Portal Propagations: Reproduction, Reception, and Rediscovery in the Life of the Urnes Portal

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Facilitating regeneration through methodological pluralism

To address the root causes of today’s urgent social-ecological crises, there is a need to transform globally dominant reductionist worldviews to those that support regeneration: holistic, process-oriented and interconnected, in which life thrives at all scales. This process necessitates a shift in awareness and engagement with complexity, viewing emergence, diversity, relationality, and adaptivity as assets to be cultivated rather than controlled or ignored. Pluralism—the ability to engage with diverse ways of knowing and being across cultures, disciplines, contexts, and worldviews— is essential for navigating complexity. Although the importance of action-oriented pluralistic research is widely discussed in transdisciplinary literature, it is less commonly reflected in research methodologies. This article-based thesis explores how systemic design can practically apply methodological pluralism to facilitate transformations towards regeneration. Through a reflexive systems-oriented design (SOD) journey across three mountain communities—Ostana, Italy, Hemsedal, Norway, and Mammoth Lakes, California—I prototyped how plural methodological modes, methods and practices can engage across diverse real-world contexts. Drawing from approaches from social sciences, design research and embodied practices, this SOD-based research through design thesis explored plural ways of understanding the intersections between complex social-ecological challenges and co-envisioning regenerative futures with community members. Key insights highlight the importance of multi-modal reflexivity in navigating methodological pluralism, activating stakeholders’ awareness of their agency and interconnectedness, and using visualizations to communicate processes in systemic design research. This study suggests that expanding the use of methodological pluralism may benefit from viewing methodologies as complex systems—emergent, adaptive, recursive, and interconnected—allowing for better navigation of differences across scales, contexts, disciplines, and worldviews. In addition to this thesis offering a combined critical pragmatist and regenerative perspective on methodological pluralism, I offer a visual, analytical heuristic to support systemic design researchers in designing plural methodologies. This thesis implies that cultivating these capacities further can serve as a pathway for navigating the complexities of transformations toward regeneration.acceptedVersio

PORTAL PROPAGATIONS Reproduction, Reception, and Rediscovery in the Life of the Urnes Portal

The northern portal of Urnes Stave Church stands preserved within the monument overlooking a remote West-Norwegian fjord as the seemingly frozen memory of a historical past. Yet, as Portal Propagations shows, this heritage icon is continually extended through the circulation of its hyper-reproduced image into a multiplicity of fluid and shifting receptions. The 11th -century ornamental entrance was reused and spoliated within the 12th -century building façade and following its 19th -century rediscovery and preservation the portal’s detachment and fragmentation was continued through circulatory reproduced objects. As part of the research project Provenance Projected: Architecture Past and Future in the Era of Circularity, Portal Propagations explores this monument through extended boundaries of architectural history as an archival and historiographical study of its paintings, drawings, photography, plaster casts, carvings, and in its contemporary iconicity in the design of tattoos, coins, passports, and commercial packaging. Through this assemblage of reproductions, the study asks questions of preservation practices and museum representation, examining the effect that the portal’s prolific reproduction has had on the monument as a whole, and the way it is read through its extended image. Portal Propagations looks at changing attitudes and techniques in processes of reproduction, and asks how the portal might be further reproduced to become reassociated with its lost original architectural context. It is guided by an ethnographic study of the pioneering practice of Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Preservation, who explore the closing gap between an object and its reproduction through new imaging technologies and a specialism in returning the digital recordings to a physical state. As a direct comparison, the study also reflects on the experimental archaeology performed by Treets Mester (Master of the Wood), as a parallel project run by Fortidsminneforeningen that has produced a processually authentic copy of the Urnes Portal. Making use of digital scan data, this study also experiments with methods of reproduction drawn from these studies as an extension to the scholarly reconstructions of the lost 11 th-century church. From its historical perspective, the study casts a glance to the future in examining the potential for rediscovering the Urnes Portal as part of lost contexts. Through this scrutiny of a single artefact, Portal Propagations examines how monuments are made, how they continue to grow through their circulated images, and how changing attitudes to reproductions can offer a refreshed view of originality.submittedVersio

Can the evolution of societal systems be accelerated? A concept for a networked place-based facility for collaborative sense-making

