BETWEEN SPATIALITY AND THEORETICAL REFLECTION

Doctoral StuDieS
aarhuS School of architecture
Between spatiality
and theoretical
reflection
1

2 Published by aarhus School of architecture 2010
edition: The Research Administration
layout: Anders Kruse Aagaard
Print: Lasertryk A/S
frederik Petersen
content
Preface
Interactice Design
Interactive and Strategic Design
Accessibility
Landscape and Urbanism
Cultural Heritage
Architectural Design and Aesthetics
Tectonics and Sustainability
Light
Awarded PhD Degrees
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Between SPatiality anD theoretical reflection
the phd programme at aarhus school of architecture
5
Mette Volf
The following pages provide a brief presentation of
current PhD projects at Aarhus School of Architecture.
The school’s three-year PhD programme primarily
addresses graduates of architecture and design.
Emphasis is placed on students becoming familiar
with general academic standards of relevance for
performing a PhD project. To this end, there are
courses in the theory of science and academic
prose.
The programme also presents students with a se-
ries of current debates on themes connected with
the common professional culture – and the connection
of this culture to a more general aesthetic
and intellectual tradition. Furthermore the PhD
programme constitutes the institutional framework
around a communicative fellowship between
students, and great importance is attached to participants’
knowledge of and discussions concerning
each other’s projects.
From a more programmatic angle, studies are
intended to stimulate a research practice that
involves more than simply adapting to academic
models. This is because it is important to continually
produce new examples that reflect the special
professional character of research into architecture
and design. Inquiring architects and designers are
encouraged to promote a dialogue between visualspatial
phenomena and the linguistic-conceptual
framework that characterises theoretical analysis
and reflection.
Jørgen Dehs
Head of the Research School 2010

6 interactive design
7
Sofie Beck
changing atmospheres in
interaction design
What are the potential benefits of integrating
computer technology into future furniture types?
Today, we are familiar with the elevation bed, the
adjustable height desk and the massage chair
where technology targets a given purpose.
The project will investigate how computer technol-
ogy can be used to rethink the concept of furniture
and discover new aesthetic potential by developing
prototypes. The focus will be on the user’s sensed
experience and on how interactive furniture could
affect the atmosphere of the surrounding space.
The research project is supported by the Alexandra
Institute Ltd. The prototypes will be developed in
interdisciplinary project teams consisting of representatives
from commercial enterprises, engineers,
computer scientists, architects and designers at
the research centre: Interactive Spaces.
Sofie Beck
industrial PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of Design
employed by alexandrainstituttet a/S
e: Sofie.beck@alexandra.dk
w: interactiveSpaces.net
Kinaesthetic, empathetic
interaction
Interaction design increasingly deals with the
body as an interaction tool. One area where it is
particularly in evidence is the game industry with
products such as Nintendo Wii and Dance Dance
Revolution.
The project focuses on how to support and qualify
the design of interactive products and installations
that take their starting point in bodily empathy; in
other words physical interaction conditional on the
physical actions of other participants.
The purpose of the project is to develop and
explore new forms of interaction based on kinaesthetic,
empathetic interaction. The project
will specifically deal with three areas: elite sports,
play and learning. Experimental development, in
the form of design concepts and prototypes, will
provide a basis for acquiring theoretical, methodical
and practical knowledge of how to design
kinaesthetic, empathetic interaction, and how this
can be evaluated and verified.
Maiken hillerup fogtmann
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of Design
e: maikenhf@daimi.au.dk
w: interactiveSpaces.net

