The diploma semester at AHO is an independent research and design task on a theme chosen by the candidate. In consultation with a chosen advisor, the candidate is to produce a complete work of exceptional quality contributing to the discipline’s dis-course.

This course explores how different approaches in landscape theory opens for transdisciplinary conversations on Arctic issues such as indigenous peoples rights to land- and seascapes, climate change, biodiversity, multi-species migration, and consequences of increased human activity such as tourism, resource extraction, and new infrastructures in outfields and coastal zones.

The objective of the course is threefold: Firstly, to theoretically explore past, present and prospected futures of subarctic sea- and landscapes. Secondly, the course aims at giving the students a positive reading- and writing experience. Thirdly, in collaboration with researchers from the social, human, and natural sciences, to provide an advanced introduction to the northernmost landscapes of Scandinavia and Sápmi as a point of departure to understand changes in Arctic territories.

The landscape theory course is structured around a lecture series with invited experts and step-by-step assignments in academic writing that culminate with a seminar and a book edition. The course is the third of its kind and builds on experience from the theory courses Small Stories Grand Narratives in 2016, and The Global North and the High North in 2017. The students in the previous two courses deserve credit for actively taking part in co-creating the course.

An introduction to ecology for landscape architecture.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The studio course sets out to explore the dynamic tidal zone in northern Norway using the 24-kilometre coastline around Tromsøya as the central case. This zone, known as “fjæra” in Norwegian, is not only home to some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the north, but also holds great culture-historical value. The tidal zone provided different resources used in the traditional household and was an important interface between sea and land. In the northern sea-culture where agriculture and fishing were interweaved or integrated, the landing place or “lendinga”, where the boats came ashore or left for sea, was often regarded as the most important place on the farm. As such “lendinga i fjæra” can be regarded a symbol of the fishing-farmers way of life, a place of public significance in northern Norway. In many cases, these landing places were shared by several farms, forming a common or “allmenning” that would function as a social arena.

The tidal zone in northern Norway continues to be of great importance today, although more modern forms of living almost entirely have replaced the traditional sea-culture. The zone is still home to valuable ecosystems, despite the fact that human interventions, such as land reclamation to sea, compromise their diversity and productivity in many cases. The interface between sea and land still holds public significance, although recreational activities might have replaced work-related activities. However, all in all, the tidal zone seems to have lost cultural significance as a public domain since the middle of the 20th century. 

As part of the studio course, students will be asked to investigate how the tidal zone can gain cultural significance as a public domain through design interventions that not only meet the needs of contemporary life but also reflect on and take into account the rich natural and cultural heritage of the tidal zone. A field trip connecting various coastlines around Northern Norway will allow students to get acquainted with different types of tidal zones and understand the Tromsøya fjæra from a larger perspective. The idea is to work with design interventions that might be relatively modest in scale while addressing changes and processes on a larger scale. Working with material qualities and atmospheres linked to the continuous changes in the zone – a zone in flux – will be a central task throughout the semester. Students will be asked to formulate a landscape architectural program informed by the site. Rather than superimposing a given program on to the site, the idea is to develop the program from the site itself.

This studio takes the local Lofoten initiative to become part of the UNESCO Biosphere as a point of departure. The students will develop projects that can support and promote sustainable development in the region with a particular focus on ecology and practises in the landscape.

Launched in 1971, UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme (MAB) is an Intergovernmental Scientific Programme that aims to establish a scientific basis for the improvement of relationships between people and their environments.

MAB combines the natural and social sciences, economics and education to improve human livelihoods and the equitable sharing of benefits, and to safeguard natural and managed ecosystems, thus promoting innovative approaches to economic development that are socially and culturally appropriate, and environmentally sustainable.

The studio will run parallelly and collaborate closely with the new theory course «Ecology for landscape architecture». This combination will inform the students in defining their design programs within the scope of the studio. The teachers of the ecology course will also tutor in the studio- work and be part of group reviews.

The Arctic face climate and industrial changes that affect the ecosystems and the human settlements. The knowledge and know-how that is produced by studying these changes closely where they happen transfers to a more general range of landscapes across the world.

The pre-diploma semester at AHO is an independent research task on a theme chosen by the candidate. In consultation with the course teacher, fellow students and a chosen advisor, the candidate is to produce a report that details a topic to be studied, an approach or methodology, a spatial program and a plan of work. This report is the foundation of the diploma work.