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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

www.DISabroad.org

Lecturer: Henning Thomsen (HT), byensojne@gmail.com

Course Assistant: TBA

Mee ng Loca on: TBA

“The world will be studying the Nordic model for years to come.” (‘The Next Supermodel’, Leader, The Economist, February 2nd-8th, 2013)

“Danish architecture has always been infl uenced by the larger world, but we have managed to translate the foreign architecture into Danish. The same holds true for all the Nordic countries....” (Kay Fisker, editor and professor, Arkitekten, 1964)

“... for we have seen design grow from a trade ac vity to a segmented profession to a fi eld for technical research and to what now should be recognized as a new liberal art of technological culture.” (Richard Buchanan, professor of design, Design Issues, Vol. 8, No. 2, Spring 1992)

“The relevant choice is not an either/or one between local culture and global modernity. Rather it is to design a world hospitable to both, as well as to all other cultures present and to the intermediary levels of cultural development they may represent or become - as well as of a sustainable planetary culture yet to come that transcends and supersedes modernity.” (Peter Buchanan, writer and cri c, AD Architectural Design, November/December 2012)

Course Descrip on: This course inves gates the present state of design

in Scandinavia - the New Nordic - as it unfolds just now. Focusing on

architecture and design at all scales - from service design, product design,

furniture and fashion to architecture, urban design, and infrastructure

design, the course relates to local tradi ons and cultures. It also

acknowledges the global connec ons and describes how we express

and organize ourselves and our communi es in the Nordic region at the

beginning of the 21st century.

The course will focus equally on Finish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic,

and Danish design. The relevance of regional design characteris cs in the

globalized world of today will be cri cally evaluated during the course.

Furthermore the course will dive into the forma ve beginnings of design

in Scandinavia in the late 19th century and the world renowned golden

age of democra c Scandinavian Design in the post World War II era, from

the 1950s to 1970s, in order to be er understand the present state of

design in Scandinavia - the New Nordic.

Throughout the course will inves gate the dis nc on between ’making’

- how cultural products like architecture and design, but also literature,

fi lm, food, etc., come about - and ’iden ty’ - what these cultural products

mean to individuals, to communi es, and to society.

We will read and study texts on architecture and design issues. We will

visit architecture and design in and around Copenhagen and use these

as case studies. We will meet prac oners involved in architecture and

3 Credits

Syllab

uste theNordic counc co

ditor and professor,nd professo

seen design grow from a sign grow fa fi eld for technical resea fi eld for technical

d as a new liberal art of tecnew liberal a(Richard Buchanan, profchard Buchanan

pring 1992)pring 1992

“The relevant choice ise relevant chglobal modernity. Raglobal moderas to all other cuas to all development developmeplanetary lanetary Nov

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

www.DISabroad.org

design and learn how they view the world. We will work on assignments

that try to bridge the gap between the world of thinking and the world of

making.

The course is structured in three sec ons. The fi rst sec on, DEPARTURES,

gives an introduc on to the term New Nordic and furthermore aims to

establish a pla orm for how to talk about and cri cally study design and

cultural products in general. The second sec on, DESIGNS, gives a cursory

introduc on to the design iden es and histories of the fi ve countries

that form the core of the course: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and

Denmark. This includes a broad descrip on of the forma ve beginnings

of design in Scandinavia in the late 19th century as well as the golden

age of democra c Scandinavian Design in the post World War II era,

from the 1950s to 1970s as it developed in the countries we are looking

at. Building on this the second sec on surveys New Nordic Design as it

unfolds currently in the Nordic region, looking at New Nordic Design in

all its various scales - from service design, product design, furniture and

fashion to architecture, urban design and infrastructure design. The third

and fi nal sec on, DESTINIES, tries to hypothesize what the future might

hold in terms of new prac ces and new posi ons in design in Scandinavia.

understand the fi eld of architectural theory. The CHRONOLOGICAL

OVERVIEW aims to sketch out both a theore cal and a cultural overview

of the decades from 1960s un l today. Finally the THEMATIC OVERVIEW

delves deeper into a series of recurring themes that have shaped European

architectural theories in the past fi ve decades.