8 interactive and strategic design
9
Brett Patching
on the move – creating domesticity
through experience design
What does it take for us to feel at home? Can we
take that feeling with us if we travel frequently?
We cultivate our homes as never before.
In step with the spread of globalisation, a steadily
growing number of people are constantly on the
move in connection with their work. ‘Home’ for
these ‘modern nomads’ is not necessarily a physical
locality, it can take on many different forms.
The thesis of the project is that it is possible to
create an experience of domesticity with the help
of interactive products and services when we are
away from our physical homes. The purpose of
the project is to look into the qualities, emotions
and experiences that help to create a feeling of
domesticity when we are on the move. This takes
the form of anthropological user studies and the
development of scenarios, concepts and prototypes
that will subsequently be further developed by
Bang & Olufsen.
The project will be performed in collaboration
with Bang & Olufsen, the Aleksandra Institute and
Aarhus University and is part of a more extensive
research project entitled ‘Mobile Home Centre’,
backed up by the Danish National Advanced
Technology Foundation.
aviaja Borup lynggaard
industrial PhD-fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of Design
employed by B&o a/S
e: aviajaBorup.lynggard@aarch.dk
high impact: the intersection of
technology, Business and
human values
Product designers have unique strengths which
can place them in a central role as facilitator in
innovative processes of the future. At present
traditional product design styling has become
commoditized. If designers wish to continue adding
value to people’s lives, they must shift their focus
from the tactical to the strategic level in organizations.
To do this, product designers need to expand
their understanding of business processes and of
teamwork.
The aim of this research project is to investigate
and develop strategic design methodologies and
tools in a Danish context. Coupled to this will be
the investigation of communication and cooperation
methods and tools in multidisciplinary teams.
The role of the strategic design process as enabler
of coherence in resulting product service systems
will also be examined. Design innovation processes
will be the focal point of study in how methodologies
grow and change from company to company
and team to team.
Brett Patching
PhD-fellow, Ba (industrial Design)
Department of Design
e: Brett.Patching@aarch.dk

10 accessiBility
11
richard herriott
accessiBility in puBlic spaces –
improved way-finding
in Building complexes
Which design factors are important in finding one’s
way around building complexes? Which design
elements and what information do people rely on
in their movements? And what does the organisation
of space mean for people’s ability to find their
bearings in a building? And are there parallels
between orientating oneself in cities and in building
complexes?
The project focuses on hospitals, but it will to a
great extent be possible to transfer the acquired
knowledge to other building types and use it in
practice in future planning and projecting.
Solvej Sebber colfelt
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architecture
e: solvej.colfelt@aarch.dk
accessiBility through
user-centred design and
inclusive design processes
In more areas of product and service design, it has
become increasingly necessary to accommodate
users with a much wider variety of needs and
capabilities. Specifically, this means designing for
an aging population and taking greater care over
the needs of disabled citizens.
However, design solutions typically focus on single,
optimal solutions when perhaps it might be preferable
to devise a suite of design solutions and allow
users to choose which is the most appropriate to
their needs. Choice implies greater complexity
which outcome may run counter to the objectives
of inclusive design. A design pathway is required to
navigate the choices faced by designers and clients
during the development of products or services.
Additionally, and of equal importance, is that an
inclusive design process requires that the users´
needs must be an integral element.
A subsidiary element to the project is to construct
a theoretical linkage between the aims of Inclusive
Design and general design-process theory. Resulting
from this will be a clearer outline of Industrial
Designs conceptual strengths and weaknesses.
richard herriott
PhD-fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of Design
e: richard.herriott@aarch.dk

12 landscape and urBanism
13
Martin odgaard
urBan development and puBlic
involvement – new strategies
and methods
High-rise blocks or allotment societies? Parks or
parking space? Sustainability or petrol consumption?
Any urban development process has its
dilemmas. And political questions are numerous.
How should the urban community of the future
look? Does everybody have an equal right to the
city? Why doesn’t anybody want their backyard to
be used for the common good?
In close cooperation with local authorities, com-
mercial enterprises and organisations, the project
will investigate how to create better cities with the
help of public participation. My project involves
developing and studying new ways of attracting
the public’s attention to the creation of interesting
experiences, to how they can learn from each
other, gain more influence and provide the space
for action.
thomas fabian Delman
PhD fellow, Ma (Multimedia)
Department of landscape and urbanism
e: thomas.fabian.delman@aarch.dk
scenic urBan models –
identification, potential
and development
Danish cities are increasingly becoming networks
of fragmented urban structures. This is very much
due to the growing mobility that has had a decisive
influence on the development of our urban landscapes
since the 1960s. More extensive intermediate
zones have grown up as disregarded spatial
and functional areas – as blank spots between
town and landscape planning. This requires new,
coordinated thinking about the relationship between
town and country.
The purpose of the project is to investigate how
scenic urban models can be developed and evaluated
in the field of tension between town planning
and landscape planning – with sharp focus on
urban-ecological processes.
With the help of analyses and computer simulations
of well-known reference projects, among
other methods, the intention is to develop new
urban models that systematically include elements
of flora and fauna. This will lead to the development
of a tool that can not only be used to develop
these scenic urban models, but also to improve
municipal rural zone administration, district and
municipal planning.
Martin odgaard
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of landscape and urbanism
e: Martin.odgaard@aarch.dk

