palladio’s villa architecture provides a formal foundation for examining the continuity of sensory engagement, explored through case studies of Villa Godi, Villa Barbaro, Villa Foscari, and Villa Almerico (La Rotonda). The study investigates the sensory and atmospheric qualities of Palladian villas by combining subjective immersion with documentation through measurements, text and photographs, uncovering connections between the Plinian narrative and Palladian design while bleding sensory engagement with architectural precision.
The lived experience of Villa Foscari and its restoration efforts are explored to demonstrate the lasting significance of sensory engagement. Albert Clinton Landsberg is presented as a Plinian figure in the context of a 20th-century Palladian villa, where the sensory resonance reinforces the Plinian approach to villa architecture. Landsberg’s meticulous restoration work focused on reviving the villa’s character and preserving its sensory qualities.
Contemporary sensory discourse asserts that architecture is inherently multi-sensory; it is not merely static and visual but experienced, as conveyed and firmly embedded in the Plinian letters, where sensory elements evoke a heightened awareness of the surroundings. Ultimately, the study demonstrates how the sensory dimensions of villa architecture shape human experiences and underscores the importance of preserving architectural heritage not only as physical structures but as sensory environments.submittedVersio
Skar Leir: Repairing the past, building for the future with local and sustainable resources
No full textSkar Leir: Repairing the past, building for the future is a transformation of Skar Leir, a former military camp in Maridalen, into a sustainable workshop and learning base for the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT). The site has been vacant for 17 years, and the project aims to address the pressing need for both the restoration of Skar Leir and the ongoing maintenance of DNT’s network of cabins.
The core concept revolves around utilizing existing resources—buildings, local materials, collective knowledge and craftmanship/community skills. Skar Leir will be restored using sustainable and locally available materials such as clay, straw, and wood, which are environmentally friendly and can be recycled, ensuring long-term durability.
DNT’s volunteers will be trained in traditional building techniques and sustainable practices to repair and restore vital components for DNT cabins. Through minimal interventions, the existing structures at Skar Leir will be preserved, with a focus on maintaining their architectural integrity. The project explores the potential of circular building practices and shows how existing buildings can be transformed to serve future needs, promoting a more sustainable approach to architecture and community-driven efforts.
The transformation of Skar Leir emphasizes that preserving and repurposing old buildings demands more than technical expertise—it calls for a fundamental shift in mindset. We must embrace maintenance and restoration as ongoing commitments, integral to the sustainable stewardship of our built heritage. Buildings are not static relics; they are living, evolving elements of our environment, rich with cultural and historical significance. Neglecting their care risks losing not just physical structures, but also the stories and values they embody. By fostering a culture of preservation, we ensure these spaces continue to serve and inspire for generations to come.submittedVersio
Between Spaces: A Low Threshold Reception Centre for Women in Addiction
No full textThis work investigates how architectural design can contribute to creating a supportive and dignified environment for women in addiction. While total rehabilitation may be the goal for some, many women live with long-term addiction, requiring spaces that meet them where they are—at their most vulnerable, often without income or stable housing. Low-threshold centres differ from institutional treatment facilities in both function and perception. The architecture of such centres must counteract the negative connotations associated with institutional care, which often exacerbate feelings of distrust among women who feel abandoned by the system.
The site is located in the historic Hausmannskvartalene where the existing complex was built from 1863 to 1969. Early history is kept with the structuring of these three buildings and today the complex is used as storage space serving the neighbouring warehouse Oslo Sportslager.
The role of architecture in maintaining dignity is central to this project. By designing spaces that promote comfort, safety, and a sense of belonging, architecture can offer choices and support the self-determination of individuals who face significant isolation. The transitions between spaces—such as light, sound, temperature, and material shifts—can be particularly challenging for those with addiction, as they often have heightened sensitivities. Thus, careful attention to these transitions is crucial in creating a therapeutic environment.submittedVersio
The River as Designer
Full text linkThe title ” The River as Designer” raises a question about perspective. Working on the scale of the Glomma River, there is a need to design with the river, understanding the natural processes and relations between the water and the ground, moving, shaping, and continually transforming the fluvial soils of the site.