The term system is often used to address a phenomenon that exists outside of a single organisation. It usually describes intractable challenges with an implied sense of futility, like when people say, “We cannot change the system” or “it will take a long time to change the system”. This casual use of “system” limits its potential to frame wider conversations that can enable society to harness the rapid growth of knowledge and data, and its implications to understand complex adaptive systems. The thesis is anchored in Systems Oriented Design (SOD) and draws on academic literature, published policy, and the author’s experience to propose an institutional construct called verksted. A verksted convenes actors from practice, research, and education towards shared sense-making of complex situations that cross boundaries. The boundaries are, real but imagined constructs, between organisations, across disciplines and locations, and levels of expertise and governance. The first part of the thesis reviews literature on systems, societal systems and systemic interventions. It adds a review of literature on collaboration, complexity, enterprise architecture, and digitalisation. The second part reviews the health system as an internationally recognised concept that is also a critical societal system in many countries. This review then zooms in on the Norwegian health system, its evolution, current structure, and central policies. It describes SOD-H, a framework to elaborate how system-orientation can be applied to sense-making and sense-sharing. The third and final part explains the concept of “verksted” and its three core concepts: Verksted Loop, Verksted Capability Map and Verksted Topology. These concepts are used to review two organisations that exhibit characteristics of a verksted. The entities have different formats and structures within the Norwegian health system and are conceptually situated in the “Sense-making and sense-sharing” subsystem of SOD-H. This thesis makes two contributions: 1) it explains the nature of a societal system using the health system as an example and 2) it conceptualises verksted as an autonomous yet networked, place-based physical facility where participants and their organisations can learn to navigate complexity in societal systems through collaborative sense-making. The thesis is directed at two audiences: a) the SOD community i.e. practitioners, researchers, and educators and b) the makers and influencers of innovation public policy i.e. funding agencies, industry associations, and labour associations. An introduction sets the context, and a closing section discusses the hypotheses and suggests themes for further research. A prologue and an epilogue express my motivation for this thesis and my reflections on translating the research in practice. An appendix contains unfinished concepts and ideas as an invitation for others to explore SOD as an approach to transform societal systems.submittedVersio

Revitalize the River: A Regenerative River Landscape Proposal to Flåm, Aurland

The increasing frequency and severity of flooding events due to heavy rainfall patterns and rapid snow melting, impacting human infrastructure and homes, underscores the urgent need for action. Such events are about to reach the extent where the effects can no longer be overlooked. This diploma project delves into the transformation of the former delta areas, once filled and contaminated by tunnel masses and similar in the 1960s and 1970s. Today, these areas mainly contain industrial or touristic infrastructures, which obscure their ecological and floodable functions, functions that previously allowed water to expand and contract in several layers on land. ​Context Climate change is predicted to escalate the annual perception and rain season on the West Coast of Norway, already challenging the steep valleys with a limited regulated water course similar to this area. Within the same landscape context, many river deltas have historically been viewed as useless land, thereby being filled to improve future development of infrastructure and industry. Defining climate change as an important driver to change while implementing river and fjord dynamics as the main characters, the development strategy of the municipality is reversed. To enable a change in approach to these landscapes, containing areas of risk situations due to various hazards, the question is: How can we enable a population and tourist attraction like Flåm to coexist with the hazard without putting people at risk? Why are hazards almost always identified with catastrophes and limits to act? Project By embracing the fluidity of water and its potential within a large-scale landscape, the design presented in this diploma offers a beacon of hope for the floodscape of Flåm. The proposed framework for a flood-safe landscape allows diverse life forms to interact with their connected edges and fosters a variety of life in and along the river edges. Concept Though opening up the riverscape within the floodplain with different islands and edges, designing for potential expansions and contractions, invites different edges to be presented in the landscape where land and water meet. Hosting the two different waters, river and sea, while inviting life to the water edges, the area additionally facilitate different programs in the delta area. Design The design is separated into two parts, separating the delta area from the valley. The design set a framework for a flood-safe landscape, where the different types of life can interact with their important waterscape. The delta area. The interventions utilize dikes and floodable islands constructed of previously structured land, to enable a stable floodable riverscape while keeping the important infrastructures such as railways, built areas, and land, in which people gather safe from flooding. The valley. Utilizing the map of the historical meanders and their connected topsoil layers, the structures of the future meanders are linked to create a space for water to breathe within the cultural landscape.submittedVersio

Tilpasning eller motstand? En gjennomgang av Bærum kommunes implementering av Regional plan for areal og transport i Oslo og Akershus

