2010 in review

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,400 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

 

In 2010, there were 34 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 63 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 68mb. That’s about a picture per week.

The busiest day of the year was October 23rd with 63 views. The most popular post that day was semi-structured interviews.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were bergenarkitektskole.no, basdiplom2010.blogspot.com, slashingtongue.com, criceland.blogspot.com, and aalesundifremtiden.blogspot.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for small town urbanism, diploma sketch, diploma, “norwegian architecture policy”, and curiosities.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

semi-structured interviews March 2010
5 comments

2

Small town urbanism June 2010
4 comments

3

Confrontation II: core issues April 2010
6 comments

4

Diploma Sketch February 2010

5

Gossip Town May 2010
4 comments

DRAFT #4: the Program

primo june

After consulting geographer & diploma tutor Cecilie Bjørlykke, I have changed my strategic  plan to a 4 point program for development in K:

1. boligutvikling på ubrukte eller dårlig utnyttede tomter langsmed elva.
2. ny infrastruktur for myke trafikanter langsmed elva
3. kompetanseutvikling på tvers av ulike samfunnsgrupper
4. sosiobilitet: meningsbærende elementer som styrker og forsterker opplevelsen av byen

 

in retrospect: a good call, just a hell of a lot to do…

DRAFT #3: transect walk

MAY 19TH 2010:

After meeting & documenting people with no result I´m changing approach. I still don´t know what to look for, but the good old trick of doing a transect walk will probably help.

Don´t know what a transect walk is? Simply document paarticular fields of interest on a chosen line from A to B. A given logic will show in retrospect. I´m starting out with this list:

materiality

function / typology

public / private

scale

identity

accessability

people / action

meetings: formal/informal

parking

trees

potential

light / smell / feel

continuity / discontinuity (other)

contrast / opposites

unexpectedness

collecting…

DRAFT #2: collecting curiosities

MAY 25TH 2010

From my list for this to do this week, this mapping is the least obvious/most silly – and therefor I will share it with you.

The items pictured below are things that appeared in the `discontinuity´ post in one my the transect walks.

Here is a picture from the diploma exhibiton. The curiosities speak for themselves, but does the project speak for the curiosities? I´m not so sure…

Draft #1: STRANDED (help!)

MAY 11th 2010:

Another difficult week.

It may just be the boring mapping exercises that´s blurring my intuition, but I increasingly feel like having lost my way on the diploma journey.

In trying to re-define my project I´m concluding with the very same objectives/goals as I startet out with in the first place:

1: Investigate the meaning of sustainability in relation to architecture, based on the political document “Arkitektur.nå”

2: Alternative scenario for sustainable urban development in Kongsberg

Yep, that was a quite confusing time. Although having clear intentions, I did had yet to arrive at one coherent understanding of the two seperate issues. I remember being overwhelmed with the intricate issue of urban sustainable environments and desperate to find some sort of spatial solution.

Today I see it very differently – it seems almost easy! Progress feels good…

Draftmania

Dedicated to Ron

Did anyone say blogtoilet? Ok. Here follows a series of unpublished blogposts, in the search of recollecting the full spectre of my process.

Original text coloured gray, retrospective thoughts coloured red.

…and the snowball keeps rolling

Hello again.

For some time I thought this blog was getting irrelevant to my actual diploma project, so I left it silent for a long time. I was wrong! This blog may be a meta-project parallel to the actual built project, but it is still a cumulative collection of thoughts in it´s own right. And that collection of thoughts is inseparable from my finally distilled material (at least, it should be).

When my diploma tutor Ron at some point advised me to not be so pretensious and use the blog as a trashcan/toilet, I stopped blogging. I intended the opposite – to be a collection of good stuff. Well, I´m flushing that attitude down the drain now. Since the beginning I´ve seen my  diploma project as a processual investigation, a search for the right questions rather than the obvious answers. It was an intense roller-coaster ride that culminated into the project “Walk in the woods”. It did not go well. What went wrong?

Well, I got lost in my project and forgot about this basic principle. Although the “Walk in the woods” exhibition is history, my project is not limited to a physical representation. My project is a process of learning, and does not stop with failure…My gut feeling tells me there´s been some good things going on in the project that think I failed to communicate in the end. Maybe looking through the trashcan´ again will sort things out differently?

Small town urbanism

According to Laagendalsposten & NRK, the local mall “Stortorvet” – wich I referred to in a recent blogpost – is now officially voted as the 6th ugliest building in Norway.

FOTO: ANNE AASE HARALDSEN

This sure fires off a local debate on urban development of K, but I suspect it limits itself to a new coat of paint to tone the embarrisment down.

So, is this the new face of Norwegian small towns?

CONFRONTATION III

…was an immense relief! Plenty has happened since C.II and I´m finally having fun again.

Our “Placemaking” group had great discussions on thursday followed by valuable input from tutors Arild & Camilla on friday. The principal idea is in place,

and I´m currently playing with  8+ sites & programs which are to defined within this week.

getting lost / on track

When my scheduled appointment were cancelled the other day, I went for a trip along the river trails – and got lost! In the town I thought I knew so well – how embarrassing…

Anyway, I discovered some really nice river trails and decided to fully investigate the banks along the river. They trails are lovely for walking, but little suitable for biking.

In just a few minutes I had moved from town centre to the countryside, passing several left-over spaces/plots with potential.

I realized that what I´ve been focusing on – meeting place – is the end product of a larger complexity. No wonder it was hard to pinpoint!

Suddently, a five layered scenario for urban development in K. found it´s way into my sketchbook. Key words are residence, transport, densification, competance, and sociability (integration/identity). The scenario show urban development in different stages in time, to communicate the complexity of urban development to the local residents.

Work is waiting…