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Heart to Heart
No full textHeart To Heart is a service and interaction design diploma project that explores how design can improve different aspects of blood donation in Norway. Blood is a living material that cannot be made artificially, and patients who need transfusions depend on donors for their treatment. Because blood has a limited shelf life, it is essential that the blood bank continuously receives new donations.
Extensive insight work, involving blood donors, non-donors and staff at the Oslo Blood Bank and the Red Cross Blood Program helped us identify eight key findings. These form a basis for a series of design proposals that form a vision for further development of the blood donor experience and system. A user map shows the proposed seamless and meaningful blood donor experience. A detailed overview of the various proposals shows how they add value and contribute towards the underlying need for more donors.
The goal of our project is to advance the discussion of digitalization of the Norwegian blood donation system in a user centric direction. In the long term we believe this can provide the blood banks with more donors while preserving blood security and providing the donors themselves with better experiences. Our hope is that we can contribute to shifting the focus from the problems, limitations and technicalities of today towards the possibilities and potential of where the service could be headed.submittedVersio
Remotely Connected
No full textRemotely Connected is an explorative interaction design project searching for ways to bring back the social interactions that vanished with the beginning of the home office.
The value of social interaction has been less prioritized in the transition to the new way of working. Today, we are still communicating based on the tools, relationships, and culture we had before the pandemic.
The project proposes a workplace social platform TouchBase for the final concept. The service lets users tailor the modes of communication based on their preferences. The concept was developed based on a series of explorations, design interventions and discussions around them.
User involvement is an important keyword in this project. The ideas for the explorations were drawn from the remote ideation workshop.
This project explored possibilities for new modes of playful, nuanced social communication suited for the new way of work. Also, it encouraged people to think outside the box of given digital solutions we have in our hands today.submittedVersio
In between and all-around
No full textMessy landscapes are abandoned or unexploited frag-ments of the urban fabric that grow outside the human intention. These spaces are both a condition and a process, constantly in transformation. The fragments tend to look messy, as there is little to no level of maintenance. Nevertheless, these spaces are considered to have greater biological diversity than those more subjected to exploitation and control.
Messy landscapes are part of the everyday scene and are often misunderstood and overlooked. The messy landscapes are ambiguous and transitional spaces that create dynamic open frag-ments that serve as innovative social, cultural, and ecological spaces.
Urban green spaces are becoming increasingly more programmed and fixed, an ideal that leads to a restrictive and static reality, often fragile to change. Instead, what one should strive for are spaces that are capable of adjusting over time, that are open for and embrace forces and processes outside human control, thus creating a deeper understanding of the complexity of our surroundings.submittedVersio
The Social Impact Paradigm : Visualizing artifacts in a future where social value is a key driver in society
No full textIn our current paradigm, success is to a large extent based on financial value. Worth is equatable with money, yet this systemic ideal - the essence of worth
in our paradigm - is proving unsustainable in the long run. The role model of the rational economic man is causing us to overshoot our resources, and blindly develop for the sake
of development. It also leaves us blind to the values of society, where a global force majeure - such as Covid-19 - is needed to trigger a reconsideration of how we
value social impact as opposed to financial worth.
However, the future doesn’t have to look like this. It is possible to perceive a future in which the social contribution a person makes is valued equally, or as an alternative, to economic value.
In other words, a society where social value is central, and economic value peripheral. This diploma explores the idea of social value as a key metric for measuring worth.
Through design fiction, social design and critical theory, this diploma offers a contribution on how to answer the problem of our finance-focused current paradigm,
by means of a portal into the Social Impact Paradigm. It is the constructed paradigm used in this diploma, not too far from our current state - the only
thing that has shifted is the way we perceive value.
From this paradigm I will present a visualization of the solution, presented as five unique artifacts, making the Social Impact Paradigm plausible, believable and comprehensible.submittedVersio
Against the grain
No full textRøros has been preserved for 100 years - with the consequence being that preservation work itself has made a considerable impact on the built environment. A preservation practice running in a feedback loop - only reproducing and pushing the same architectural motif on every building - regardless of scale, program, and context. The prevailing system is slowly contaminating every building it touches, old and new, which could gradually leave Røros with a generic Scandinavian town aesthetic, unable to absorb the needs of a contemporary town, and jeopardizing its unique characteristics.
