1. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design 3 Credits
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 influenced by the larger world, but
te
we have managed to translate the foreign architecture into Danish. The
same holds true for all the Nordic countries....”
c co
coun
(Kay Fisker, editor and professo Arkitekten, 1964)
ditor nd professor,
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“... for we have seen design grow from a trade ac vity to a segmented
sign f
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profession to a field for technical research and to what now should be
rese
recognized as a new liberal art of technological culture.”
d a tec
(Richard Buchanan, professor of design, Design Issues, Vol. 8, No.
chard Buchanan prof
2, Spring 1992)
pring 1992
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“The relevant choice is not an either/or one between local culture and
e ch
global modernity. Ra
moder Rather it is to design a world hospitable to both, as well
as to all other cu
cultures present and to the intermediary levels of cultural
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development they may represent or become - as well as of a sustainable
developme
planetary culture yet to come that transcends and supersedes modernity.”
lanetary
(Peter Buchanan, writer and cri c, AD Architectural Design,
November/December 2012)
Nov
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,
film, 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
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2. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design
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 first 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 five countries
that form the core of the course: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and
ludes broa
br
Denmark. This includes a broad descrip on of the forma ve beginnings
candinavia
avia lat
of design in Scandinavia in the late 19th century as well as the golden
s
mocra Scandinavia De
age of democra c Scandinavian Design in the post World War II era,
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from the 1950s to 1970s a it de
.
he
lds
ng
as developed in the countries we are looking
at. Building on this the seco sec on surveys New Nordic Design as it
t second
unfolds currently in the Nordic region, looking at New Nordic Design in
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all its various s
scales - from service design, product design, furniture and
fashion to archit
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architecture, urban design and infrastructure design. The third
nd se
and final sec on, DESTINIES, tries to hypothesize what the future might
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hold in terms of new prac ces and new posi ons in design in Scandinavia.
ho t
und
understand the field 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 five decades.
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Learning Objec ves
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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 reflect 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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3. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design
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 finding 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.
t q
qu
In short, cri cal reading requires that you ques on intensely. For cri cal
d te
reading, you cannot sit back and wait. These texts are not necessarily
s
easy nor are you expected to swallow the words wit
o w without considera on.
at
True reading demands that you first ac vely listen to the author without
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projec ng your own agenda. In this sense, you might imagine that you
enda. sense yo
are engaged in a conversa on with the author and once he/she has
versa
completed what he/she wants to say to you, you are in a posi on to speak
hat
t s
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back, to say something of your own something meaningful and thought-
ead
ad
respo
read cri cally: to form
you own,
out. If you have no response, y are reading lazily and need to instead,
f ave you
formulate a response. Such response involves analysis,
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nthesis, vity
synthesis, and crea vity.
Expecta on of the Students: I expect you to be fully engaged in the
lectur pa
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
wh
where we can learn from each other as well as from the texts and cases we
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engage with and I expect you to ac vely support this approach. Readings
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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 final 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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4. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design
a poster in A2 format presen ng your findings, 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 field study a endance and ac ve par cipa on are
s o
required. For all types of ac vity students on a regular basis will be
ues p
po
asked to prepare ques on points for classes. These should reflect on the
d
readings carried out and provide the class as a whole with a pla orm for
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engaged and informed discussion.
nd ormed discussio
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Late papers will not be accepted To be eligible for a passing grade in this
apers acce
accepted.
class you must complete all o the assigned work.
ss u comp of
Disability and resour statement
resource
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Any student who has a need for accommoda on based on the impact of
a disabi
disability sh
should contact Sean Green (sgr@dis.dk) to coordinate this. In
order to receive accommoda ons, students should inform the instructor
o
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of ap
approved DIS accommoda ons within the first two weeks of classes.
Policies
A endance
You are expected to a end all DIS classes when scheduled. If you miss
a
mul ple classes the Director of Teaching and Learning, and the Director of
Student Affairs will be no fied and they will follow-up with you to make
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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 final course grade of “F” and can result in
dismissal. The students’ home universi es will be no fied. 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.
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5. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design
Day Date Session Time Topic
Fr Aug 23 1 11:40- 13:00 DEPARTURES
Danish Michelin starred cuisine, Finnish auteur film, Norwegian crime
literature, Swedish House Mafia 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 find 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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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Sep 02 - 07 Core Course Week
Tu Sep 10 4 11:40- 13:00 NEW NORDIC DESIGNS - GEOGRAPHICAL OVERVIEW
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This part of the course gives a cursory introduc on to the design
iden es and histories of the five 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 differences.
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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6. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
New Nordic Design
Day Date Session Time Topic
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
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Required reading:
• TBA
Fr Oct 18 13 bu
11:40- 13:00 Light as is...
Contemporary interior design in Scandinavia
Required reading:
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• TBA
Oct 19 - 27 Travel Week
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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 fied
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Film viewing of the Gary Hustwit film about design.
Required reading:
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• TBA
Tu Nov 05 16 11:40- 13:00 Objec fied
Discussion of film 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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7. DIS Architecture and Design Fall 2013
2012
New Nordic Design
Day Date Session Time Topic
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:
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• TBA
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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
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Contemporary service design in Scandinavia
Required reading:
• TBA
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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?
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Required reading:
• TBA
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Schedule subject to change with as much no ce as possible.
All future edits to the syllabus will be made on Blackboard only.
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