Learning Objec ves

By the end of this course you should

•be able to orient yourself in the recent Scandinavian landscape of design

•be familiar with the main design development trends in Scandinavia

•understand how design historical and design theore cal perspec ves

can be applied to the study of contemporary cultural products

•understand the importance and fundamentals of cri cal reading and

wri ng

•be able to refl ect on the role and task of design and the designer through

the applica on of cri cal thinking

Required Texts

Reading material will be uploaded as individual texts on DIS Forum. Crucial

texts are:

•TBA

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yllabus

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

www.DISabroad.org

Approach to Teaching: The class will meet twice a week and consists of

lectures, student presenta ons and class discussions. This course relies

heavy on reading. The type of reading you will be required to do in this

class moves beyond fi nding informa on or loca ng an authorʼs purpose

or iden fying main ideas (as useful as these skills are). You will be asked

to dig deep in to the texts to ferret out meaning, systems of rela onships

between ideas, and examine your own response to these ideas and their

impact on the world around them.

In short, cri cal reading requires that you ques on intensely. For cri cal

reading, you cannot sit back and wait. These texts are not necessarily

easy nor are you expected to swallow the words without considera on.

True reading demands that you fi rst ac vely listen to the author without

projec ng your own agenda. In this sense, you might imagine that you

are engaged in a conversa on with the author and once he/she has

completed what he/she wants to say to you, you are in a posi on to speak

back, to say something of your own, something meaningful and thought-

out. If you have no response, you are reading lazily and need to instead,

read cri cally: to formulate a response. Such response involves analysis,

synthesis, and crea vity.

Expecta on of the Students: I expect you to be fully engaged in the

lectures, par cipate ac vely in any discussion and be open minded to your

fellow students contribu on to class. I hope to establish an environment

where we can learn from each other as well as from the texts and cases we

engage with and I expect you to ac vely support this approach. Readings

must be done before class and should be done with inquisi veness. The

ability to frame the appropriate ques ons and to apply cri cal thinking will

be valued and the class should form the se ng in which to ac vely exercise

this ability. In our discussions in class please aim to make references to our

readings, to support the points or ques ons you wish to raise.

Evalua on & Grading:

The fi nal grade is determined as follows:

20% Ac ve individual par cipa on, in-class presenta ons and

provision of ques on points

20% The InTheMaking assignment (poster presenta on: 400 words

of cri cal wri ng + illustra ons)

30% Mid term exam (essay type)

30% The CPH:DESIGNDOX assignment (essay type and semester

long: 1500-2500 words of cri cal wri ng + illustra ons)

T he In The Making assignment is a ten-day long exercise consis ng of a)

xxx, b) xxx, c) mapping it through photos, maps, sketches, etc., d) producing

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at you fi rst ac vely listen rst ac vely

agenda. In this sense, yoenda. In this sense

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hat he/she wants to say to t he/she wants to s

say something of your ownsomething of you

f you have no response, yave no respo

ead cri cally: to formulatead cri cally: to form

synthesis, and crea vitynthesis, and crea

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

www.DISabroad.org

a poster in A2 format presen ng your fi ndings, and e) presen ng this

poster in a joint class session. The mid-term exam is an essay type exam

that takes place in class and is based on ques ons about the readings.

The CPH:DESIGNDOX assignment consists of a semester long, essay type

cri cal inves ga on of a piece of design from Copenhagen chosen by

student themselves (with guidance from course teacher).

Both in-class and fi eld study a endance and ac ve par cipa on are

required. For all types of ac vity students on a regular basis will be

asked to prepare ques on points for classes. These should refl ect on the

readings carried out and provide the class as a whole with a pla orm for

engaged and informed discussion.

Late papers will not be accepted. To be eligible for a passing grade in this

class you must complete all of the assigned work.

Disability and resource statement

Any student who has a need for accommoda on based on the impact of

a disability should contact Sean Green (sgr@dis.dk) to coordinate this. In

order to receive accommoda ons, students should inform the instructor

of approved DIS accommoda ons within the fi rst two weeks of classes.

Policies

A endance

You are expected to a end all DIS classes when scheduled. If you miss

mul ple classes the Director of Teaching and Learning, and the Director of

Student Aff airs will be no fi ed and they will follow-up with you to make

sure that all is well. Absences will jeopardize your grade and your standing

at DIS. Allowances will be made in cases of illness, but in the case of

mul ple absences you will need to provide a doctor’s note.

Academic Honesty

Plagiarism and Viola ng the Rules of an Assignment

DIS expects that students abide by the highest standards of intellectual

honesty in all academic work. DIS assumes that all students do their

own work and credit all work or thought taken from others. Academic

dishonesty will result in a fi nal course grade of “F” and can result in

dismissal. The students’ home universi es will be no fi ed. DIS reserves

the right to request that wri en student assignments be turned in

electronic form for submission to plagiarism detec on so ware. See the

Academic Handbook for more informa on, or ask your instructor if you

have ques ons.

Electronic devices in the classroom

Feel free to use your laptop for relevant note taking. The use of cell phones

must take place outside of class hours.

