EXPLORATIONS IN OCEAN SPACE

From Bergen to the North Atlantic

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Bergen School of Architecture - Master course - Autumn 2019

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The course opens a series of explorations on the interactions between sea and land, ways of representing and communicating these interactions, and ways of intervening as architects and urban designers. At a time when the condition of the world ocean is gaining our attention, architectural design is a medium through which both artistic and scientific knowledge can be communicated, and through the ocean as a spatial realm can be imagined. The course aims to activate architecture and urban design in finding new ways to read, represent and engage with the space of the North Sea as far as the North Atlantic.

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We will explore the spatial characteristics of the ocean, involving both tangible and intangible types of knowledge- data, narratives and impressions – looking for creative ways to communicate the findings and to intervene spatially. If we were to think of the Ocean as a geographic place with spatial characteristics, histories, and desires inscribed into its waters, how could we begin to represent it? How could we position ourselves to interact with it, to tell its stories? The Ocean is a figure of global importance, a powerful force, a rich pool of resources, a concealed landscape of reverse topography and surging currents coated by the shifting plane of the surface. Invisible lines of historical passages and territorial divisions are traced across it while discrete water masses circulate through. We are confronted with spatial inversion- there is more water than land, it is deeper than land is high, our reading skills so far cannot penetrate its inscrutable surface.

 

Teachers in charge: Nancy Couling, Vibeke Jensen  

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