In contrast, engineered dams and dike structures have shown to be fragile in increased flood disruption events, underlining the importance of working with the dynamics of the landscape rather than resisting it. The design approach involves acknowledging the river as a living entity within the rural context and guiding the water by stabilizing the soils, utilizing vegetation and existing rural structures within microtopographic low-lying historical meanders of the site.
Giving space to the river horisontally and Infiltrating to the stratigraphic layers
A number of strategic low-laying basins from old meander traces are selected to give space for the water. By rataining waterbodies in the floodplain a key element is the infiltration. As the historical section examplefies and sesmic drill-samples from Flisa and Kirkenær shows, the depth varies from 100-50 meters of sand, gravel and silt.
Designing with the dynamics of the river
As the historical map illustrates, the course of the river and sediment deposition has dynamically changed over time. Soil movement, accumulation, and the evolving nature of the river are key elements in the local design strategy.
Vegetation and existing structures as elements of design
In relation to the ground’s gradient, trees with intricate root systems and aquatic resilience stabilize wind and water erosion cost-effectively, while vegetation, roads, stone fences, and embankments guide water within the rural context.submittedVersio
Cultivating Urbanism: Reestablishing food production in Groruddalen
No full textThis diploma aims to cultivate urbanism in Hovinbyen, more specifically through activating the edge zone between the industrial area and the residential neighborhoods surrounding it. The area is situated in Groruddalen, the valley in Oslo’s periphery consisting of a complex mix of housing, heavy industry, construction sites, and nature.
Hovinbyen is projected to be Europe’s fastest-growing district, with an estimated 70,000 new residents by 2050. To accommodate this growth sustainably, a strategic urban plan is essential to avoid repeating past developmental mistakes. Today, the area is on track to become Oslo’s densest ”housing machine,” putting pressure on existing and projected social infrastructure. Rather than filling every vacant site with apartment blocks, this project explores the potential of these spaces to become vibrant social arenas for the residents of Groruddalen.
Groruddalen has undergone significant transformation over the years. Historically, it was the agricultural heart of Oslo, home to large farms that supplied food to the city. Over time, these farms gave way to suburban and industrial development, with open fields being replaced by paved areas and infrastructure designed for cars. This diploma builds on an existing project in the area, the Green Ring, planned to begin construction in 2030. The initiative promises to provide green infrastructural anchoring for Hovinbyen, with proposed green axes, small roof structures, benches, and lighting. While the green ring is a conventional tried and tested strategy for urban development, it is lacking in local and historical anchoring. With this project, I propose to strengthen the green ring through a more comprehensive strategy that draws inspiration from the area’s heritage of food production.
Food lies at the heart of many social and cultural experiences, bringing people together through activities such as cooking, eating, gardening, and learning about cultivation. By facilitating these activities, this diploma aims to create spaces that foster social interaction and strengthening the sense of a community, forming a stronger green backbone, anchoring the rapid development of the area.
The project consists of four interventions, that each acts on a different scale of food production. From full scale production, to a casual harvest of wild growing plants. The projects draw from the area’s architectural identity and agricultural history, forming new nodes of social interaction in a continuously densified urban fabric
A Method to Determine Ecocide from a Landscape Perspective: The Nova Kakhovka Dam Case in the Russia-Ukraine War
Full text linkFocusing on the ongoing war in Ukraine as a case study, this project intends to create a method capable of determining whether ecocide events occur — a potential crime prosecutable by the International Criminal Court (ICC). The project considers data collection and its gaps, expressing and scaling ecocide through mapping, and quantification of severity informed by ecological and crises theory. The testing of the method also calls for adjustments in the legal ecocide proposals to make the case to adopt ecocide to the Rome Statute stronger and more relevant to the scope of ecocide. While centered on Ukraine, the methodology is designed for global applicability in various conflict situations.submittedVersio