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EVALUATION REPORT 2015
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As an example, the result from the last ‘kandida-
tundersøkelse’ shows that about three quarters of the
students start working in private architectural offices when
they graduate. It is an important discussion how to educate
these architects and how to relate to practice. In what way
should the students contribute? Today they contribute with
a good understanding of process, collaboration (teamwork)
and communication, according to the offices. How could the
students develop practice? What kind of skills, knowledge
and values do they need to do this?
While having many of the courses contributing to discus-
sions about the future role of the architect, there seems
nevertheless to be an arena or a tool missing for a common
discussion of the topic amongst the faculty, teachers and
students. Could the concept of ‘knowledge, values and skills’
offer such a common platform to discuss these issues?
What are the fundamentals one needs as an architect?
There are a certain set of basic skills and knowledge one
needs as an architect. At present the School does not define
this properly. The School needs to work out what they will
put into this, and mean by this, and on what level this is
expected. As an example, some students deliver projects at
Masters level which are drawn in
Illustrator
, not being prop-
erly skilled in any other computer drawing software. This
should not be possible. How one further develops the skills
and knowledge is closely related to the values one develops.
The basic skills and knowledge could be seen as a minimum
and could be updated in relation to the different roles that
the School envisages that the architect should have, or that
architecture could perform.
Are the students able to justify their values and articulate the
meaning behind the things that they do?
The first 3 years seem to work well. Most of the students
make good progress. But does the ‘development curve’
flatten out after Bachelor level? How does on keep the level
of stimulus going at Masters level? What are the intended
graduate attributes?
At present, can students ‘slip through’ the education and
become an architect without doing the ‘architecture courses’
with the ‘heavier’ content? Should this be permitted? What
kind of architect does one become? Do the students need
more guidance?
The schools are, in a different way from earlier times, in
competition with each other. The architecture programme at
NTNU is in a unique position to be different from the other
schools in Scandinavia, and thus contribute in a way that is
distinctive from other architectural schools.
USPs (Unique Selling Points):
-Live Studios
-Planning abroad
-TransArk
-Potential in the reputation as a technical university
-Inter-related knowledge and disciplines
– interdisciplinary work
-Sustainable architecture
-Physical spaces (the workshop availability is excellent)
The process of planning and building is developing. It is
becoming more interdisciplinary and complex. By including
more knowledge and expertise early in the process one
saves time, becomes more accurate and uncovers the chal-
lenges ahead. This demands knowledge about teamwork
and interdisciplinary work. Is multidisciplinarity used suffi-
ciently or optimally in education? Is it what is wanted clearly
defined and is this brought into structures and practices?
The knowledge and research on how to further develop
sustainable architecture is available, for example through
ZEB. How is this exploited and included in the different pro-
grammes? This knowledge also needs to be further devel-
oped for example on an area level.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
We highly recommend further emphasis on the following:
• The
knowledge, skills and values
concept will work as
a platform and a tool for discussions and further
development of the content and School. How could
this be developed?
• To respond to the changes in the building processes.
The School needs to develop their interdisciplinary
approaches.
• Should the students be challenged concerning what
kind of programs to choose and what kind of roles
they want to take? Should the choice of courses be more
regulated? For example should students be required to
complete at least one complex building course?
• Live studio in addition to the projects of both building
and planning abroad are very popular amongst the
students. The latter could be further explored bringing