We aim to break the Feedback Loop and propose new forms of architecture by feeding the preservation loop with new inputs. Radically opposed to the governed input, but indisputably rooted in the place. We propose three new buildings - designed by using an expanded understaning of the history of Røros.
A selection of our archive used to feed the Feedback Loop with new inputs.
01. An industrial building situated on the periphery of the historical center. Despite the close connection to the preservation border, the prevailing practice is not interested in including new industrial buildings into the discussion. Ending in a situation where mass-produced industrial and commercial sheds are either hidden by vegetation, “ignored” or dressed with domestic Potemkin facades not to clutter the aestheticized idyll of the cityscape of the historic town - or located far away from the city center.
We propose a new building which is referencing its form, materiality, additive plan, and construction logic from a the typology that is highly present in the history of Røros - but in a contemporary way. A rational construction assembled of prefabricated elements - re-figurated to respond formally to the historical context.
02. A new multi-purpose building on an unbuilt plot in the area of Flanderborg. The size of the plot enables a spacious room and public program with the ambition to bring back a day to day use of the town center - a communal building consisting of a main indoor hall with kitchen and dining space, a membership gym, and three small office spaces. The volume is composed of the translation of the historic silhouettes, the logic of the courtyard typology, and the pragmatic needs of the program.
03. A small infill building completing the corner on one of the iconic streetscapes of Røros. Offering a covered outdoor space, a small public square, and a hot dog kiosk. We propose an alternative model to address the streetscape where the prevailing method of facadism has led to urban conditions where every building looks alike, and the streets have lost both their public spaces and depth.submittedVersio
Oslos fjordlandskap : en kritisk refleksjon rundt dagens forvaltning og forslag til nye retningsgivende hensyn
No full textI denne diplomoppgaven ses det nærmere på forvaltningen av Oslos fjordlandskap som gjenstand for en
økende urbanisering. Dette kommer blant annet til uttrykk gjennom tilrettelegging for hurtiggående båt- og
fergetrafikk samt gjennom utformingen av en striglet fjordlinje i granitt og betong. En slik urbanisering av
fjordlandskapet favoriserer i stor grad økonomiske og kommersielle interesser på bekostning av hensynet til
natur, friluftsliv og landskapsmangfold. Fra skjæringspunktet mellom landskapsarkitektur og byutvikling, er
oppgaven ment som en kritisk refleksjon rundt gjeldende utvikling. Det legges til grunn en utvidet tolkning av
begrepet «friluftsliv» som her omfatter også andre arter enn mennesker, og forstås mer som et «liv i friluft» .
Muligheten til å utøve friluftsliv i Oslos fjordområde er sterkt truet. Artsmangfold og naturlandskap er under
stort press både på land og under vann. Fjordbyen-prosjektet, som transformerer byens havneområder
fra industri til nye bydeler, gir uttrykk for kun å legge til rette for en bestemt menneskelig bruk av enkelte
befolkningsgrupper og for å ha glemt resten av det mangfoldige fjordsamfunnet. Byforskeren Jonny Aspen
kaller en slik utvikling for en «zombie-urbanisme» for å beskrive en slags iscenesatt byutforming der det ikke
er rom for det uregelmessige eller uønskede.2 En utvikling som mangler variert utformede offentlige rom som
inviterer til mer spontane og frie former for friluftsliv og appellerer til et bredere lag av fjordsamfunnet, viser
liten respekt for fjordlandskapet som frilufts- og naturområde. En lesning av Regjeringens tiltaksplan for
Oslofjorden fra mars 2021, gjør det klart at natur- og friluftsverdier skal prioriteres i arbeidet med å skape en
mer bærekraftig fjord.3 Planen er et viktig virkemiddel for å nå målene om bedre miljøtilstand og mer
attraktive friluftsområder, men den er for generell og ikke konkret tilpasset den kritiske situasjonen som Oslos
fjordlandskap står overfor.
En tolkning av formålsbestemmelsene i Friluftsloven, Plan- og bygningsloven og Naturmangfoldloven gjøres
for bedre å forstå hvilke hensyn lovgiver mener skal styre utvikling og utbygging samt hvilke prioriteringer
og avveininger som skal gjøres. Her kommer det klart til uttrykk at hensynet til natur og friluftsliv er
tungtveiende i utbyggingsspørsmål. Utvikling og bruk viser imidlertid at slike hensyn ikke gis tilstrekkelig
gjennomslag i praksis.
