Studio Catalogue Spring 2025. YR 4/5
School of Architecture
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Course codes for the Studio projects spring 2025:
YR 4: Spring A42C14 + A42D14 (Autumn A42A13 + A42B13)
YR 5: Autumn and Spring A52A13 + A52B13
This Mk1 of the Catalogue, published 13 January 2025.
Studio theme
Architecture distinguishes itself from other art forms in that the discipline is affected to a higher degree by limitations which the architect cannot control: Besides the simple fact that a building cannot be realized without a client/investor there are social conventions, topographic, functional and technical factors we must take into account. One of the skills necessary to succeed as an architect is thus the ability to react to a given framework in a creative and intelligent manner. Instead of perceiving limitations as unwelcome obstacles we would like to welcome them as a kind of resistance which can release creative forces.
The tasks we will work on are characterized by clearly defined contexts. By making the project briefs quite simple we want to free the students from time consuming analytical work and engage them instead to dive into the design process from the start, using the design process itself as an analytical tool.
Studio methodology
The path leading up to an architectural project is most often more chaotic and less linear than one would like it to be from an academic point of view. At the same time every student is supposed to develop his/her own working method. Hence we do not consider It to be the teacher’s task to teach a working method. We would rather see ourselves as interlocutors confronting the students with insights resulting from our own experience and encourage them to make their own choices – in agreement with the teacher or by rebutting the teacher’s point of view. The starting point or the generating idea for a project can be highly personal and can in general not be judged as right or wrong. An idea is in that sense not discussable within the framework of architectural education. Our discussions will instead revolve around the process of translating an idea into architecture with the architect’s tools, i.e. sketches, models, horizontal and vertical projections.
Training hall for the soccer club BP (Brommapojkarna)
Brommapojkarna is in need of additional training facilities around their home arena in Grimsta and wants to investigate the possibilities of building a soccer hall (accommodating one standard soccer field) on top of an existing parking lot. The roof of the hall should be flat in order to be used as an additional (outdoor) training field. The course will start with a lecture on large span structures by structural engineer and KTH professor Roberto Crocetti who will also be present at the intermediate review.
Architectural themes: Large span structures, relationship between construction and architectural expression Range of representation scales: 1:400 – 1:1
Pedestrian timber bridge on the west coast of Sweden. The project is a collaborative endeavor of “Västkuststiftelsen”, the KTH Division of Building Materials, featuring Professors Roberto Crocetti and Magnus Wålinder, and the Architecture School. Architecture and engineering students will form groups to synergize their skills, discussing architectural design through a structural lens and vice versa. The design work will be organized as a competition with 4-6 teams. The winning design will be built in “Snickarhallen” on the KTH campus by all students (i.e. even those who did not win the competition). The structure will then be disassembled again and prepared for shipping to the west coast. The ultimate goal is that the students - as the final phase of the course - travel to the west coast and reassemble the bridge on the construction site in collaboration with a local building company. This option is however depending on a pending building permit and the availability of local craftsmen.
Key architectural themes: Architectural engineering, engineering architecture, designing within the limited framework of structural and logistic aspects
Scales of drawings and models: 1:500, 1:100, 1:10, 1:1
Mats Fahlander
MF studied architecture at KTH and HDK in Berlin. His office, Fahlander Arkitekter is located in Stockholm. Besides his architectural practice he has been working as a teacher in different terms at KKH and KTH. www.matsfahlander.com
Tobias Nissen
TN earned his master’s degree at the ETH Lausanne. He has been working on and off as a teacher in the undergraduate and graduate programs at KTH since 2000.
TN is a co-founder of the Stockholm based office Vera Arkitekter. www.vera.se
INTERIOR IMAGE - ONE OF THE ROOMS FACADE EXPLANATORY AXONOMETRIC - 1:15
FACADE EXPLANATORY AXONOMETRIC - 1:15 ZOOM-IN - 1:5
- ONE OF THE ROOMS
The situation of being located in an abandoned building will inform both themes and methods forStudio DKV. What kind of expressions are produced when the existing building and materials at hand become the starting point? In the near future architects will to a larger extent work with existing buildings and materials. Being located in such a building we will try to understand what this can mean for architecture and the everyday work as architects.