14 cultural heritage
15
Martin weihe esbensen
coastal culture and its future
Coastal areas have become some of Denmark’s
biggest tourist attractions. In a number of places
this has led to a kind of amusement park development
of coastal culture – with stereotyped holiday
cottages, subtropical aqua parks and artificial town
backdrops totally disconnected from the history,
culture and context of the place in question.
Elsewhere, the wish to preserve coastal culture has
created a kind of artificially preserved authenticity
that does not correspond to the social life and the
need for dynamism and change in these areas.
How can we combine place and culture in a us-
able model for a future design of coastal culture?
The hypothesis of the dissertation is that regional
reflection can function as the organising principle
for the preservation and layout of the local values
of coastal culture as it unites the physical context
of the place with its dynamic cultural processes.
Martin weihe esbensen
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architectural heritage
e: martin.esbensen@aarch.dk
future-orienting the values of
the cultural environment
There are no unequivocal answers to the question
of why and how something should be preserved
today, but the issue has become negotiable area
in which many interests clash. One of the biggest
problems in this connection is that the current
concept of cultural heritage is increasingly making
demands on the architect to act as a pictorial
artist, producer and historian rather than as an
architect. The professional competence of architects
should continue to be devoted to developing
projects where the new and the old are conjoined
to create a consolidated unity – with due regard
to the traces of history, but first and foremost with
aesthetic, spatial and functional needs as their
primary target.
In this project, I will study how preservation
planning relates to the ever-changing, inter-related
concepts and ideologies – preservation value,
cultural heritage and cultural environment – as
well as the way in which these concepts influence
architectural practice.
Marie Kirstine Pilegaard nielsen
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of cultural heritage
e: mariekirstinepilegaard.nielsen@aarch.dk

16 17
cultural heritage
Sonja Marie overgaard
documenting our
architectural heritage
The project attempts to contribute a number of
strategies that can help to optimise the quality of
architectural heritage documentation. Our architectural
heritage is more than just the measurable
and tangible − such as materials and proportions;
it also involves sensuous values such as a beautifully
designed daylight intake, architectonic movement,
acoustic effects, aromas, symbolic values,
etc.
Although these values are often noticed in connec-
tion with our cultural heritage, they are frequently
non-existent in the documentation because we lack
methods that can capture them. Therefore, there is
a risk that they will be forgotten in future architectural
history, and that knowledge we could have
made use of in future architecture will be lost.
Architectural structures are conceived, built and
used by human beings, so in addition to capturing
their tangible values, we must also focus on documenting
the more sensuous values that are part of
the human experience of our cultural heritage.
nina Ventzel riis
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of cultural heritage
e: nina.ventzel.riis@aarch.dk
manor house farm Buildings
The dynamic development of agriculture during
recent years has led to product specialisation and
completely new types of management. This makes
heavy demands on the layout and improvement
of farm buildings – demands that are difficult to
combine with the preservation of what are often
valuable manor house building complexes from a
culture-historical viewpoint. The question therefore
is how we can safeguard these cultural values
which represent important chapters of agricultural
and architectural history and also illustrate local
building customs.
The purpose of the project is to investigate, with
the help of empirical and theoretical analyses, how
this area of our cultural heritage can be valued and
secured in interplay with progressive new layouts
and modern architectonic creativity. The intention
is to strike a balance between preservation and
renewal with the help of selected cases.
Sonja Marie overgaard
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of cultural heritage
e: SonjaMarie.overgaard@aarch.dk

