Tordis Berstrand
About
Tordis Berstrand is Associate Professor at the Department of Architecture and Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Design, NTNU. She has previously held positions and taught architectural theory, practice and aesthetics at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China, University of Kent, UK, and the University of Plymouth, UK.
Tordis graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, DK, and holds an MSc Architectural History from The Bartlett, UCL, UK, and a PhD in Architecture from the University of Kent, UK. Her doctoral thesis by text is entitled 'Splitting and Doubling: Spaces for Contemporary Living in Works by Gordon Matta-Clark, Kurt Schwitters and Gregor Schneider'.
Having worked in architectural practices in London, UK, Tordis also has a background as a sound artist and writer on electro-acoustic music. She has performed and taught with the artist Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester (Goodiepal) and currently explores performative research strategies with the collective CRAC - Crosscultural Research on Architecture in China.
Tordis publishes and presents her work in international journals and conferences. Her research is situated at the intersections of art, architecture and philosophical enquiry with particular interests in critical spatial practices within the domestic setting, Kurt Schwitter's Merzbau and Merz ecologies, and situated writing as epistemological practice in the design process.
Publications
2025
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Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Frasch, Heather;
Rasmussen, Mette;
Hamran, Ole Martin.
(2025)
FELLES | SCENE.
Exhibition
2024
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Baardsgaard, Anne Kristine;
Selvik, Amalie Marie;
Faurby, Carl Martin Rosenkilde;
Lundebrekke, Edith;
Viken, Annee Grøtte;
Espelien, Ingvild;
Samdal, Ina;
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Blix, Anna;
Schmidt, Franz Petter.
(2024)
ULL.
Exhibition
-
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Živanović, Zdravko;
Ballo, Eva Marie;
Skålnes, Inga.
(2024)
Felles/skap/skip - satelitt.
Exhibition
-
Sæther, Anne Marit;
Rødne, Gro;
Schmidt, August;
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Živanović, Zdravko;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine.
(2024)
TRAPPA, CIRKA TEATER, LUFT-PØLSER; EXPLODING PLASTIC AIR -DANCE.
Performing arts
2023
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Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gjertsen, Paul Andreas Grøntvedt;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Frasch, Heather;
Zivanovic, Zdravko.
(2023)
Felles/skap/park.
Exhibition
2022
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2022)
Inflecting the house: Upside down and ungrounded between walls, windows, mirrors and screens.
Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research
Academic article
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Berstrand, Tordis;
Djalali, Amir;
Dong, Yiping;
Han, Jiawen;
Hoskyns, Teresa;
Roslan, Siti Balkrish;
Wash, Glen;
Westermann, Claudia.
(2022)
Dialogue on a Paradise on Earth.
East Asian Journal of Philosophy
Academic article
2021
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2021)
The Art of Living in a Double House: Everyday Aesthetics in the Space between (East and West).
Academic chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2021)
Occupying Merzbau – the critic, her words and the work.
idea journal
Academic article
2019
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Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
Paper Architecture as a Site for Thinking, Writing and Spatial Agency.
Montreal Architectural Review
Academic article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
What is an artist’s studio if not a living room in a house?.
Academic chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
The Possibility of Teaching Chinese Students of Architecture to Write (a House).
KnE Social Sciences
Academic article
2018
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Berstrand, Tordis.
(2018)
La possibilité d’un espace-mur.
Non-fiction chapter
2016
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Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Jørn Utzon.
Encyclopedia chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Arne Jacobsen.
Encyclopedia chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint.
Encyclopedia chapter
2005
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Can you follow time from A to B?.
Bell Magazine
Professional article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Jonathan Hill: The Illegal Architect.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Selfridges og Architecture Foundation: En Alliance mellem Konsum og Kultur.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Fluid …in a State of Flux….
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis;
Donsted, Johanne.
(2005)
Samtidsarkitekten - The Compatible X.
Forlaget Multivers
Anthology
Journal publications
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2021)
Occupying Merzbau – the critic, her words and the work.
idea journal
Academic article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
Paper Architecture as a Site for Thinking, Writing and Spatial Agency.
Montreal Architectural Review
Academic article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
The Possibility of Teaching Chinese Students of Architecture to Write (a House).
KnE Social Sciences
Academic article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Can you follow time from A to B?.
Bell Magazine
Professional article
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2022)
Inflecting the house: Upside down and ungrounded between walls, windows, mirrors and screens.
Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research
Academic article
-
Berstrand, Tordis;
Djalali, Amir;
Dong, Yiping;
Han, Jiawen;
Hoskyns, Teresa;
Roslan, Siti Balkrish;
Wash, Glen;
Westermann, Claudia.
(2022)
Dialogue on a Paradise on Earth.
East Asian Journal of Philosophy
Academic article
Artistic productions
-
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gjertsen, Paul Andreas Grøntvedt;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Frasch, Heather;
Zivanovic, Zdravko.
(2023)
Felles/skap/park.
Exhibition
-
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Frasch, Heather;
Rasmussen, Mette;
Hamran, Ole Martin.
(2025)
FELLES | SCENE.
Exhibition
-
Baardsgaard, Anne Kristine;
Selvik, Amalie Marie;
Faurby, Carl Martin Rosenkilde;
Lundebrekke, Edith;
Viken, Annee Grøtte;
Espelien, Ingvild;
Samdal, Ina;
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Blix, Anna;
Schmidt, Franz Petter.
