Course syllabus

Course-PM

ACE360 ACE360 Nordic architecture lp3 VT26 (5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

 

What is “the Nordic”? This course has two main aims: first, to give a brief introduction to Nordic architecture. Second, to research Nordic qualities like site adaptation, space, light, and materiality, as well as social characteristics such as collectivity, flexibility, and critical praxis. This is done through focusing on themes that help raise interesting questions. Students will work in teams on a concrete analysis of one particular building through model making, the projects will be discussed through several student-led seminars and communicated through digital and physical exhibition tools.

THEME 2026: SPACE OF ONE'S OWN 2: Architecture by, for and with Sami

This year, the course will continue the theme from last year. The theme, “A space of one’s own”, involved the creation of a space to exist, meet and develop a community, looking at the minority Sami culture as well as the social, religious and political movements of the majority cultures in the Nordic countries. This year, the theme will focus the attention to Sapmi and the Sami culture, trying to raise the architectural questions - by whom, for whom, and with whom? - and to uncover traits often more hidden in the architectural canon.

Contact details

Tabita Nilsson, course leader, teacher, tabita@chalmers.se, 0709-615052

Johan Ranch, teacher, ranch@chalmers.se

Johan Linton, professor, examiner, linton@chalmers.se

Peter Lindblom, workshop teacher, pl@chalmers.se

Jarkko Nordlund, workshop teacher, jarkko@chalmers.se

Guest lecturer:

Jenni Hakovirta  jenni.hakovirta@outlook.com  

Course purpose and content

The course gives a basis for reflection on Nordic architecture on different scales through a discourse with some of its traditions, contemporary developments, buildings and architects by working with a concrete analysis of one particular building through model making. 

The subject of analysis is focused on a specific architectural theme which varies each year. Recent years included housing (2021), public buildings (2020) and “Nordic Women,” a theme engaging projects designed by women from across the last century and running through several years (2022-24). Last year (2025) the theme was “A space of one’s own” focusing on Sapmi and social movements, continuing this year but giving all attention to Sapmi and the Sami culture. 

Seven buildings, all projects on different scales, with different purposes and design philosophies, from Sapmi will be studied in groups of 5-6 students and analyzed in depth through model making, based on existing plans, sections, publications, and photos. This, as well as other literature, is researched by the groups and will be complemented by experiencing architecture through study visits, which are planned by the students; with an option to stay in the region or (at the students' expense) travel in the Nordic region. The analysis is an ongoing process throughout the model making with the intention to understand essential qualities of the buildings in their historic, spatial, and social context and also to develop and clarify concepts of Nordic architecture.

 

Projects 2026:

• Fatmomakke (Faepmie), church village of goahtis (kåtor) and gathering hall for Sami movement, traditional. Vilhelmina, Sweden (1700s)
• Samegården Kiruna, gathering place and hotel for Sami Association. Kiruna, Sweden (1973)
• Samediggi, Norwegian Sami parliament, Stein Halvorsen & Christian Sundby. Ka
• Sajos, Culture house and Finnish Sami parliament, HALO Architects. Inari, Finland (2012)
• Naturum Laponia, nature museum, Wingårdh. Gällivare, Sweden (2014)
• Kautokeino school, biggest Sami elementary and high school , Ola Roald Arkitekter (Holar). Kautokeine/Gouvdageainnu, Norway (2022)
• Ardna pavilion. Sami cultural pavilion, LMR Architects.  Tromsö, Norway (2024)

 

Schedule

Schedule ACE360 Nordic Architecture 2026.pdf

The TIME EDIT schedule gives no specific details or content, only blocks, so please do not use it.

There is an assigned studio space on the 5th floor for the course. Complementary, sessions and group work will also take place in the Art Studio and the Workshop.

All files, drawings, pictures etc during the process can be shared in the folder of respective group in this One Drive folder

 

Course design

The course in Nordic architecture runs over nine weeks. The first week includes introductory lectures on the theme, on Nordic architecture and social context, and on model building. The second week consists of two days reserved for experiencing architecture through study visits with options to travel in the region or to stay in Gothenburg. On one of these days, there is an opportunity to visit the goahti of Göteborg Same Association. The next five weeks are dedicated to model building, with several student-led seminars mixed in, where each group will share their research questions and findings with the rest of the class as a basis for discussion.

The models and accompanying material will be presented in a public exhibition which communicates the individual projects and the comparison between them. The groups will also post pictures and research questions digitally (on Instagram) throughout the process and record their models in  Chalmers’ Open Digital Repository (ODR) /Model Archive   These three types of presentations, together with active participation in lectures and seminars, are the basis for the examination of the course.

The students will work in project groups of 5-6.  The project groups will be pre-made and assigned one building each. All groups work together with the content, production, mounting and dismounting of the physical exhibition in which the final seminar takes place.

 

TIMELINE IN SHORT:

The first two weeks introduce the course through a presentation of the projects and a series of lectures. It also includes group formation,  preparations for the model building as well as planning and going on study tours. Literature studies, analytic drawings based on existing plans, sections, and other representations, as well as the study trip to the buildings (or relevant examples) are the basis for a deeper understanding and reflection.

The next four weeks will be mostly dedicated to model building with analysis discussed in several student-led seminars. Students will formulate research questions for their projects and facilitate group discussion.

