Admission requirements
The course is connected to the following study programs
- Master of Architecture
Course description
Course responsible: Gro Bonesmo
Housing Studio Oslo positions the housing project as the architectural driver of urban development. The studio engages with Norway´s political ambition of delivering 130,000 new housing permits by 2030, examining how large-scale objectives can be translated into spatial strategies, urban form and architecture. The area of study is the city of Oslo, revisiting the first Oslo Architectural Biennale in 2000, with the topic of 100 000 new houses within 2030.
Throughout the semester, students will be encouraged to engage with the following questions:
- How can housing articulate our collective ambitions for the city?
- How can we build sustainable ways of living, when density is at stake? What types of urban structures and typologies are best suited for such a life?
- How can housing projects contribute to inclusive, resilient and ecologically integrated urban environments?
As housing constitutes 60–70 percent of the built environment, it presents one of the most fundamental questions in urbanism.
The studio believes that to engage in a critical discussion on the relationship between housing, landscape and urbanism, it is essential to examine their shared architectural components. Therefore, the course will focus on the interface between the city and the home; from public space to domestic environments, investigating landscape resources, shared programs, and spatial transitions.
Working with one or more sites representing the urban character and landscape of the city, students will explore realistic and resilient solutions to the densification of the inner city.
The fall 2026 edition of the Housing Studio Oslo will return to the waterfront of Oslo. Revisiting the Fjord City plan from 2000 - with a critical reading of status quo; transformation and execution, successes and lost opportunities - the final sites and potentials for housing will be identified. Major premises are still in flux, questioning locations of ferry terminals and marinas, car use and mobility. Climate change awareness comes with an emerging focus on transformation and re use, nature-based solutions and marine life quality of the Oslofjord.
Towards 2030; Which sites are still in play? Where can we locate the biggest issues of conflict and turn them into the greatest potentials for housing? How can quantity (density) and quality be combined and optimized?
Sites will be identified collectively, representing distinct strategies, and developed into housing projects individually, or in groups of two.
Students will be encouraged to develop their own position on the contemporary housing project, drawing on their analysis of the city, landscape, architectural precedents, and selected course readings on housing and urbanism. Throughout the semester, students will design a large-scale housing project, representing two levels;
both as an urban strategy and as a detailed architectural proposal of high quality and resolution.
The studio will consist of several phases, each with distinct scopes and techniques:
- Phase 1: Urban analysis / Strategic plan
- Phase 2: Reference Study / Study Trip (destination tbd)
- Phase 3: Urban Form & Landscapes
- Phase 4: Typology
- Phase 5: Structure, Facade and Tresholds
- Phase 6: Image / Presentation
Learning Outcome
At the conclusion of the course the student should be able to:
- Formulate architectural and urban ideas from critical analysis of context to synthesis of concept.
- Advance a project of high architectural quality and resolution by iterative studies.
- Acquire and apply knowledge in dialogue with relevant expertise and precedents.
- Integrate and edit critical feedback.
- Use, develop and test design techniques that advance and communicate an architectural proposal.
- Evaluate architectural and urban quality through a project’s integrity and impact on its context and landscape.
Teaching
The course is organized around collective discussions and introductions of phases, and individual reviews, complemented by lectures from invited professionals from architectural, landscape and urban planning practice, as well as academia.
The studio meet according to a weekly rhythm:
- Mondays are reserved for lectures and individual critiques.
- Thursdays are dedicated to plenum discussions of student work, including pin ups, peer to peer reviews, midterm and final review.
Physical attendance at lectures, reviews, supervision sessions, discussions, and other educational activities is expected and necessary in order to achieve the learning outcomes
Examination
Form of assessment: Project
Grading scale: Pass/fail
In order to be assessed in this course, the student must have completed the following activities and assignments:
Hand ins of initial phases of site analysis and precedent studies and a detailed architectural project. The final project consists of physical and digital models of the architectural project, presented through models and 2D and 3D drawings.
The submitted material will be presented by the student in a final review with a juried critique by an external censor and faculty.