18 architectural design and aesthetics
19
niels Martin larsen
complex geometry Based on
Building information modelling
Double curved surfaces have become common
practice in architectural projects. While their digital
creation is well supported through a wide range
of computer software, crafting them remains a
specialist task - expensive and laborious.
Building information modelling (BIM) lifts computer
drawings from being pure geometrical descriptions
to a representation of real building objects. I will
research how to use the additional information
supplied to create complex geometry within a
certain range of parameters, given by a specific
construction material or structural system. The
result will not only be a geometrical shape but also
a specific construction method or even a set of
interacting forces.
B-processor is an open-source BIM software,
currently being developed by the Aarhus School of
Architecture (Kristian Agger) and the Alexandria
Institute (Michael Lassen). It creates a platform
to develop modelling tools as described above and
will form the base for the PhD thesis.
Sebastian Gmelin
PhD-fellow, Dipl. architecture/engineering
Department of architecture
e: sebastian.gmelin@aarch.dk
tectonic patterns
The project deals with developing new methods for
the architectural creation of form. Various formations
of pattern, as seen in nature, for instance,
are used as a starting point for establishing methods
for creating spatial structures.
With the help of 3D-modelling, a number of what
are known as ’scripts’ can be developed for use in
generating various spatial patterns. These could
include growth principles or more interactive
systems that are familiar in connection with flocks
of birds in flight. Furthermore, the ambition is to
develop generic methods that reflect some of the
mechanisms referred to in the theory of evolution.
There are various potential advantages in using a
working method of this type in the design process;
one of them is that a large number of parameters
can be simultaneously included in the creation
of form. Unexpected spatial and form-related
qualities can emerge during the course of development,
and it is possible to work with extensive,
form-related complexity at the same time as the
underlying geometry is controlled digitally.
niels Martin larsen
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architecture
e: niels.martin.larsen@aarch.dk

20 architectural design and aesthetics
21
frederik Petersen
the potential of
the architectonic drawing
The project takes its point of departure in a
critique of the architectonic drawing, which is
historically and culturally understood as a form of
representation that is read visually.
The research is design-based and uses the drawing
as a medium to examine itself. The method and
use of the drawing is reconsidered by constructing
a set of drawing tools whose purpose is to establish
a new view regarding which of the metric,
social and narrative elements of space can be
examined through the drawing process.
One of the objects of the research is to cross the
boundary between representation and realization
in drawing. In this connection, sympathetic
insight into the concept of space established in the
drawing process becomes pivotal – and thereby
the operationaliation of the abstract aspects of
the intimate and the erotic in a tangible medium,
controlled by the sense of touch, becomes an
essential focus.
frederik Petersen,
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architecture
e: frederik.petersen@aarch.dk
aesthetic quality in design
processes and artefacts
The project studies the design processes used
by various designers. The objective is to help to
conceptualise the designer’s working methods.
What influence do the designer’s world, social
environment and unspoken standards have? And
what does the interaction between designers mean
for their processes and methods?
The project will thus provide knowledge of how
and on which basis designers make choices that
influence the aesthetic quality of the final physical
product.
Mette Volf
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of Design
e: mette.volf@aarch.dk

