You develop design skills through analysis of existing buildings and by solving realistic architectural problems in a Danish context. In studio projects, you construct spatial models in physical and digital media and advance your communication skills in expressing abstract concepts. Studios are taught vertically, combining students of different levels. Expectations relate to you as an individual student.
The week-long study tour to Finland or Sweden forms an integral part of the studio curriculum by exposing you to high-quality historic and modern architecture, as well as urbanism in Scandinavia. You will see city spaces and significant buildings in locations such as Stockholm, Helsinki, or Turku, as well as architectural patterns of inhabitation in the more natural settings of central Finland or Sweden.
We will focus on themes of memory and identity as a framework within which the designs and sites can be understood. Particular emphasis is given to innovations in spatial organization, constructive and material expression, and the treatment of daylight in public buildings, museums, libraries, and funerary chapels.
To add to your understanding of the cultural identity of Northern Europe, you will have the opportunity to explore nature, visit museum exhibitions, see the major sites, and taste local cuisine. The sites visited, as sensory architectural experiences, provide opportunity to develop your critical observation skills and diagrammatic and representational proficiency. Simultaneously, you will be equipped with a vocabulary of design concepts, strategies, and materials, which can be applied in your own creative work in studio and beyond.
Learning outcomes
Study contemporary and historic Scandinavian architecture and landscape architecture
Understand how design shapes human experience through the manipulation of light, material, spatial proportion and sequence, and integration of landscape and architecture
Develop sketching and note-taking skills for recording impressions of sites in a journal
Possible activities
Visit religious architecture: Skt. Petri Chapel at Klippan, the Woodland Cemetery near Stockholm, Chapels of the Holy Cross and Resurrection in Turku, or Myyrmäki in Helsinki
Tour works by Alvar Aalto including Jyväskylää University, Saynätsalo, Muuratsalo, Paimio Sanatorium, the Academic Bookstore, Finlandia Hall, or the Aalto Studio and Home in Helsinki
Explore patterns of urban development in major Northern European cities like Stockholm or Helsinki
Faculty
Mads Hovgaard Laursen
Cand. Arch, KADK. Independent Architect, 2015-present. Lecturer, University of Hong Kong, School of Architecture, 2022-2024. Senior Researcher, Rural Urban Framework (RUF0, University of Hong Kong, 2022-2024. Guest Lecturer, Tongji University, Shanghai, China, 2023-2024. Lecturer, The Building Society Masters Programme, University of Hong Kong, 2023-2024. With DIS since 2025.
Martine Lynge Lyngesen
M.A. (Architecture, Royal Danish Academy, 2022). Architect, Studio Formation, 2020-2024. Active member of Building Diversity 2020-2024. Elected member of the local management of Danish Association of Architects for Copenhagen, 2024-2027. Educator, guide and speaker, Danish Architecture Centre, 2019-2023. With DIS since 2024.
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