Today adaptive reuse is discussed as a new way of producing architecture, but the reuse of materials and spaces is nothing newthe Romansreused parts of buildings when creating new ones in quite an unsentimental way. This creates new possibilities, patterns of matter out of place, and strips for example a column of its representational connotations. Closer at hand is the nomadic sami tradition where buildings are dismantled and reassembled over and over again. The joinery and how things are put together becomes the main interest rather than the parts themselves. This tradition lives on today in a kind of arctic adoration of the joint in the shape of duct tape, cable ties or whatever is at hand. An economy of effect.
Studio DKVwill work as a lab where different approaches will be tested and evaluated -a bootcamp for the imagination and a testbed for new aesthetics.
We will work with architecture hands on. 1:1 test, redo, demolish, try again. Projects will vary in thematics and methods, but share one thing: scale 1:1. We will explore what working in scale 1:1 can do for the architectural project and process.
During the semester we will also study and examine a number of terms and concepts through seminars and lectures. In the spirit of theStudio DKV- learning by doing - students will in groups create and hold small lectures for the studio.
Studio DKVwants to be a space where we all learn and explore together
Project 3 + 4
Upcycle to fabulous 1:1
The world needs to decrease its carbon dioxide emissions to avoid a global warming catastrophy. A third of the emissions today are caused by the building industry. Using what is already here is a must to stop the unnecessary use of the world's resources and to lower the building sector's emissions. Another factor both in relation to lowering emissions and creating social sustainability is to locally produce architecture. During the spring we will practice both!
We will work with maintaining an already existing site and building. We will re-use and adapt materials while locally establishing our method. The ambition is to create a hands-on / on-site method, based on practical experience and local conditions. The site is the old center of Tibro in Västergötland and is a collaboration with Tibro Municipality. The building is the station warehouse and its surroundings. We will adaptively reuse and fabulously upcycle buildings, building elements, parts or material which has or will be demolished in Stockholm.’
We will upcycle them at DKV67 into fabulous new building parts and then insert them into the station warehouse or its surroundings in Tibro. Your work will not only be built but they will also be prototypes for a continuation of even more built projects in Tibro.
Our work and our findings will be fabulous and of great importance. Sourcing and adaptation of material will be worked on in Stockholm while mounting will be made on site in Tibro in the last part of the semester. The studio will have one two day trip to Tibro in February and one week of mounting in Tibro in may.
In the beginnning of April we will do a study trip to Rome looking at Roman upcycling/adaptive reuse.
The spring semester is a collaboration between Studio FFF and Studio DKV.
Fredrik Stenberg
FS is an architect based in Stockholm. He has worked as a lecturer at KTH since 2016. He is one of the founding members in the collective Uglycute and participated in the Art and Architecture Biennale (2003 and 2010) in Venice, and are represented in the collections of Moderna museet.
Per Franson
PF isan architect and educator. Per has been teaching in numerous courses on all levels within the School of Architecture.25 years of running his own practice he has great experience of the profession and is keen on bringing practice, education and research closer together.
Teachers: Anders Berensson, Karin Matz
Studio theme
Fabulous Future Factory immerses itself in ideas of a joyful sustainable future for us all - together. It is time to take the future back from individual self-improvement, dystopia, austerity and misery. Studio FFF is hungry for information on technology, politics and creating desire through good design. Architect is one of few professions with the ability to envision, visualize and propose radical change. Let's use that power to try to improve the world. We need to look critically at what futures are presented by architects through their projects. There is power in projection which is something to take advantage of. Can we change how others (and ourselves) see and think about today and tomorrow? Can a sustainable world, from a small reuse project to a high tech mega project or redistribution of resources be that which makes people drool with desire? We shall find out!
In spring we travel to Rome.
Studio methodology
Taking on the mission of taking back the future, we will need architects with agency who are curious, brave, humble, confident, independent and not the least great designers...how can we assist you in this? Challenge accepted!
You will solve urgent societal questions, need to try out a multitude of architectural tools and processes, try both being the best and the worst student in the class, work very hands-on in a direct way, and more than before independently locate material, project ideas and people to talk to. All this and more. In helping you become proactive agents, we have to look at ourselves not as teachers but perhaps more as sports coaches. If you are up for daring, being curious and open minded while working hard on our fabulous future we would love to create it with you.
