People at BAS

Dr. Alberto Altés is an architect and researcher. He studied architecture and urban planning in Valladolid, Barcelona and Delft, and critical theory at the Independent Studies Program in Barcelona (MACBA). He is finishing a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Department of Architecture at TU Delft, where he is exploring the notions of fragility, affinity and care, and the power of choreography, dance and love, to inform a sensitive and responsible approach to ‘worlding’ practices and pedagogy. He has been a guest lecturer at Konstfack - The University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm (Sweden) and at the Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies in Tromsø (Norway). From 2011 to 2017 he was assistant professor at Umeå School of Architecture, where he co-founded and co-directed the Laboratory of Immediate Architectural Intervention, exploring and making architecture as a relational practice that unfolds in the making of the world in/through ‘intraventions’; and from 2006 to 2011 he taught at the ETSAV School of Architecture in Sant Cugat (Barcelona).

In his PhD dissertation ‘Delaying the Image: Towards an Aesthetics of Encounter’, he approaches film as a form that thinks and as an apparatus of spatial critique, exploring ‘the encounter’ as a slow, caring and open form of practice, and rehearses various experimental research modalities, combining philosophical inquiry with practice-based research and critical/ creative writing.

He has taught courses in architeture theory, architectural design and construction, and architectural graphic expression and has a particular interest in non-normative and critical modes of pedagogy that aim to enable inclusive collective learning. He has coedited ‘Intravention, Durations, Effects: Notes of Expansive Sites and Relational Architectures’ (2013, Spurbuch Verlag) and ‘The Power of Experiment’ (2016, Arteria and the Lisbon Architecture Triennale). His latest publications are book chapters in ‘The Constituent Museum’ (2018, Valiz, Amsterdam), ‘Rethinking the Social in Architecture’ and ‘After Effects: Theories and
Methodologies in Architectural Research’, (2019, Actar, Barcelona). He is also co-founder and partner of LandLab Arkitektur AB, a transversal practice built
around forms of care and situatedness. /

...

Charlotte Erckrath's fieldof interest is the investigation of design methodologies through critical drawing practice and material exploration. In her personal research she is looking at the emergence of poetics in conceptual ambiguities. Besides she is fascinated with fenlands.

Charlotte graduated at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London in 2007, where she also completed a Master in Advanced Architectural Studies in 2009. From 2010 she has been involved in teaching architectural design running a first year studio and supervising master projects at ALICE/ EPFL Lausanne. Charlotte has taught her own Bachelor design studio in collaboration with Frederik Petersen at the School of Architecture - University of Brighton in 2015/16. She has led the drawing course at the Department IEX at the Technical University of Braunschweig in 2017. Since 2018 she works as Associate Professor (DAV) at the Bergen School of Architecture.

Charlotte is a co-founder of Black Horses - Association for Speculative Architecture, with a project space in Halle, Germany.

Christof Mayer (* 1967) studied architecture in Berlin and London. He graduated 1998 at the Technical University of Berlin. In 1999 together with Andrea Hofmann, Jan Liesegang and Markus Bader he founded the architecure collective raumlaborberlin. In 2000 he became member at the Chamber of Architects Berlin and started Büro für Architektur und Städtebau. Christof Mayer has been teaching at the Berlin Weissensee School of Art, the Bauhaus Dessau,  the Bergen Architecture School and the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Basel.  2014 he hold a residency at the Monash University in Melbourne.

B.Arch.Sci, M.Arch, MNAL

Cristian Ștefănescu (Bergen, NO) received his Bachelor of Architectural Science from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Following several years of architectural practice, he went on to receive his master's degree in architecture from the Bergen School of Architecture, with an exchange at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

He teaches and coordinates the 3rd year urban studies studio, which engages the city through architectural and artistic practice. He has previously taught in the master program and been an assistant teacher in the complex building 3rd year studio.

His architectural practice a-works engages with architecture and art projects of a mainly civic nature, exploring themes of space, memory, precision, making, clarity, beauty and the everyday.

Espen Folgerø received his master in Architecture from Bergen School of Architecture in 2007. He has worked as an architect at 3RW Architects before co-founding OPA FORM Architects in 2012 together with Marina Bauer. He has been the principal teacher on various courses at BAS since 2009 on all levels from first grade to master, amongst them several design/build workshops. He is currently responsible for the 2^nd grade curriculum at BAS. Espen Folgerø represents the APP teaching staff at BAS in the board of the school. I addition to practicing and teaching architecture, Espen Folgerø is involved in the production of prefabricated wooden building elements through the companies Ei Løe AS (owner and board member) and Elementfabrikken AS (owner and board member).

