Overview

In this design studio, students were tasked with proposing how systems of informal placemaking and architectural activism could improve a complex urban site in Grønland, Oslo. ‘Informality’ was posed as a subject open to debate and discussion, encouraging students to develop personal positions on topics such as planning regulations, design codes, community participation, and architectural agency.

The studio included a research trip to Morocco, during which architectural and urban insights were drawn from experiencing a context rich in street life and intensified areas of trade. Divisions between ‘informality’ and ‘formality’ merged and interlaced. 

The final design brief called for ‘a task of translation’ in which students reflected on their design process and the influence their experiences in Morocco had on their design intentions. Site analysis, on-site interventions, theoretical readings and precedent studies were translated into a design strategy relevant to Oslo, Norway.