Project 3 + 4
Upcycle to Fabulous 1:1
The world needs to decrease its carbon dioxide emissions to avoid a global warming catastrophy. A third of the emissions today are caused by the building industry. Using what is already here is a must to stop the unnecessary use of the world's resources and to lower the building sector's emissions. Another factor both in relation to lowering emissions and creating social sustainability is to locally produce architecture. During the spring we will practice both!
We will work with maintaining an already existing site and building. We will re-use and adapt materials while locally establishing our method. The ambition is to create a hands-on / on-site method, based on practical experience and local conditions. The site is the old center of Tibro in Västergötland and is a collaboration with Tibro Municipality. The building is the station warehouse and its surroundings. We will adaptively reuse and fabulously upcycle buildings, building elements, parts or material which has or will be demolished in Stockholm. We will upcycle them at DKV67 into fabulous new building parts and then insert them into the station warehouse or its surroundings in Tibro. Your work will not only be built but they will also be prototypes for a continuation of even more built projects in Tibro.
Our work and our findings will be fabulous and of great importance. Sourcing and adaptation of material will be worked on in Stockholm while mounting will be made on site in Tibro in the last part of the semester. The studio will have one two day trip to Tibro in February and one week of mounting in Tibro in May. We will also do a study trip to Rome looking at Roman upcycling/adaptive reuse.
The studio is a collaboration between Studio FFF and Studio DKV
Anders Berensson
AB is an architect educated at Chalmers University of technology and KTH. AB has worked at OMA, co-founded visiondivision and is currently director of Anders Berensson Architects. AB is a lecturer at KTH School of architecture with a long experience in teaching both Bachelor and Master studios.
Karin Matz
KM studied architecture at Edinburgh College of Art, the University of Queensland, and KTH (MSc. Arch). She has worked at Vera Arkitekter, co-founded SECRETARY architecture and is currently running Karin Matz Arkitekt. KM is a lecturer at KTH with a long experience in teaching both Bachelor and Master studios.
Teachers: Carolina Wikström, Leif Brodersen
The studio will, throughout the spring, explore different aspects of architectural experience. The focus will be on the fundamentals of architecture: light, movement, scale, proportion, mass/void, geometry,etc.Investigations will be made into the precise and sensitive use of these basic elements, together with the organization of space and program. Environmental sustainability, with a special interest in wooden constructions, and social inclusion will beaddressed specifically.
This studio investigates different experiences of architecture and conceptions of space in relation to the synthesizingdesign process. Basic architectural concepts are explored through a methodology wherein students andteachers collaborate in a kind of research-bydesign structure. The students define and formulate their own projects from a given topic and self-program their projects to reflect on the problems and possibilities described in the analysis and definition of the context. The aim is to provide tools and methods to give the students an independent, innovative, artistic, professional, ethical, and scientific identity. Every project is specific and independent but also relates to the general theme.
In the initial phase, we will examine fundamental building components such as walls, roofs, floors, stairs, bathrooms, kitchens, and more. This phase will involve conducting inventories, participating in study visits, taking measurements, and analyzing the qualities of key reference buildings. Additionally, we will explore and discuss the concept of home, reflecting on personal experiences and memories associated with different spaces.
In the second phase, we will design a single-family house situated in a non-urban location. The insights gained from the critical analysis of fundamental building components will inform the development of a detailed architectural project, which will be presented through highly refined technical drawings.
Pilgrimage Center in Jämtland
This project explores the design of spaces dedicated to reflection and contemplation. We will study various pilgrimage routes around the world, alongside meditation and reflection spaces that are not tied to any specific religious tradition. In an era of growing uncertainty, an increasing number of people turn to nature for solace, recovery, and introspection.
The project entails designing a pilgrimage center along the St. Olav Way in Jämtland, a route that stretches between Sundsvall and Trondheim. The center will include accommodation for overnight stays, a room for contemplation, bathing facilities, a sauna, spaces for yoga and meditation, as well as a restaurant. The design will aim to create a serene and restorative environment that fosters both spiritual and physical well-being, harmonizing with the surrounding natural landscape.