22 tectonics and sustainaBility
23
terri Peters
the tectonic potential of concrete
– now and in the future
– an investigation of current
opportunities and Barriers
Concrete is the material most frequently used in
modern building today. Its constructional strength
and its weather resistance makes it an inexpensive
building material that is suitable for many types of
architectonic application. There has been criticism
of concrete buildings in recent years, however, to
the effect that they are characterised by repetitiveness
and fail to enter into a dialogue with the
locations they are built in, thus blurring local and
regional qualities. At the same time, it is a problem
that manufacturing concrete elements produces
large quantities of waste products.
With the focus on tectonics, I want to develop new
methods of casting individual concrete elements.
By this I mean methods through which the logic of
the materials and technologies used points to the
form produced. The methods must be sustainable
and use as little concrete as possible by utilising
the constructional and form-related potential of
concrete to the optimum and also by conserving
the resources and materials used to make formwork.
ole egholm Pedersen
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architecture
e: oleegholm.Pedersen@aarch.dk
strategies in sustainaBle Building
transformation - architectural
approaches for the adaptation
and energy efficient renovation of
housing Built after 1945
While new housing must meet environmental
performance criteria in the face of a global climate
crisis, these regulations do not apply in the same
way to renovations. Architects, legislators and users
are at odds as to what to do with the “problem”
of Modern housing. How do we decide how and
when to renovate to improve modern housing for
environmental sustainability?
The project seeks to develop a design methodol-
ogy to research the complex architectural issue of
adapting modern housing. It will involve research
into appropriate new technologies to enable
transformation, the use of innovative materials and
the use of other architectural strategies to create
a general view of the complex issue. The project
relates to a wider Nordic research collaboration
investigating other aspects of sustainability. The
aim is to develop an insightful, researched and
tested general view of the issue and disseminate
this new knowledge to contribute to research in
this area and benefit architectural practice.
terri Peters
PhD-fellow, Ba, Dipl. architecture
Department of architecture
e: terri.peters@aarch.dk

24 light
25
light and well-Being light’s space – the spatial
potential of the facade
How does light affect architecture and our body?
The thesis of the project is that light is not merely
a passive factor in our physical environment, a
quantity. Lighting is also a quality that affects our
well-being.
The project will provide a better understanding of
light as an active factor in architecture and create
a basis for working with perceived light. Through
case studies and research into design, the project
will study how light and well-being relate to each
other. By focusing on this dimension of light, the
project will investigate the design of sustainable
future lighting; lighting, that not only relates to
visual tasks, but to our general well-being. The
project will bridge the gap between daylight and
artificial light and integrate them into perceived
light without distinguishing between two incompatible
types of light, but by reconciling them where
they occur – namely in our perception.
carlo Volf
PhD fellow, Designer
Department of architecture
e: carlo.volf@aarch.dk
Can light influence the use of space, and can light
be processed so that it fosters a given type of
behaviour in the space? These are the questions
the project will attempt to illustrate.
The facade marks a transition between outdoors
and indoors, and the design of its elements, such
as windows, doors, bays or screens, determine
how light and shade are experienced indoors.
The purpose of the project is to develop elements
that deliberately influence and process light. The
role of the facade will not simply be that of a
screen between outdoors and indoors, but that of
a transitional zone in which light and shade are
varied and formed and actively influence the use
and experience of the indoor space.
Each architectonic element will be developed with
the point of departure in a number of specific
requirements on space and thereby on how light
encourages a given use of this space. These
requirements can be defined as different types of
functional condition, ambience or state.
louise Grønlund
PhD fellow, Ma (architecture)
Department of architecture
e: louise.Gronlund@aarch.dk

