THE NORDIC CIRRUS MEETING IN OSLO
Poor delegates in Oslo had to listen to me planning the next steps in our programs.
We had the annual meeting of our network that covers almost all the design schools in Scandinavia and the Baltic. This is named Cirrus and one can see its site here.
The normal size of this meeting that takes place annually in the autumn is around 40 delegates, from most of the Scandinavian Schools.
This time the meeting took place in my school in Oslo (KHiO) since the school is now in completely new premises and it is interesting for other people to see how new facilities are planned. All the design schools are in continuous change actually and development but sometimes there are grand changes happening like when the Oslo school moved together last year. Copenhagen Design School has also done the same now and the winter meeting will take place there in February. It is an other kind of a meeting where discussion about the field and how to develop the teaching takes place. I am looking forward to that also.
A coffee break in the lobby of the Oslo Art and Design School, but the program was quite full and lots of very interesting discussions took place.
October 21, 2011
Posted in: ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN, SUSTAINABILITY 
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PRODUCTIONS IN GREENLAND
One of the aims of our projects by the Nordic Design Schools in Nuuk is to look at the production of local tools, clothes and food. Here is a little photo album of the things that are available in the tourist shops. After this nice second visit by the Nordic design schools we will look at how we can learn from each other about local development and productions.
October 9, 2011
Posted in: ARCHITECTURE, ART, DESIGN, FASHION, GREENLAND, SUSTAINABILITY No Comments
BE SENSIBLE AND LETS NOT SHUT OUR EYES
Ben McLeish talks in a sensible way about how to deal with the potential future. We all have to think about the issue: “Do we want a livable future or do we not care!?”
Here is a small interview with him where he describes some ways of dealing with issues of reorientation of society to a future and environment.
I recommend this dialogue to everyone dealing with the future and how we are going to design it possible. Take patience to listen and not give up since this dialogue is more than the standard 2 minutes.
October 9, 2011
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Two Whales on the old harbour front in Nuuk
Spent some time by the old harbour in Nuuk, Greenland watching these two whales having a mellow time. I sat outside the local cafe with my coffee and they swam around and decorated my horizon. What more can one ask for?
October 8, 2011
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Top View of Nuuk Surroundings
Nuuk, On Top from dori gislason on Vimeo.
We were invited to the top of the new building that will be the highest building for a while in central Nuuk. A very good point to see how the town is located in this amazing landscape and the type of colonial planning that has taken place
October 8, 2011
Posted in: DESIGN, GREENLAND, PONDERINGS No Comments
Small Projects and Large History
The three master students from Copenhagen on the wall.
With three master students from the Danish Design School in Copenhagen I am living in a block of flats in Nuuk, Greenland. This block is going to be demolished early next year, I guess when the spring weather allows. The block has such a damaged social history locally but looks just like any Modernist block all over the world. The typical Universal Solution of Modernist Architecture.
Built by the Danish Colonial Government in Greenland in 1966 and used as a home for indigenious people, many of who were moved to the main town in the Greenland colony named Nuuk. People were shifted in from small local settlements that had existed for hundreds or thousands of years. The Modernist colonial government probably assumed that the relocation would be a move to Modernist way of living with better access to health support and schooling but the results were disastrous in most ways. When I started in School of Architecture in the early 70’s the attitude of Modernist Thought was that we are all the same and we can all live the same way in Modernist buildings and with modern system solutions and we should not complain. This was one of the major disasters all over the world during the 20th Century and unfortunately my architectural collegues were prominent in that thought. Today we have a situation that it does not matter if you are located in Africa, Asia or just in your local community in your citiy, many of us live in blocks that are of the International Style by architects. In these environments, and especially here in Greenland, the people in some way lose their roots to the land, the climatic conditions or whatever gives us belief in life. This is the sadness of the 20th century coming from my disapeared collegaues architects and planners with political thought and universalistic thought.
The block P in Nuuk, waiting for being pulled down. Lots of plywood over the windows. We live on 3rd floor on the left where there is no plywood!
I must say that I am fortunate now to get the opportunity to reach this building before it is removed. The information is that roughly 80% of the flats have no-one living in them, with plywood boarded windows and ineffective ‘housing’ support. Now, the building has such a stigmatic history that the best solution is to remove it. Even though it looks just like many buildings all around the world and actually also here in Greenland. This is one of the possible actions of architecture: to remove architecture that has stigma to address history and social habits. My opinion is that this is a correct decision to make here in Nuuk, but I must admit that I am not optimistic of great corrections in the terrible new constructions that are being produced in the Nuuk town today. They look just as ignorant of climate and people like the previous ones. I am sorry to be such a pessimist but there is such arrogance in my profession and ignorance of users social and psychological needs for existance that my hunch is that the same will happen again. Unless we start working with the local people about their traditions and local conditions in terms of climate, seasons and relations to history.