BIO:

Espen Vatn studied architecture at The Cooper Union in New York and established his practice in 2014. In parallel to the office, he has taught at several academic institutions. He was recently Visiting Assistant Professor at Hong Kong University, Associate Professor at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, in the spring of 2016 he was Visiting Professor at Universidad de Navarra, and in the Summer/Fall of 2017 he lead a studio at Monash University in Melbourne and he was appointed the Herbert H. Greenwald Visiting Critic at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

The work of the studio spans many scales and formats while aiming to maintain a consistent output, from large housing developments to cultural buildings, exhibitions, and small-scale housing and interiors. Espen Vatn also conducts artistic research, investigating spaces of production, social concerns, and questions of authorship. These projects have resulted in speculative models, publications, and exhibitions, such as Civic Theater presented at the Lisbon Triennale 2019, and In Hannes Meyers Pocket, which was presented at Venice Biennale 2014.

Espen Vatn has lectured about the work of the studio at Cooper Union, Columbia University, Hong Kong University, FAU-USP in Sao Paulo, University of Illinois at Chicago, Universidad de Navarra, and the Architectural Association Visiting School.

Most of my artistic work is situational. I work mostly with light, - light touching, form and space. This has resulted in a number of «light installations» interior and exterior. I work mainly with site based ideas; content and character. 
Materials are chosen according to the idea and in relation to the site.My choice of materials is unlimited;anything from traditional materials to building- or natural materials.
The light can be natural or a variety of artificial light.
The situations can be either small or large but always with one or another form of energy.My main focus is on relativity of space/form/light with a versatility.
Light and space relativity is common to all my works.
I am fascinated by light, yet not necessarily limited to the colour white whenever the situation requires something else.

Photo Credit: Luminate Photography

Héctor has a background training in Architecture from both Venezuela and Norway (Master of Architecture - BAS 2009). He has ever since worked as an architectural educator, architect, urban designer and urban planner, and has also collaborated in several visual art projects. Since 2017 he is a staff member of the Bergen Section of Planning, Research and Landscape Architecture in Multiconsult Norge, where he also functions as a trans-disciplinary project/process manager for feasibility studies and zoning/regulation for commissioners from the public and private sector. Héctor has also been a board member of the Bergen Architects Association (2016-2018), Europan Norge (2011-) and senior adviser at Botanical City.

I hold a PhD in Plant Ecology from the Department of Biology, University of Bergen (2009). I currently work at the Department of Biological Sciences and in 2017 I was appointed UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Heritage and Environmental Management - Nature and Culture.

My research focuses on the dynamics in coupled human and natural systems, including sustainable development, natural resource management, agro-biodiversity, sustainable land use, ecosystem services, agroecology, and food security. I work with colleagues across the social and natural sciences to elucidate links between anthropogenic activities and the environment, in Europe, as well as in Asia, North-America and Africa. I seek to gain multifaceted knowledge within ecology and associated disciplines to investigate social-ecological complexities. In addition to a PhD in ecology I have completed a minor in Social Anthropology, and the cross-disciplinary courses Ecology and Development and Resource Management and Environmental Conservation.

As the UNESCO Chair at UiB, I'm currently working on the establishment of Norway's first Biosphere Area - Nordhordland Biosphere Area - under UNESCO's Man and The Biosphere-programme.

I work mostly in cross-disciplinary projects, and have taken part in several collaborative multidisciplinary research and education activities:

• Scientific coordinator for the Nile Basin Research Programme 2009 (www.nile.uib.no) - working group on Biodiversity and Land Use Change, Uni Research.
• Scientific coordinator of Bergen Summer Research School 2013 (www.uib.no/rs/bsrs) – organizing PhD courses on Food as a Global Development Challenge for 70 students, UiB Global.
• Lecturer and supervisor on the NOMA (NOrad MAster) Programme 2010-2014, Regional Master Program in Biodiversity and Environmental Management, lectured three cohorts and supervised 6 Master students.
• Member of the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) (2015 - p.d.)
• UNESCO Chair on Sustainable Heritage and Environmental Management - Nature and Culture, appointed by UNESCO 1st Feb 2017

Dr. Nancy Couling is a New Zealand architect who recently completed a Marie Curie Post-Doc Fellowship at the TU Delft with the research project OceanUrb- the unseen spaces of extended urbanisation in the North Sea. Her special field of interest is the entanglement of urbanisation processes with liquid spaces and she is part of the research group “Territories of Extended Urbanisation” led by Christian Schmid & Milica Topalovic, Future Cities Laboratory 2, ETH Singapore.