Et forslag for en klassifisering av menneskelige friluftsaktiviteter i naturlike områder er ment å bedre
forståelsen av hvordan fjordlandskapet fungerer som friluftsområde. En slik oversikt kan fungere som et
felles vokabular for å gi en samstemt forståelse av aktivitetstyper på tvers av ulike fagdisipliner som opererer
i området. Det er stor variasjon i aktivitetene som finner sted og måten disse utføres på skiller seg klart fra
bruken av Fjordbyens urbane byrom. Muligheten til å utøve friluftsliv er helt avhengig av et mangfoldig
fjordlandskap med ulike typologier og kvaliteter.
Oslomarka står som et kroneksempel på bynært friluftsliv med en regulering og forvaltning som skal sikre
naturområder for alle arter. Dette er i sterksubmittedVersio
Biography of a House
No full textThe ruin is a phenomenon that fascinates and awakens a naive curiosity. These structures make your mind wander: Who lived there? Where are they now? Why isn’t anyone taking care of the building? It is intriguing to continue reflecting about both the past and potential future of these buildings. We see the ruin as a dormant resource that can provide a deeper understanding of a place and its history.
Such a house is Toralfhuset. The house itself - its structure and architectural DNA - is not exceptional. It is a prefabricated log house in the Swiss style, quite common for the area. It was built in the late 19th century, and is quite a large house, with six bedrooms, a kitchen, a hall, a dining room, two living rooms and a basement with a full floor-height. Throughout the century, it was inhabited by several people, up until the 18th of May 1973, when its last inhabitant - Toralf Mikalsen - passed away. Since then, the house has been without any maintenance, and it has deteriorated to a ruinous state. This is also helped along by locals, who have gathered and reused materials from the house.
Toralfhuset is situated at Røst – an island community of 500 inhabitants – around 100km off the coast from the nearest big city. The archipelago has been settled for many centuries, thanks to the abundance of natural resources from the sea. Here, the people, fish and birds live together in symbiosis.
How can these buildings become resources for their local communities? And is it possible to save a ruin without ruining it?
Our process started with exploring different approaches for how to deal with the house, ranging from letting it deteriorate, to a full transformation. This resulted in seven strategies, along an axis of different levels of visual manipulation. To know which strategy would be the correct one to proceed with, we wanted to pinpoint Toralfhuset’s values.
The value assessment is made on the basis of field search, archival research and interviews with locals. We identified seven categories of values, which relate to both the physical and non-physical aspects of the house: cultural, historical, iconic, anecdotal, resource, ecological and age.
By combining the different approaches with the identified values, we discovered that sticking to only one of the strategies would not be able to capture the range of values of the house. We discovered that the best solution would be a combination of different approaches in different
of the house.
We decided to split our interventions into two phases. In this way, we could stop the project after the first phase, and say that our intervention is complete.
The main goal of the first phase is to prevent the house from further deterioration. In this phase, we are utilizing the approaches that are on the left end of the axis, with visually more subtle interventions. The interventions include switching out the rotten logs with new, fresh wood, supporting the cantilevering south-west corner with a steel construction, and cladding it with similar panel to the original, to protect the exposed log walls.
The second phase is about making the house inhabitable again. Here, we are acting mostly on the right end of the axis, allowing ourselves to become present co-authors of its expression. First, we need to fix the windows, doors, add insulation and bring in infrastructure like water and electricity. Then, we are reintroducing the “missing room” from the south-west corner, and adding it to the opposite, south-east corner. This new, cantilevering space will function as a diningroom in conjunction with the kitchen. This intervention will be hidden from the line of sight from Toralfhuset’s most photographed angle, so the house will keep its iconic expression. The rest of the house is kept quite similar to its original plan.
We know that sea-levels are rising, and that Toralfhuset will be in the 200-year storm surge zone by 2090. Knowing that building materials are of great resource value for the locals at Røst, we invite them to help themselves with materials from this point on. To make it easier for them to do so, we imagine a catalogue with an overview of all the materials that are in the building. This way, the house acts as a mate-rial-bank for future use. The steel construction, however, will become a part of the new ruin, as a hint of the house that was once there.submittedVersio
On the Heights
No full textThe Norwegian national identity is to be found in the countryside. Here, a cultural uniqueness had remained during the 400 year long union with Denmark. The mode of life in the countryside and aesthetic of untouched nature became symbols of the Norwegian national soul. Derived from this fascination of nature, friluftsliv became a deeply ingrained part of Norwegian culture. Friluftsliv can be roughly translated into “out-doors life”, and entails spending time in, hiking, and experiencing nature. The term is said to originate from the poem “Paa vidderne” (On the Heights) by Henrik Ibsen
I den øde Sæterstue
Al min rige Fangst jeg sanker;
Der er Krak og der er Grue,
Friluftsliv for mine Tanker.