Denne oppgaven undersøker hvordan Regional plan for areal og transport i Oslo og Akershus har påvirket kommunale planstrategier og styringsprosesser for å fremme en mer bærekraftig arealbruk. Gjennom en casestudie av Bærum kommune undersøkes samspillet mellom regional og kommunal arealplanlegging. Bærum kommune, som den mest folkerike kommunen i Akershus fylkeskommune, innehar en sentral posisjon i Osloregionen. Dette skyldes blant annet at kommunens arbeids- og boligmarked er tett integrert med hovedstadsområdet. Dermed er det grunn til å anta at Regional plan for areal og transport i Oslo og Akershus har hatt en betydelig innvirkning på Bærum kommune og dens tilnærming til arealplanlegging. I oppgaven vurderer jeg hvordan de overordnede målene og retningslinjene i den regionale planen har blitt tolket, tilpasset og implementert av Bærum kommune. Jeg analyserer hvordan kommunens planstrategier og styringsprosesser har blitt påvirket av de regionale målene og hvordan dette har utspilt seg i praksis gjennom kommunens areal- og transportplanlegging. I besvarelsen lager jeg en systematisk oversikt over innholdet i byvekstavtaler, bymiljøpakker, byutviklingsavtaler og byutredninger. Jeg ser også på sammenhengen mellom disse. Siden det kan være vanskelig å få en oversikt over dette, håper jeg derfor denne kategoriseringen vil være til nytte for andre. Undersøkelsen avdekker en kommune som, gjennom politiske premisser, underminerer regionale målsettinger. Dette indikerer en utfordring i samspillet mellom lokale og regionale interesser, der smale kommunale prioriteringer kan stå i kontrast til bredere mål for regionen som helhet. Konsekvensen av handlinger som underminerer regionale føringer er målkonflikter og reduserte samfunnsmål. Målkonflikter oppstår når lokale interesser og prioriteringer kommer i konflikt med bredere regionale mål. Dette kan skje når en kommune prioriterer lokale interesser, på bekostning av felles mål for hele regionen. Dette kan resultere i fragmentert utvikling, ineffektiv ressursbruk og suboptimale løsninger for felles utfordringer. Ved å sette søkelys på Bærum kommune som et konkret eksempel, identifiserer jeg utfordringer, suksesser og læringspunkter knyttet til samspillet mellom regional og kommunal planlegging. Dette håper jeg vil bidra til en dypere forståelse av hvordan den regionale planen fungerer som et styringsverktøy for å fremme bærekraftig arealbruk, samt hvilken rolle kommunene spiller i denne sammenhengen.submittedVersio

The Architecture of the Ordinary: Redefining protection and the role of communities in the future of Brutalist heritage

‘All the [houses] I have lived in sit in my ribcage with faces like beggars I dream my postmortem Unzip my skin & ask each [house], what are you: a mother, a sculptor, a motionless meadow? (From ‘Yard’ by Caleb Femi published in ‘Poor’ (2020) This thesis is about Brutalist housing and its heritage as place and community. Notably, considering how they are perceived and managed through terms such as ‘significance and heritage values’ and how this might be developed as part of sustaining them as places to live (English Heritage 2008). Its application is through post-war housing, variously described as Brutalist or Structuralist, considering their qualities as ‘place’ and the roles played by their communities in sustaining them. The study seeks to gain a better understanding of their heritage significance, care and management, which also has wider application for the heritage of other places and communities. Seeing these places as ‘evolving’, forms the basis for reappraisal of ideas around their conservation addressing them as ‘living heritage’, rather than something resigned to the point at which they were completed as architectural works. This requires a reconsideration of contemporary conservation practice and the role played by legislation and legislative protection as much as everyday conservation management and planning. This is developed through examination of the history of conservation to unlock issues in contemporary debate, as well as reviewing the hot topics of Brutalism and community engagement in the Post-war period. The study comprises three resident-led projects – Alexandra Road and Highgate New Town in Camden, London and Vestli in Stovner, East Oslo, all examples of post-war housing. These provide studies for the post-construction histories of these places, the roles played by residents, workers, and visitors and how these communities are situated within their respective built environments. The intention being to illustrate at case study level how heritage as a story reflects collective memories and recollections, informing on identity, culture and the physical environment. Considered together with background research this hopefully informs how to manage that as an evolving resource which is drawn together in the conclusions of the study. At the bottom of which lies an idea of heritage as a living legacy, something which fulfils a societal need to recognise and understand ourselves in terms of community and place. In turn this reaffirms the mandate for conservation, but only so long as conservation continues to provide for that need (English Heritage 2008, Ashford 2011, Tauschek 2015, Farha 2018, Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage 2018, IEMA 2021 etc.). Post-war housing offers something unique in its complex relationship between place and people in flux and also because these projects were ostensibly ‘designed for community’. This is key to considering the ‘Brutalist’ aesthetic/ethic, with notions such as image, honesty, continuity and community discussed in the design of post-war housing. These buildings and places have been lived in and tested by their communities and have futures which are to some degree dependent on the engagement of those communities. Two explicit decisions were made at the outset of the study. The first being not to work with communities under severe threat, but rather focus on the ‘everyday’ of three post-war housing examples. The second concerns a problematic attempt to characterise the overall narrative of the stories from the communities in the case studies and not to record individual stories in detail. The aim being not to subjugate community to conservation but to understand how conservation can better serve those communities by drawing the focus onto narratives of them as living places. The study concludes with direct recommendations for post-war housing and its communities and a critique of current practice and methods, by which we might better our approach to conservation. It seeks to, • Explore, analyse and make recommendations (to improve practice) about communal heritage values in conservation and with that the use of legislation and designation, drawing specifically on the post-war heritage of the case-studies, • Characterise Brutalism as a movement in terms of the case studies and develop an understanding from that which can be used in its conservation, • Present the case studies as a resource for further study, casework and the development of participatory method.acceptedVersio