Based in Switzerland where she completed her PhD (2015), she previously taught and practiced in Auckland, NZ, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Venice & Berlin where she co-founded & -directed the practice cet-0/cet-01 until 2010. She co-edited the prize-winning Barents Lessons- Teaching & Research in Architecture (2012) with Harry Gugger, Aurélie Blanchard & Ludovic Balland Typography Cabinet Basel, and The Urbanisation of the Sea (forthcoming 2020) with Carola Hein, and continues to exhibit, publish and lecture internationally.

Short Biography

Pavlina Lucas (b.1970, Cyprus) studied architecture at Harvard University Graduate School of Design (M.Arch 2000) after studies in (photo)journalism and art history at Boston University. In 2014 she completed the practice-based PhD project "The Photographic Absolute: An Architectural Beginning" at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. 

Lucas worked as project architect at Atelier Peter Zumthor for a number of years. She moved to Oslo in 2008. Her practice is driven by a hands-on approach. Phenomenology and Mutualism are the cornerstones of her work. She uses writing, photography and performance art as re-search tools. She has taught at various schools, including the Accademia di Architettura in Mendrisio, Aarhus School of Architecture, Oslo School of Architecture, and Tromsø Academy of Landscape and Territorial Studies. In 2019 she joined BAS, where she teaches in master studios and tutors diploma projects.

Per finished his diploma in 1992 at BAS. Prior to this, he was educated as a teacher. These two professions have confluenced and reciprocated throughout his career; as a teacher at various levels, as associated professor of Architecture and Design at the University of Stavanger and finally as co-owner of Arkitektkontoret Schjelderup & Gram as (www.sgram.no). The studio is responsible for a number of projects ranging from small scale transformations to major cultural heritage restorations of national significance. Regardless of the type of project, focus will be on embodied knowledge, situated experience and the hybrid relation between man and built environment, between individual and community and between past, present and future.

(Tønsberg, NO). Born i 1976. Graduated from Bergen School of Architecture(BAS) in 2002. The diploma thesis UBO02(Sondresen/Ruud) was exhibited at Norsk Form in 2003, and published in The Norwegian Architectural Review the same year. Teacher and Diploma supervisor at BAS from 2002. Guest teacher and appointed examiner at NTNU(Trondheim) 2008-2014. Worked as Chief Architect in the Norwegian State Housing Bank, Hammerfest region, 2004-2005. Architect at Ola Roald Architecture 2005-2010. Founded his own practice ARK-TELLUS in 2011 with Eivind Hanch-Hansen. Has written several articles and lectured on the topic of architecture and pedagogy i Norway, Denmark and Finland. Experiance as performing arcitect for large and small projects in all phases.

Tom Chamberlain graduated from the painting school at the Royal College of Art in London in 1999. Recent group exhibitions include at the Drawing Room in London, Jhaveri Contemporary in Mumbai, Staatliche Museeen zu Berlin, MONA in Hobart , and Plan B in Cluj, Romania. He has had numerous solo exhibitions in London, Los Angeles and Berlin, where he is represented by Aurel Scheibler Gallery. His work is held in several public collections including the Kupferstichkabinett and MONA, and numerous international private collections. He has been a visiting tutor at the Royal Academy of Art in London, Escuela Nacional de Pintura in Mexico City, and various UK art schools including Arts University Bournemouth where he was Senior Lecturer. He was a sensor for BAS from 2010 until 2017.

Tord Bakke has an education (M.Phil) in social anthropology from the University of Bergen (2001), where he also has worked as a lecturer. He has teaching experiences from different higher education institutions and more than 15 years of experience from working as an urban planner. Tord has a broad expertise from planning in all levels, from comprehensive regional plans to detailed zoning plans, with a core competence in large scale feasibility studies and environmental- and social impact analysis. As a trained anthropologist he has had a strong focus on social development and sustainability in all his projects. As a side competence he has worked extensively with issues of maintaining cultural heritage - including fieldwork and registrations for the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage. Tord has lectured at BAS since 2000.

Vibeke Jensen (Berlin, DE/ Trondheim, NO) received her Master in Architecture from NTH Trondheim (NTNU), with exchange to AHO. She did 3 years of graduate studies at the Architectural Association in London and received her AA Graduate Design Diploma in 1992. Between 1992 and 2015 Jensen was based in New York practicing as an international artist in Belgium, Norway, NY, Beijing, Shanghai, Bogota, Trieste, Salzburg and Mexico City, with exhibitions in museums and galleries, projects and commissions in public space, and artist residencies. Her work is situated within a Critical Spatial Practice. She has taught master courses and workshops at BAS, AHO, NTNU, KHIB, Oslo Architecture Triennale, and presented her work at international schools and conferences (Universität für angewandte Kunst, Wien; Scandinavia House, New York; Zurich University of the Arts; Metropolis Laboratorium, Copenhagen). She is currently guest professor at Bergen School of Architecture where she tutors diploma students and engages in Master Courses.