- Henrik Ibsen
In our Pre-Diploma, we devised a strategy which applied Nordlandsbanen as a means of transportation for inland tourism. Nordlandsbanen is a 726 km long train ride, going from Trondheim in the south, to Bodø in the North. In connection to the stations, there are several hiking trails which lead into the highlands.
We limited our focus to an area in and around Saltdalen - Svartisen National Park. Here, where we found the most extensive and intricate network of connections between hiking trails and train stops. However the network does have several missing pieces, which, if realised, would make hiking to and from the train stops more accessible. Based on a set of criterias, we found three sites where new projects could be built to further develop the network. The three sites are placed in different stages of travel. Site A is at a train stop, site B is on the border to the national park, and site C lies within the national park.
One of the hiking trails in the national park is the historic trail, Telegrafruta. The trail originates from a telegraph line which was built during the 1860s. The harsh climate of the mountains required much maintenance, and several cabins were built for the workers to live in while working on the line. These cabins, together with remains of thousands of telegraph posts, make up the historic hiking trail.
The first buildings to be erected in connection to Telegrafruta were two primitive stone cabins that were to provide shelter for the workers who worked on building the telegraph posts. They were built with stone found on site, and have a traditional dry stone double stacked wall construction.
Our ambition is for the three projects to relate to each other and to the existing structures of the network, thus creating an identity for the network as a whole. For this reason, we have chosen stone as the constructive material for our projects. By adopting this specific feature the new projects would connect the historic route with the remaining hiking trails and the train route.
The program varies from the different sites. At site A there will be a train station and sleeping accomodations for 20 people. The sleeping accommodation will have small private rooms and a large en-trance to store luggage.
The two sites in the highlands have a similar program based on the same needs. None of the sites have water or electricity installed and will need proximity to running water. At site B we will build two small identical shelters. Site C will have the same program, but divided into two small sleeping annexes and one shared space building.. There is a stove for effective heating, and an open fireplace to create light as well as heat. A small outhouse includes the toilet and storage space.
Considering the different nature of the programs, the sites, and the logistics of building with stone, the projects do not have a similar architecture. In the highlands one cannot use large machines for heavy lifting, which means that the stone elements cannot become too large for people to lift, while on site A it is possible for the construction to consist of larger stone elements. The construction materials for Site B and C have to be brought in by helicopter or snow mobiles.
To build in stone has been challenging as people in the professional environment of architecture have limited knowledge of stone as a construction material. Some of the difficulties lie in the unpredictability of the material in regards to cracks and hidden weaknesses in the material. With this in mind, we have chosen a traditional construction method for the shelters. The method is based on a dry stacking of stones, which means that there is no mortar used. To achieve a level of comfort in the shelters we have modified this traditional dry stacking and added insulation and wind barriers. This led to several challenges in regards to the stability of the wall. To solve these problems we designed a set of innovative solutions after discussing them with Engineer and Stone Mason Espen Marthinsen.
At the train station the construction consists of stone columns and a stone core. The columns are unconventional in that they are more slender than ordinary stone columns. This is made possible by threading a steel rod through several stones and then tensioning the rod by tightening nuts on each end, which results in a post-tensioned stone column.
Our project is an example of how one could develop the existing network of infrastructure already found at, or close to, a train station and a national park. As Nordlandsbanen is more than 700 km long and there are 16 national parks in Trøndelag and Nordland, we imagine that the idea of developing similar infrastructure can be applied to other places along the trails. We believe that to upgrade and further facilitate the existing infrastructure to meet the desired increase in visitors of the national parks is less damaging for the preservation areas than to just leave it be. Today’s development in Norway of large areas with cabins is one of the larger threats towards nature and species diversity. Cabins are often built and equipped as a house, with water, electricity, and highly technological solutions. Our shelters are antidotal to this development. They are a nod to simpler times and democratise nature by facilitating for a larger number of people to experience nature.submittedVersio
In symbiosis - Prototypes of Carbon Capture and Urban Industry
No full textThe thesis is based upon a prototype of the larger infrastructures of Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage, which are utilized in order to tackle the rapid escalation of climate change and emissions. The prototypes explore carbon capture as small-scale urban factories, rather than the mega-structure which may be expected. Running off the city as a resource (CO2), the manufacturing process (CCUS) materialises emissions into a tangible, informative asset. Thus, the thesis asks if urban production can contribute to the benefit of our climate and urban environment. My thesis is based on exploring the synergies between new technology, the urban environment and environmental challenges through global, urban and local scales.