(2024)
ULL.
Exhibition
-
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Schmidt, August;
Gilberg, Arnstein Olav;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine;
Živanović, Zdravko;
Ballo, Eva Marie;
Skålnes, Inga.
(2024)
Felles/skap/skip - satelitt.
Exhibition
-
Sæther, Anne Marit;
Rødne, Gro;
Schmidt, August;
Berstrand, Tordis Henriette;
Raonic, Aleksandra;
Živanović, Zdravko;
Haarsaker, Nina Katrine.
(2024)
TRAPPA, CIRKA TEATER, LUFT-PØLSER; EXPLODING PLASTIC AIR -DANCE.
Performing arts
Books
-
Berstrand, Tordis;
Donsted, Johanne.
(2005)
Samtidsarkitekten - The Compatible X.
Forlaget Multivers
Anthology
Part of book/report
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2021)
The Art of Living in a Double House: Everyday Aesthetics in the Space between (East and West).
Academic chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2019)
What is an artist’s studio if not a living room in a house?.
Academic chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Jørn Utzon.
Encyclopedia chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Arne Jacobsen.
Encyclopedia chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Jonathan Hill: The Illegal Architect.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Selfridges og Architecture Foundation: En Alliance mellem Konsum og Kultur.
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2016)
Peder Vilhelm Jensen-Klint.
Encyclopedia chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2005)
Fluid …in a State of Flux….
Non-fiction chapter
-
Berstrand, Tordis.
(2018)
La possibilité d’un espace-mur.
Non-fiction chapter
Teaching
Courses
Outreach
2024
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LectureBerstrand, Tordis Henriette; Raonic, Aleksandra; Haarsaker, Nina Katrine. (2024) Weaving Ideas, Weaving Space. Friday Lecture
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Conference lectureDong, Yiping; Berstrand, Tordis Henriette. (2024) Resilient courtyards and gardens – Revisiting the Jiangnan dwellings from an eco-aesthetic perspective. 4th International Conference on Heritage of China 2024
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis Henriette. (2024) Circularity, community and full-scale construction: Architectural education as transformative practice. Architectural Lecture Series
2023
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis; Westermann, Claudia; Djalali, Amir; Hoskyns, Teresa; Wash, Glen. (2023) Architecture after the House: A Commitment to Sustainable Practice. Towards an Architectural Theory for Sustainability
2022
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2022) Temporalities of Architectural Work. 4th International Conference on Anticipation [Online]
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis; Djalali, Amir; Dong, Yiping; Han, Jiawen; Hoskyns, Teresa; Roslan, Siti Balkrish; Wash, Glen; Westermann, Claudia. (2022) Dialogue on a Paradise on Earth. 24 hours of Philosophy of the City [Online]
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis; Hoskyns, Teresa; Djalali, Amir; Dong, Yiping; Goffriller, Martin; Han, Jiawen; Roslan, Siti Balkish; Wash, Glen; Westermann, Claudia. (2022) The Nomadic Map. Nomadic Image 2022: The 7th Transdisciplinary Conference of Imaging at the Intersections of Art, Science and Culture [Online]
2021
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LectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2021) Aesthetics, epistemology and coexistence – thinking and making worlds with a view of things to come. Lecture
2020
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2020) The Art of Living in a Double House: Everyday Aesthetics in the Space between (East and West). Coordinates Conference VI: Art, Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Everyday Life [Online]
2019
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2019) What is an artist’s studio if not a living room in a house?. The 21st International Congress of Aesthetics – Possible Worlds of Contemporary Aesthetics: Aesthetics Between History, Geography and Media
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2019) The Possibility of Teaching Chinese Students of Architecture to Write (a House). Architecture Across Boundaries
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Contribution to radio or TV
2018
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LectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2018) Constructive alignment in small and large size classroom teaching. The 5th Research-led Learning and Teaching Training Program
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Contribution to radio or TV
2017
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2017) Bruno Taut’s Hyuga Villa in Atami, West of Japan / East of Europe [Panel Chair]. Bruno Taut’s Hyuga Villa in Atami, West of Japan / East of Europe
2016
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2016) Passe-partout, or five times around the living space. 5th Derrida Today Conference
2015
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2015) How Jacques Derrida provided a language for the architect. JD15 – Derrida and Architecture
2013
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LectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2013) Splitting and Doubling: Spaces of Contemporary Living in Works by Kurt Schwitters, Gordon Matta-Clark and Gregor Schneider. Lecture
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Contribution to radio or TV
2012
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2012) 'Merzbau' and the problem of dwelling. Curating Merz: Kurt Schwitters in England Research Symposium
2010
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2010) Inhabiting the Spatial Object: Negotiating Dwelling in Kurt Schwitter’s 'Merzbau'. Architectural Objects, Discussing Spatial Form across Art Histories
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Conference lectureBerstrand, Tordis. (2010) Accommodating Difference: Rethinking Identity through Inhabitation of the Un/Homely. IDENTITY and OTHERNESS, Dealing with Difference without Borders
2009
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Contribution to radio or TVBerstrand, Tordis; Vester, Parl Kristian Bjørn. (2009) Mort Aux Vaches Ekstra Extra. Workshop with Parl Kristian Bjørn Vester (Goodiepal) at Momentum - 5th Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, 29.08.2009-18.10.2009.
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Contribution to radio or TV
2005
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Lecture