Since 1992 the aarhuS School of
architecture haS awarDeD
the followinG PhD DeGreeS
26 27
architectural design
artur Slupinski: Sol-slør – udvikling af undersøgelsesteknikker
til design af lysfiltrerende solcelleruder.
2009
Phil ayres: Adopting an Adaptive Architecture –
enlisting digital technologies for the acquisition of
local specificity over time. 2009
charlotte Bundgaard: Montagepositioner – en
undersøgelse af montagebegrebet i industrialiseret
arkitektur. 2007
nikolaj Knudsen: Arkitektonisk designproces og
produktmodellering – konceptdesign med systemorienteret
tilgang. 2007
Mark Dyson: Composition Decomposition: ICT +
Multidimensional Design. 2003
anders Gammelgaard nielsen: Materialeæstetik
– en undersøgelse af krydsfiners æstetiske potentialer.
2002
anja Margrethe Bache: Undersøgelse af en ny
betonteknologis arkitektoniske potentialer – vurderet
i forhold til holdbarhed, komfort og form. 2002
Michael lauring: Bolig og bebyggelse i bæredygtigt
perspektiv. 1999
architecture and aestetics
annette Svaneklink Jakobsen: Arkitektur i
“det offentlige billede”/Architecture in “the public
image”. 2009
niels nygaard: Arkitektonisk kvalitet. 2007
thomas r. hilberth: Prolegomena zu einer
Architektur der Sicherheit. 2007
louise Kjær christoffersen: Arkitektonisk
kvalitet. 2007
anne elisabeth toft: Arkitektur og fotografi – et
studium af forholdet mellem præsentation og
repræsentation. 2006
Marianne Krogh Jensen: Det refleksive rum.
2004
leif leer Sørensen: Edvard Heiberg og dansk
funktionalisme – en arkitekt og hans samtid. 2001
anders høyer toft: Huset uden egenskaber – en
undersøgelse af arkitekturen med parcelhuset som
spejl. 2001
Marianne ibler: Teorier om moderne manierisme.
2000
ann aloy Kilpatrick: Det stimulerende rum –
studier af arkitekturens rumlige virkning. 1999
claus Peder Pedersen: Arkitekturens dynamiske
formdannelser. 1999
andriette ahrenkiel Jørgensen: En gentegningspraxis
– fladernes kartografi. Licentiatgrad
1997
landscape and urBanism
Stefan Darlan Boris: Urban skov og landskabsinfrastruktur.
2010
anne tietjen: Towards an Urbanism of Entanglement
– site explorations in polarised Danish urban
landscapes. 2009
thomas Juel clemmensen: Vejnettet og det
urban-rurale landskab. 2008
Peter hemmersam: Fra shoppingcenter til by.
2008
rune christian Bach: Den grænseløse bys
landskaber. 2008
trine carstensen: Kvarteret i børnehøjde. Om
steder & strækninger i moderne børns hverdagsliv.
2005
nicolai Steinø: Vision, Plan and Reality – urban
design between conceptualization and realization.
2004
ellen Marie Braae: Konvertering af ruinøse
industrilandskaber. 2003
Jonna Majgaard Krarup: Vedrørende Landbrugs-Landskab-s-Æstetik.
2003
Shelly Smith: Beyond Big – an examination of
contemporary space. 2003
lotte Bjerregaard Jensen: Arkitektur & naturopfattelse
– belyst via studier af grænsen mellem ude
og inde. 2001
tom nielsen: Formløs – en undersøgelse og
diskussion af det urbane felt og dets overskudslandskaber.
2001
Bülent Diken: Strangers, Ambivalence and Social
Theory. 1997
Kristine Jensen: Om at tænke med landskab i
arkitektur – et studie. Licentiatgrad 1996
design
louise aagaard: Leg og lær aktiviteter til børn
med cochlear omplant – undersøgt gennem
computer-spillet, det interaktive gulv og digitale
lege objekter. 2010
Gunnar Kramp: Understøttelse af arbejdsprocesser
indenfor sundhedsområdet ved anvendelse af
Mixed-Media-Devices. 2008
andreas lykke-olesen: Space as Interface –
bridging the gap with cameras. 2007
Martin ludvigsen: Designing for Social Interaction.
2007
tobias løssing: Urbane spil. 2006
thomas leerberg: Embedded Spaces. 2004
lone Kobberholm Storgaard: Det multifunktionelle
køkken – en undersøgelse af og forsøg med
særlige brugerbehov.2000
anne Mette Sonnichsen: At designe brugerinterfacet:
Beskrivelse, undersøgelse og udvikling.
Licentiatgrad 1992
architectural heritage
rikke Stenbro: Bevaringsprocesser – perspektiver
på arkitektur i forandring. 2010
hanne Kirkegaard: Bykøkkenets arkitekturhistoriske
udvikling 1850-1950. 1999
inge Mette Kirkeby: Mødet mellem nyt og gammelt.
Licentiatgrad 1997

28
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