Dra S

yllabus

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

Day Date Session Time Topic

www.DISabroad.org

Dra S

yllabus

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Fr Aug 23 1 11:40- 13:00 DEPARTURES Danish Michelin starred cuisine, Finnish auteur fi lm, Norwegian crime literature, Swedish House Mafi a DJ’s and Icelandic light sculptures? Cultural products from a bunch of ny countries to the far north invade the world stage. Where did that come from and what is all the fuzz about? The term New Nordic Design has been applied to the current wave of design coming out of Scandinavia and we want to fi nd out what’s cooking. Required reading: • TBA

Tu Aug 27 2 11:40- 13:00 The thing is... How do we talk about things - objects - design? Is there a common language that will allow us to study and discuss and understand the design of a bridge as well as that of a spoon without becoming schizophrenic? The session gives an introduc on to design thinking, design talking and the historiography of design. Required reading: • TBA

Fr Aug 30 3 11:40- 13:00 Master narra ves and alterna ve histories Design coming from the Scandinavian countries is characterized by a certain set of values - humanis c, democra c, organic - or so the master narra ve tells us. Recent research suggests that there may be alterna ve histories available. Before we go further, we want to understand the dilemmas of tradi onal mythologies. Required reading: • Kje l Fjallan: A Historiography of Scandinavian Design, in Scandinavian Design: Alterna ve Histories, London, 2012.

Sep 02 - 07 Core Course Week

Tu Sep 10 4 11:40- 13:00 NEW NORDIC DESIGNS - GEOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW This part of the course gives a cursory introduc on to the design iden es and histories of the fi ve countries that form the core of the course: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark. This will both create the pla orm for understanding recent design developments in Scandinavia in general as well as survey the regional diff erences.

Finland Required reading: • TBA

Fr Sep 13 5 11:40- 13:00 Iceland Required reading: • TBA

Tu Sep 17 6 11:40- 13:00 Norway Required reading: • TBA

Fr Sep 20 7 11:40- 13:00 Sweden Required reading: • TBA

Tu Sep 24 8 11:40- 13:00 Denmark Required reading: • TBA

Fr Sep 27 9 11:40- 13:00 Mid-Term Exam

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

Day Date Session Time Topic

www.DISabroad.org

Dra S

yllabus

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Sep 28 - Oct 06 Travel Week

Tu Oct 08 10 11:40- 13:00 Going where? Contemporary infrastructure design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Fr Oct 11 11 11:40- 13:00 Livable ci es Contemporary urban design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Tu Oct 15 12 11:40- 13:00 Sustainable places Contemporary building design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Fr Oct 18 13 11:40- 13:00 Light as is... Contemporary interior design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Oct 19 - 27 Travel Week Tu Oct 29 14 11:40- 13:00 DESIGNS - IN THE MAKING INTERMEZZO In The Making Introduc on to the 11-day In The Making assignment Required reading: • TBA

Fr Nov 01 15 11:40- 13:00 Objec fi ed Film viewing of the Gary Hustwit fi lm about design. Required reading: • TBA

Tu Nov 05 16 11:40- 13:00 Objec fi ed Discussion of fi lm in class. Required reading: • TBA

Fr Nov 08 17 11:40- 13:00 In The Making Presenta on of students In The Making posters Required reading: • TBA

Nov 09 - 17 Travel Week

Tu Nov 19 18 11:40- 13:00 DESIGNS - THEMATIC OVERVIEW CONTINUED What to wear? Contemporary fashion and tex le design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

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DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013

New Nordic Design

Day Date Session Time Topic

www.DISabroad.org

Dra S

yllabus

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Fall 2012

Fr Nov 22 19 11:40- 13:00 Have a seat! Contemporary furniture design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Tu Nov 26 20 11:40- 13:00 Product Design Contemporary product design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Fr Nov 29 21 11:40- 13:00 I am! Contemporary brand design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Deadline for hand-in of CPH:DESIGNDOX assignment. Send by email to byensojne@gmail.com no later than Friday 29 May 23:59

Tu Dec 03 22 11:40- 13:00 Helping us along Contemporary service design in Scandinavia Required reading: • TBA

Fr Dec 06 23 11:40- 13:00 DESTINIES What does the future hold in terms of new prac ces and new posi ons in design in Scandinavia?

Back to the future or the reversal? Where is this heading? Are we witnessing a ny intermezzo in the grande scheme of globaliza on? Or is New Nordic a term that will s ck with us? And if so, what good might it be doing? Required reading: • TBA

Schedule subject to change with as much no ce as possible. All future edits to the syllabus will be made on Blackboard only.