Here are a few images from the block
I would love to find small projects where we can work together in developing small (not large and arrogant!) developments in various fields. I guess souvernis productions, product developments, service design, communication systems and personal development. All of these are issues addressed by designers in cooperation with other professions or non-educated experts.
I was told yesterday about the huge aluminium plant proposal here North of Nuuk planned by the arrogant company Alcoa that has damaged badly my country Iceland. Other future hopes are Uranium mining, both in the North of Nuuk and in the South run by Chinese grand companies! What a future we can see here in the Wild Glacial Nature if those projects will be realized!
October 3, 2011
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WHAT IS THE BIG IDEA?
Sesselja (left) and Vala (right) in their presentation in San Fransisco: Presentation here
After the economic collapse of Iceland (one of the worst in global history), Vala Halldorsdottir and Sesselja Vilhjalmsdottir found themselves at square one. Perhaps that very phrase (“square one”) occurred to them at that point, because their new financial strategy had them inventing a board game.
Instead of resting on their laurels, Vala and Sesselja decided to have a go at another risky business: Film. Fascinated with the nature of entrepreneurship, they set out to record the stories of entrepreneurs from New York, Copenhagen, London, and San Francisco.
October 2, 2011
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HERE IS A LITTLE COLLECTIVE MAPPING DONE IN NUUK
Small Project and Large History
October 1, 2011
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NUUK THOUGHTS
Not different to so many other places on earth, Greenland has been a colony for hundreds of years. Directed from Denmark. It is interesting to observe how we have dealt with living under opression that considers itself a saviour in many ways. To help primitive people to survive was the opinion of the ‘developed’ nations while of course ripping off the valuables locally. I question how this concept has been developed into local freedom of course. It seems mostly fake. For example in Mozambique where I have been involved for some years it is interesting to visit the areas in the North where they have industry of growing tea and tobacco and various other things while one can not buy it locally but can only get it from chain supermarkets packaged by European or global firms. All this even though these local countries are now considered ‘free’ or ‘independent’. In Greenland the people have been developing their culture in cooperation with the colonial directors in Denmark. Something not so out of date in my country Iceland that became a republic from Denmark during the Second World War in 1944.
In Greenland there is the capital NUUK where there are some horrible blocks of flats built in the 70’s and 80’s. Many of them are built by Icelandic construction companies actually. This was done to help the culture ‘develop’ by moving small communities from isolated locations where they had lived for centuries into a centralized area. Something that other cultures saw as ‘cultured’. People were shifted to the blocks and put on the dole really since their survival methods were not available in the constructed town. Now, one of the famous blocks is going to be demolished with some ideas of improvement of living. I am not sure. This block has had large and various social problems historically. Students from the Danish Design School are there now to meet and learn about living in the block and I have been allowed to come along as a kind of an ignorant observer.
We went to Nuuk last year to study the visual culture of the place and meeting the people in Nuuk has for me been a revelation because there exist so strange ideas in the Nordic countries about the types of people and culture. There have been many stories about how Inuit people cannot handle culture (meaning capitalistic and European culture) and can not handle alcohol for example. My experience last year was quite different when we spent 3 days in a rock festival where I saw less booze around than in the normal similar activity in Europe.
It will be interesting to see the results about the history of living in this Block and the interviews that the design students get from the locals. Maybe we can draw some conclusions about design method and how it has operated with political dominance from Western politics, completely the same situation in Maputo, Mozambique where I have been living.
The second step will be to see how culture can develop independently in location, based on the experience of colonialism and how independence can develop from local materials, cultures in mixture with the colonial experience. We have been living the same in Mozambique and many other places that I personally do not know. Here are two images of the block that is leaving the city early next year. We have been so fortunate to be allowed to live in one of the left over flats for this project and meet many local persons that have had all their life in the block.
October 1, 2011
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Block P in Nuuk, a visit
A front of the block photo.
Here are a few images from the flat-fronts.
Imagined space is a project about “Blok P” in Nuuk, Greenland, and the people who have or are living there. Blok P was the largest residential building in all of Greenland, and the largest building in Nuuk. It contains around 150 apartments and it is said that approximately 1% of the total population of Greenland lived in this building. During next spring it will be demolished and all the inhabitants will be relocated along with a lifetime of memories. Many of the inhabitants had been living there for most of their lives. The blok is now a ghost town with only few families left. It will be our home while we portray some of the people who have or are still is living there. Hopefully we will end up with an honest document of the lived life in within a historic apartment blok in Nuuk, based on interviews, sound field recordings, photos and video.