Leif Brodersen
LB started teaching at KTH School of Architecture in 1996 andhas beenan Associate Professor since 2004. Heserved as Head of the Schoolfrom2005-2012. He is also a foundingpartnerat 2BK Arkitekter, established in 1999.
Carolina Wikström
CW has been teaching regularly at KTH School of Architecture since 2017. She is a founder of the architecture practice Asante Architecture & Design and is Secretary General at Europan Sweden, an international architecture and urban design competition.
Teachers: Michela Barone Lumaga, Mikael Bergquist
The focus of the studio is the critical and experimental study of domestic space, spanning from the single dwelling to groupings of low-rise buildings. The ambition is to investigate the conventions and codes of the home and its basic architectural elements - both programmatic and tectonic.The studio will examine what is the most familiar and yet difficult kind of architecture: the house. We will explore its potential as a contemporary model of living.
To many the house still symbolizes the most desirable form of living - more than half of Sweden’s population live in one or two-family dwelling buildings. Yet, its current model seems at odds with the environmental and financial challenges of today. The aim of this studio will be to reappraise the spatial, social and ecological contracts of the home. We shall explore alternative living models that go beyond dichotomies such as husband and wife, living and work, private and public, house and garden.
Methodology
Through the study of everyday elements and fundamental domestic programs such as cooking, working, bathing, resting, reading, gardening and playing, we will search for new domestic thresholds that can provide a space for both tradition and innovation.
Based in Stockholm, the studio will work on the outskirts of the city. We shall test the house within a site-specific context that is ordinary rather than exceptional. The aims are social, spatial and natural. Through modest means we will look at how architectural reinvention can turn the house into a regenerative social and environmental type, set somewhere between archetype and prototype.
During the semester we will build a common archive. We will encourage iterative design, model-making and explorative modes of representation. Each project is expected to be rigorous in research and design, and realistically grounded within its context.
Archive – We will work with references and build an archive of models, drawings, texts, articles, and books. We use different tools of representation and working methods.
Concept – We will speculate on what the contemporary dwelling can be today. We will make architectural projects based in part on the findings in Archive. We will work on different scales: from the communal area with streets and gardens, to the single unit, and down to parts of the unit.
Revision – We will look at our concepts and develop them further from different angels. We work with the interior, movement, privateshared - communal. How the group of buildings relates to the topography and ecology of the site.
Presentation – We make coherent presentations of the projects from the overall to the detail. We work with precision of representation in models, drawings, text and images to present the full potential of our projects.
Michela Barone Lumaga
MBL is a partner at ALTA Architecture in Stockholm. Everyday poetics and materiality are among the core preoccupations of the firm, with a focus on how resources and building practices can support a more ecologicalbuilt environment.She holds degrees in Architecture and Urban planning from Politecnico di Milano and MIT.
Mikael Bergquist
MB is an architect and writer, educated at KTH and the Academy of Fine Arts, Copenhagen and with his own office in Stockholm. MB has written and curated numerous exhibitions and books. His latest published book is ”Josef Frank: Villa Carlsten” (Park Books 2019).
Studio Theme
Stockholm is a city of islands. A unique material and urban condition where the geological, natural and cultural meet in unexpected ways. The island as a category variously implies isolation, refuge, perhaps even utopia. The island is a world. We are interested in the specificity of this condition. Each term the studio works with one of these islands within the Stockholm region, defined either geographically or urbanistically. A detailed survey of the existing situation becomes key in starting to define a possible new architecture. We encourage a territorial understanding of the architectural project that engages with an increasingly circular material economy of reuse and regeneration.
Studio Methodology
We will work collectively and in pairs to make an architecture rooted in observation rather than invention. By learning from what already exists – materially, urbanistically as well as culturally – and by engaging with construction and making we will aim for an economical architecture full of character and optimism. Work will be structured in a non-linear way where research, proposition, strategy and detail are considered non-hierarchically.