The final sessions will include model building and concrete preparations for the exhibition. The exhibition opening includes a critique by the examiner. The course ends with documentation and the launching of the digital presentation.

All deliveries are formulated as a Canvas "assignment", even in the case where there is no digital delivery, Thus the assignment list can be seen as a timeline of the course. 

DELIVERIES IN SHORT:

Each student shall deliver individually:

• Model reflection 1, Jan 20 (written)
• Model reflection 2, Mar 16 (written)
• Post-evaluation of group work contract, Mar 16 (written)

Each project group shall deliver together:

• Group work contract, Jan 20 (written)
• List of study tour objects, Jan 27 (written)
• List of research questions and preliminary findings for one seminar (written, prior to seminar)
• 3 models of the project building (physical), March 9
• Digital presentation of the building through models and text on Instagram, one post or story per week from study week 2.
• Documentation of models, in photos, text and references, uploaded March 16 on https://odr.chalmers.se/modellkammarenLinks to an external site. according to instructions. 

• All sources and references relevant for the project collected in the One Drive folder, together with a list of them in a separate document, March 16

The whole course shall deliver together:

• A physical exhibition with models and information, March 9

Course literature

An important part of the course is own research of all types of sources, including literature. However, there are 2 mandatory texts to give a common ground of the Sapmi theme. 

 

Mandatory literature

Haugdal, E. et al. (2018) ‘“It’s Meant to Decay”: Contemporary Sámi Architecture and the Rhetoric of Materials’, in The Handbook of Contemporary Indigenous Architecture. Singapore: Springer Singapore Pte. Limited, pp. 805–829. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6904-8_30.

Helga West : "No thank u, next. The Sami are heavily burdened with Western science, so what?". Extract from blog 2020

There are digital versions of these under the module Obligatory readings for all.

 

Apart from this we have listed of recommended reading and reference literature - either connected to the theme, to each group or to Nordic architecture in general. Books are available at the library at the School of Architecture, the University library, at the city library or on loan from the instructors.

Recommended literature on Sapmi 

Gunilla Lindahl : Samisk arkitektur. Västerbottens Museum 1-11 (in Swedish) https://vbm.se/vbmstorage/uploads/2017/09/2011_1.pdf

Silvén, E. et al. (2007) Sápmi : om att vara same i Sverige = Sápmi : makkár lea leahkit sápmelaš Ruoŧas = Sápmi : on being Sami in Sweden. Stockholm: Nordiska museets förlag. (in Swe/Sami/Eng)

Joar Nango (2008) The Saami Building Tradition: A Complex Picture, cataloguetext, Northern Experiments: The Barents City Survey

Gaski, H. (1997) Sami culture in a new era : the Norwegian Sami experience. Kárášjohka: Davvi girji.

Nord, M. and Fjellgren, P. (2021) Inifrån Sápmi : vittnesmål från stulet land. Stockholm]: Verbal.

Labba, E.A. and Graham, F. (2024) The Rocks Will Echo Our Sorrow: The Forced Displacement of the Northern Sámi. 1st edn. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Also in Swedish:  Herrarna satte oss hit : om tvångsförflyttningarna i Sverige. Stockholm: Norstedts.

Fiction recommendations on Sapmi:
Ann-Helén Laestadius: Straff (English title: Punished)

Ann-Helén Laestadius: Stolen (English title: Stolen)
Linne Axelsson: Aednan (English title Aednan)

 

Recommended literature for groups: see respective group under modules

 

Recommended literature Nordic Architecture in general:

Claes Caldenby (ed.), Sweden: 20th-century architecture. München: Prestel, 1998.

Kjeld Kjeldsen (ed.), New Nordic: architecture & identity. Humlebæk: Louisiana, 2012.

Nils Ole Lund, Nordic architecture, Arkitektens forlag, 2008.

Atli Magnus Seelow, Reconstructing the Stockholm Exhibition 1930. Arkitektur förlag, 2016.

Rosenberg Bendsen, Jennie, Svava Riesto, and Henriette Steiner. Untold Stories: On Women, Gender and Architecture in Denmark. Strandberg Publishing, 2023. https://www.womenindanisharchitecture.dk/

 

Changes made since the last occasion

The theme focuses only on Sapmi, and will continue with social movements next year. 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

Knowledge and understanding

• Identify common features and aspects of Nordic architecture, critically question and expand those designations, and reflect on similarities and differences across the Nordic region.

Competence and skills

• Collaborate with group members to build models on several scales, develop model building as a tool for understanding, and use models for communication through the exhibition format.
• Creatively combine archival materials such as architectural drawings, images, films, and interviews, with study visits and secondary sources.

Judgement and approach

• Formulate research questions to relate specific Nordic architects and buildings to their social, cultural and historical contexts and build physical models that highlight these questions.

 

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen: ACE360 syllabus

 

Examination form

To pass the course the following is required: attendance and active participation in all aspects of group work: model building, seminars, study visits, reports, and final exhibition. If participation is not possible due to illness etc, an equivalent exercise will be shaped in discussion with both the project group and the examiner.

Grading:

For any student being present at all the lectures, trips, seminars and the model building the normal grade is 4. Lesser participation will result in the grade 3 or not passed. Exceptional contributions during the course in terms of teamwork, process, and/or outcome might result in the grade 5. Exceptional outcome includes research depth and critical thinking as well as well crafted work.

Participation grade is based on general participation in the course and compared with the post-evaluation of the group work contract.