September 30, 2011
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PROJECT IN GREENLAND
This autumn I will continue from our earlier project in Nuuk - (and hopefully wider in Greenland at a later date). Three students from Copenhagen are in Nuuk now studying one block of apartments and they are collecting the material on one special website named IMAGINED SPACE. We made last year a special website to hold together all the work that we did in Greenland and it is here if anyone is interested.
Imagined Space is a project about “Block P” in Nuuk, Greenland, and the people who have or are living there. Block P was the largest residential building in all of Greenland, and the largest building in Nuuk. It contains around 500 apartments and it is said that approximately 1% of the total population of Greenland lived in this building. During next spring it will be demolished and all the inhabitants will be relocated along with a lifetime of memories. Many of the inhabitants had been living there for most of their lives. The block is now a ghost town with only few families left.
The action designers this time are: Sarah Bodil Hansen (graphic designer), Matylda Rasmussen (graphic designer) and Käthe Stougaard Kofoed Espersen is filming for documentation.
We want to involve designers and creative people more in the work that the locals are doing in developing communication and presentation of the culture and living in Greenland. This is just first introduction to this second step in developing design-action in the country by our schools and hopefully we will be able to gain access to support both from the local culture and from the outer specialist institutes that can help the development.
September 29, 2011
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WHAT IS DESIGN?
The first evening Dinner. Many ingredients but all from cod.
Here is a small photo album from the event
Design as a profession seems to sit in a strange determined location when we use the term. Many schools run specific courses in design: graphic, fashion, product etc. I was told last year by a friend that now in the English language there are 2500 terms that include the term design : and that is somehow telling a completely different story to what many of the design schools do. Furthermore, many people that do not have design education are today some of the most prominent designers in the world.
In my opinion this is good. The internet and the opening up of the creative labour market has taken away the walls that were made after the war, when professional groups linked together to protect their profession. Now in design schools more and more students are taking on projects that earlier might not have been defined as design, but rather maybe social innovation, technical development etc etc.
Dinner preparation evening two.
This week I have been allowed to take part in a project in the Design Faculty in the Iceland Academy of the Arts, where the whole 3rd year travels to a location on the East Coast of Iceland to interact with the locals, both workers and social developers. We found out that the task was so huge that in the end we decided this time only to look at the food production in the region and maybe later touch on other issues like tourism, glacier development etc. The meeting with the locals started with a good and very informative meeting with the policy makers and runners of institutes in the community Höfn and then we have been looking at the products that come from the sea to the community and how they are developed, exported and developed into simpler products and food. Here is a site that is a kind of a diary about the action this week where the students fill in all the time their experiences and wonder about potentials. In Iceland very much is underdeveloped in terms of communication to government, the public and guests, the increasing number of guests that come from all over the world. The students can invent new methods and angles that might later develop into better information, new fashions and new products. Have a look at the site and see yourself what you think. The information is very much in the blog format but later the students will make a proper documentary that hopefully can interest also further communities in Iceland understand Design as an important part of development.
September 22, 2011
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NEW ICELAND AFTER THE FINANCE CRASH
Time for a chat and socializing while browsing the things that are available.
Young people in Reykjavik, Iceland have been experimenting with town spaces for events and activities. They are mostly students from the Iceland Academy of Art, the Design Faculty that I was so fortunate to be allowed to work for during the first years. Actually last Monday was the 10 year birthday since we started teaching design in Iceland in the academy so we have reason to celabrate changes in Icelandic society.
Bio products all made locally that open up new enjoyment and experiences in eating. Not rubbish from the import supermarkets.
The young people have applied for spaces in the city to create social and commercial events for creative people. In a small square close to my home in Reykjavik has been a market every Saturday and actually even I did try to produce and sell objects that I learnt to make in Africa. It has been incredibly enjoyable to be there on Saturdays when I have managed to come and chat and socialize and of course do some small local business. I hope the city will support further development in this direction next summer and I hear already people talk about possible occasional events also during the coming winter. Lets hope that the city authorities will support this activity that gives the city life and actually operates in opposition to the global rubbish commercialism that is killing our economy and in many other countries. Something that will not last for many more years if the oil price comes to a proper level and environmental issues will be respected in costs of transport and production. People sell things that they have made at home or from local materials like berries etc. I am so proud of my students, how they oppose global commercialism and enjoy creating events and proposing a different future!
Mellow entertainment for those that come to the market
Here are a few images from the summer market fun
September 10, 2011
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ARON FUNDUR Á SÓLON Á FÖSTUDAG
September 6, 2011
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DOCANEMA MAPUTO
DOCKANEMA is an annual international documentary film festival held in Maputo, Mozambique. The first edition was held September 2006, and included more than 70 films. The festival is produced by the Mozambican production company Ebano Multimedia, in association with AMOCINE (Association of Mozambican Filmmakers). The second edition of DOCKANEMA took place September 14 – 23, 2007 in Maputo, including more than 80 films.
September 5, 2011
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