Project 3
Gamla Enskede, Part I
This semester projects will be located in Gamla Enskede, a leafy middle-class suburban enclave south of central Stockholm. Its polite demeanour, however, obscures its radical origins: As the first attempt in Sweden to build according to the principles of the garden city movement, established only a few years earlier in England by Ebenezer Howard, Gamla Enskede’s ambition is one of both social reform and of artistically considered urban planning. The principles established in Per Hallman’s original plan from 1908 were however only partially realised, mostly due to a market preference for detached houses over terraced houses, and the envisioned small-scale urbanity never fully materialised. Echoes of an Arts and Crafts sensibility and a set of deliberately defined urban sequences nevertheless establish a unique village-like atmosphere. We will use P3 to trace Gamla Enskede’s architectural and ideological roots in relation to contemporary urban discourse, and to survey its current state as an urban island of latent potential.
Project 4
Gamla Enskede, Part II
During the second part of the semester, we will develop precise architectural proposals within Gamla Enskede with the aim to both reinforce Hallman’s original intent and to find new ways to interpret its peculiar urban condition. We will engage with questions of density, programme and ways of living in the city. Urban form, spatial organisation and tectonic resolution will be of equal importance.
Konrad Krupinski
KK is a lecturer at KTH Architecture since 2015. He is also founding partner at the architecture practice Krupinski/Krupinska. He has prior experience from OMA in New York and SANAA in Tokyo as well as Tham & Videgård and Wingårdhs in Stockholm.
Martin Nässén
MN is an architect based in Stockholm. He spent the last 10 years at 6a architects in London where he led projects both in the UK and internationally. Prior to this he worked with Herzog & de Meuron and Tony Fretton Architects. Martin previously taught at London Metropolitan University.
Sogol Baghban, Ulrika Karlsson
Studio Theme
With a focus on Shifting scale, Northern Grounds will continue its focus on architecture and its representations looking towards the North – the larger area in northern Scandinavia, also called Sapmi, of diverse cultures, ecologies, histories and agencies. With a modern and colonial history that has reshaped the grounds, these northern “critical zones” are again subject to infrastructural and climatic changes. The area holds a long tradition of reindeer herding and many strategic resources of raw materials (minerals, wood, oil and water) and infrastructure for their processing. The right to the use of land and water is a heated and greatly debated question. With a caring respect to situations, the studio will engage a series of sites of the north - natural, urban, rural, museal, fictive as well as places in the electronic weave. We will also continue exploring architectural methods for working with that which already exists – through modes of gleaning, reusing, recording, reassembling, conversations and architecturally making unexpected connections and proximities.
Teaching Methodology:
With a focus on research through making, the studio has an interest in the role of representation in architecture. This interest is inserted within contemporary approaches emphasising the entanglements of the physical with the virtual and their effects on how we imagine, understand, and make architecture. We encourage a curious, critical and experimental approach to technology and continually engage machinic processes in design work - such as LiDAR scanning, drone filming, photogrammetry, moving image, AI, 3d printing, CNC. Through collaborative and individual design investigations coupled with archival research, the studio aims to propose multiple ways of engaging with places, existing structures and material realities, specified through architectural questions. The studio includes workshops with invited guests and local established networks, recurring pin-ups, reading seminars and studio discussions to support students to contextualise their work and engage in contemporary architectural discourse.
Shifting Scales: Recording Sensibilities
This semester, Northern Grounds will take a closer look at the town of Narvik (Áhkánjárga). A critical geopolitical location situated in Sapmi, Nordland, Norway on a peninsula by Ofotfjord by the Atlantic Ocean. We will focus on the shifting scales of Narvik, by exploring its history, architecture and cultural ecologies transformed by the practices of extraction, displacement and movement of people and material. The port of Narvik is the end station on the vulnerable and debated railway line (malmbanan/ofotbanen) for the transportation of iron ore to be shipped out globally. Connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Swedish mining towns and the Baltic Sea.
Challenging traditional views of architectural drawing and imaging as objective reflections of reality, the studio will on site explore how techniques for engaging with, drawing, recording, and sensing can make visible entangled relations and multiple aspects of place, understanding the town and its architecture as material structures but also as the lived-in reality informed by stories of the everyday.
The architectural focus will be to explore compositional, spatial, and structural qualities of shifting scales, as well as shifting scales linking landscape, buildings, flows and people. The outcome of project 3 will be highly detailed physical models together with a series of images, drawings, and architectural questions to be furthered through the design of a depot and a market for Narvik in project 4.