Windbreak Framework: Landscape design informed by the atmospheric movement

A landscape framework proposal is tested on the agricultural farmland of Ørland peninsula based on local wind patterns. The framework is developed using the principles from different state manuals and books. The guide plan aims to increase agricultural productivity, boost the biodiversity in the today monocultural farmland, strengthen the sense of seasonality and increase aesthetical values of the landscape. Helping people understand where they live and how they can be an active part of the processes of nature and society.submittedVersio

Hvordan forme sosialt bærekraftige bomiljø?

Bærekraftig utvikling er sterkt forankret i lovverket og i både nasjonale og lokale mål i Norge. En bærekraftig byutvikling handler om å utvikle byer og lokalsamfunn som ivaretar og balanserer alle de tre bærekraftsdimensjonene - miljømessig, sosial og økonomisk bærekraft. Det betyr at vi er nødt til å ivareta den sosiale dimensjonen på lik linje med de andre bærekraftsmålene. Dette innebærer naturlig nok en forståelse av hva begrepet sosial bærekraft innebærer for å legge til rette for sosial bærekraft i planlegging og fysisk utforming. Oppgaven ser på sosial bærekraft som begrep og hva konsept innebærer,og hvordan dette er knyttet mot fysiske form for å forme sosialt bærekraftige bo- og nærmiljøer. Miljøpsykologi (environmental psychology) er et fagfelt som studerer samspillet mellom mennesket som individ og de omgivelsene det oppholder seg i - både bygde og naturgitte. I oppgaven tar jeg for meg sentrale begrep og teorier som omhandler menneskers romlige atferd og krav til helsefremmende omgivelser. Hvordan påvirker omgivelsene oss på godt og vondt, og hva bør vi legge vekt på når vi former de omgivelsene vi beveger oss rundt i til daglig? Oppgaven gir et bredt overblikk over komplekse tema på bakgrunn av et ønske om å forstå hva begrepet sosial bærekraft innebærer, hvordan det kan overføres til fysisk form og se om fagfeltet miljøpsykologi kan gi ny innsikt og ytterliger føringer for forming av levende, trygge og helsefremmende bomiljø.submittedVersio

Immersive Educational Experience Design

In the era of globalization, history and culture serve as bridges connecting people from diverse backgrounds. Cross-cultural education is crucial for promoting cultural understanding and inclusivity. However, traditional educational models rely on linear, one-way information delivery, which fails to meet the demands of complex cultural dissemination and understanding. “Immersive Educational Experience Design” is an exploratory VR interactive research project. It aims to guide users into an immersive interactive system through role-playing, helping them learn about the history and culture of Chinese poets in a more engaging and interactive way. The project consists of two main components: an “Ancient China VR” game, where users take on the roles of Chinese poets to explore cultural history through VR; and a user flow that reimagines the format of educational interactions. In this project, my vision is to use immersive, interactive narratives as a bridge to trans-form complex knowledge into perceptible and experiential content. This enables users to develop a profound “first-person” understanding, spark interest in history and culture, and foster critical thinking and cultural inclusivity. Through VR-based experimentation and testing, the project explores how narrative structuresand multimodal experiences in immersive storytelling can help people engage with and understand abstract cultural and historical concepts. The research findings indicate that branching narratives and action-driven interactions significantly enhance user engagement and learning outcomes, providing theoretical support and practical frameworks for future educational models.submittedVersio