URBAN ECOLOGIES

Urban Ecologies is a design studio in Landscape Architecture. Urban Ecologies will explore the relation between the urban Tromsø and the ecology of the Tromsø Island, departing from the island’s climate, geology and ecological systems. Green infrastructure, mobility and conditions for the establishment of urban biotopes in Tromsø’s inner city will be investigated by means of design experiments. A dedicated section of the course will concentrate on hydrology and water management, following the emergence of new problematics related to floods at Subarctic latitudes as a consequence of climate change. A special focus will be laid on climate, too, bringing into question snow drifts, wind directions, wind sheltered spaces and sun exposure. The meeting between city and nature will be also questioned on a more conceptual level: the existing green core of the Tromsø island – the Tromsø Commons – is today one of Tromsø's largest and most used public spaces. This existing condition will offer the opportunity to explore the implications of rethinking the Tromsø Commons in terms of an urban park – a park designed at a Subarctic latitude and within the local culture's unique idea of urban nature. This reflection will further expand on other urban spaces and biotopes, and the exact sites depend also on the students' choices.