Shifting Scales: reimagined reassemblies
The second part of the semester till focus on architecturally detailing our studies and questions regarding Narvik's past, present, and future through an infrastructural depot and market for Narvik. Highly detailed physical models of architectural reimagined reassemblies will be coupled with a series of images, moving images and drawings (sensitively drawn, generated, informed, and curated).
Sogol Baghban
SB is an architect educated at KTH in Stockholm and ETH in Zürich. She has worked as an architect in Switzerland and in Stockholm at General Architecture. She is currently running her own practice where she is interested in topics of reuse and the life of the built fabric.
Ulrika Karlsson
UK is an architect and landscape architect, founding partner of the architecture practice Brrum as well as of servo stockholm. She is a Professor in Architecture at the KTH School of Architecture. She recently served as a Guest Professor at Frankfurt and Tokyo University. At KTH she is engaged in artistic research within the field of architecture.
Teacher: Marcelo Rovira Torres
Oases (n. plural) – a master studio focusing on civic architecture with respect for the past, care for the present and visions for the future. An oasis presents a condition different from its surroundings – a distinct space, clearly defined, where life different from the usual can take place.
In the city – interwoven in a fabric of apartment blocks and workspaces – generous interiors were built to accommodate cinemas. In the 1940s, there were 110 cinemas in Stockholm to meet the substantial demand for entertainment. As one of the first mass media cultures, cinema was made for the people. Unlike opera houses and royal theaters – whose majestic architecture often consists of solitary buildings integrated into monumental urban plans of the ruling powers –the architecture of cinemas often adapted to existing urban conditions. Their relatively small but conspicuous facades served as interfaces, mediating the transition from the narrow streets to the large, decorated spaces of the cinemas. In its conception, the cinema functioned as a collective living room of the people, an alternative space, distinct from that of production and reproduction. The ornate interiors were always conceived with great attention to detail, celebrating the festive event of the screening. However, with the rise of television in the 1950s and the boom of video streaming services today, its function no longer holds the same cultural importance. As a consequence, the cinemas are losing their place in collective memory, leaving behind traces of a bygone era. In the coming semester, we will explore the underlying potential of these urban, discrete, and generous interior spaces.
The pedagogy of the studio revolves around collective architectural discourse as a tool for learning; hence, tasks are to be done both individually and in groups. Through a dialectical method that presents differing perspectives on current problems, students will learn both the tools of the architect and develop a precise architectural intent. We will work extensively with model-making and drawings, as well as the perspectival view. Students are expected to critically engage with current building legislation and develop their proposals with an understanding of architectural construction.
Please note: This studio is not electable for studio courses and is only avaílable for pre-registered Diploma students in spring 2025.
Marcelo Rovira Torres
MRT is a practicing architect and researcher specializing in the fields of architectural history and theory. He studied architecture at KTH, ETH and EPF. He runs an architecture firm in Stockholm. Recent publications include ‘Recovering the Historical Construction and Materials of Erik Gunnar Asplund’s Stockholm Public Library’ (Docomomo Journal, 2024).
Teacher: Thordis Arrhenius
The Re-Master studio at KTH addresses notions of change, permanence, and resilience through restoration, reuse, and repair. The overall methodological and pedagogical strategy explores the already present, the already built, the already thought and imagined.
A central effect of global capitalism is the pressure of change. Urban patterns and building programs are increasingly becoming redundant, demanding change to accommodate new economies, functions, and identities. In the urgent context of climate change, contemporary architectural culture needs to respond to the forces of change with new strategies and forms of stocktaking. Under this new condition, preservation has moved from the fringe of architectural practice into its core. Remaster Studio aims to probe this new condition for architecture and architectural practice, exploring new strategies and architectural thinking in experimental preservation, adaptive reuse, alteration, and repair.