Through technology and innovative discoveries, the Industrial Revolution introduced our urban environment to both new opportunities and new environmental challenges. Globally connected industries and manufacturing, large infrastructural networks and cheap energy - all technologies crucial to our cities and economy’s rapid growth - were developed during this period. Similarly, my thesis is based on exploring the synergies between new technology, the urban environment and environmental challenges through global, urban and local scales. The thesis is therefore a hypothetical project about climate change measures and urban industry in symbiosis.
In 2019, Oslo had 1 267 060 tons of carbon dioxide being released into the air. This is roughly the average yearly emission-rate in the Municipality. Translating this number into something more tangible, we can compare this to forest efficiency. To capture 1 millions tons of CO2 you would need over 800 square kilometers of forest, an area larger than the whole city of New York. In contrast, a carbon capture facility can capture the same amount on a 0.4 square kilometer footprint. In comparison, Oslo Municipality has about 300 square kilometers of forest, in theory enough to nearly absorb half of Oslos yearly emissions. However, the majority of Oslos trees and forests are dislocated from the urban center and polluting zones. The polluting epicenters in the denser urban area makes up the negative form of Oslos forests. My argument for climatic solutions needing to be locally embedded around its source of emissions are thus based on efficiency and size.
My hypothesis is based on exploring carbon capturing in fragmented, smaller scales - closer to that of trees - which utilizes the city as a resource. The project is therefore conceptualized as a network or series of acupuncture projects, responding locally to the same challenges which similar large scale industries address in non-urban contexts. The thesis aims at exploring these potentials through the development of a prototype which is applied, calculated, and tested through varying case studies and scales in polluted city-zones in Oslo, Norway.
Based on mapping exercises in which emissions, topographical conditions, and site categories were researched, the project is narrowed down to sites in particularly high pollution zones in Oslo. There are three site typologies, three corresponding utilisation concepts, and three corresponding urban strategies. For the strategy to be applicable to different cities and geographical conditions, I have chosen to work with a group of generic sites, which I assume can be found in many cities. The three generic sites are; Industrial buildings and areas, today very few in Oslo are not yet developed for housing or retail; unintended urban spaces, commonly found as voids appearing between infrastructure and development; and temporarily vacant buildings, which in Oslo are mostly owned by the Municipality, but not developed nor used at the moment.
I have wanted to explore how carbon capture infrastructures are scalable from mega-structures to integrated small scale urban industries. This is based on a historic analysis of the relationship between the industrial revolution and the urban impact of new technology. In parallel, I have developed a deep technical understanding of carbon capture technology today. The thesis has then explored the architectural potentials and potential relationship to urban contexts that carbon capture infrastructures entail, suggesting that a sustainable carbon capturing future can integrate within urban development and planning.
Through my research I identified many potential answers and possible scales applicable to the hypothesis. In order to study possible scales and applications, the thesis applies the prototypes to three possible scenarios. These scenarios are generic conditions that can be found in cities throughout the world, which for this research case are deployed in Oslo, Norway. The scenarios are industrial buildings, unintended urban spaces, and temporarily vacant buildings, which the thesis argues could be replicated in many other urban contexts.
The thesis then designs a proposal for each site. The proposals have the goal of demonstrating how carbon capture can generate urban and architectural form - ranging from large and small urban furniture, to trees and street lights - thus creating interactive and tangible components within the rest of the city. The thesis then posits a potential methodology of site-specific architectural proposals based on a technical CO2 analysis of each site, with the ambition to inspire other cities, architects, planners, and policymakers on realistic and tangible strategies to integrate urbanism and architecture with carbon capture technology. This will be a vital component of achieving the crucial goal of carbon neutrality in the very near future, and the thesis believes to demonstrate that architecture and urbanism have an important role to play.submittedVersio