The studio emphasizes explorative and research-orientated projects and is suitable for students in the last part of their master's studies. Working through an individually formulated project, there will be an opportunity to develop a strong thesis question for the diploma project. Equally, working with the already built, the studio pays specific attention to the architectural representation and how to display and curate an architectural project. Crucial for the work in the studio is to reflect, test, and, most importantly, advance architectural representational tools and technologies—to become aware of the function of the drawing, the model, and the image in architectural production. In the studio, we work intensively with the scale model, the drawing, and the image to argue for our architectural proposals. See previous studio publications for more information about the studio’s work. www.remasterstudio.com
In the post-war era, Sweden underwent a massive and impressive modernization of society that involved extensive investment in public buildings such as libraries, schools, hospitals, sports and cultural buildings, and public housing.
Today's urgent issue is how this stock of post-war public buildings from the welfare state is considered and valued in terms of building economy and cultural national heritage. Many are valued as obsolete and up from demolition; others are sold to private investors and part
Thordis Arrhenius
TA is an architect and architectural researcher. Her teaching and research are characterized by a strong dedication to contemporary critical issues in heritage and urbanism, where the historical perspective informs actions and strategies. Since 2018 she is a professor in Architecture, Theory, and Method at KTH School of Architecture.
of a speculative global real estate market. The 20th-century notion of a shared national heritage under the state's and civic society's protection, expressed in national preservation law and praxis, is today contested and under negotiation. The studio will take this question as a starting point to explore the legacy of modern architecture in Sweden.
Please note: This studio is not electable for studio courses and is only avaílable for pre-registered Diploma students in spring 2025.
Teachers: Elena Carlini, Francesca Savio
Theme
Studio Urban Waterlines expands its exploration of industrial waterlines to the Mediterranean, focusing on a harbour city shaped by large-scale infrastructure, maritime development, and industrial heritage. Projects will investigate the dynamic edges of land and sea, addressing the intersections of work, production, and sustainable urban living, and design large-scale masterplans and strategical interventions.
In this context, we critically examine the global trend of transforming industrial waterfronts into high-cost homogeneous residential neighborhoods, seeking innovative alternatives that integrate diverse uses beyond housing, including production, public spaces, and ecological restoration, ensuring these waterline areas remain vibrant, inclusive, and resilient to climate change.
We emphasize creative, socially inclusive solutions that are sensitive to circular economies, bold in their vision, and grounded in sustainability.
Join us to reimagine the Mediterranean’s urban waterlines as spaces of interaction, productivity, and ecological harmony.
In this studio we foster a collaborative and open culture where we reflect on real-world challenges with an optimistic standpoint. Through future literacy, we equip students with methodologies and tools to deal with present and future challenges within the context of urban design and planning. By embedding ourselves in the city, we gain nuanced perspectives for our design proposals, ensuring they are relevant and forward-thinking. Our aim is to prepare students for independent diploma projects and a future sensible and responsible practice in design and research.
During P3, we investigate the complexity of the sites through combining theory and analysis with artistic and bold explorations. We will develop a collective interpretative digital and hand-made Atlas of different sections of a large-scale waterline by researching from afar and visiting the site together. The work of P3 will be mainly carried out in teams because of the complexity of the site. A study trip will be organized to gain first-hand knowledge of the harbour life and its challenges to be developed sustainably. We will also assemble an Anthropology Box with carefully selected material. Later, students will develop a prototype for the sites following our investigation: how can we envision a future city where the relationship with the water is not only about leisure but also about production, living, transportation, and a generative landscape that is the basis for urban living and a healthy resilient nature within the city?
Building on knowledge from P3, we will develop comprehensive design proposals at the scale of the city or neighborhood. Urban projects will explore programs centered on production, density, community care, and integrating nature into the urban fabric. Special focus will be placed on sustainable practices and cultures, designing resilient neighborhoods capable of withstanding climate challenges. By combining visionary thinking with grounded solutions, the studio seeks to redefine the role of waterlines in shaping inclusive, sustainable cities.
Elena Carlini
EC has an MA from IUAV and Columbia University, which she attended as a Fulbright Scholar. She has worked with Emilio Ambasz, Richard Meier in the USA and Studio Valle architetti in Italy; she runs an independent architecture practice and has taught at both Syracuse University and Ferrara University.
Francesca Savio
FS is an architect and urban designer. She has worked in the field of participative urban planning in Italy and Spain, urban design in Sweden, and has taught at KTH urban planning and design since 2017. Her work revolves around sustainable practices for urban design, the circular economy, and future-proofing urban environments.
