Anniversary Conference for Christian Norberg-Schulz

CNS conference poster and info

Drawing of person walking in the woods. Yellow pencil on blue paper.

 

Anniversary Conference for
Christian Norberg-Schulz (1926-2000)

 

What:

A conference where friends of Christian Norberg-Schulz, thinkers of place and outstanding practicing architects from Europe, Asia and South Africa come together to discuss the most central questions of the architectural profession.

 

When and where:

Thursday 27th of August 2026 at Øysteinsalen, Erkebispegården

Friday 28th of August 2026 at Teigen Kulturhus, Klæbu

 

Register for the conference here.

 

 

What is architectural quality?

What is architectural quality?

 

Our way of understanding the world is manifested in what we shape and create. For a child, the small sun in the sky is a given, but for a scientist, the sun is large; it makes up around 99.8 percent of all the mass in our solar system. Which of these ways of viewing the world must come first – indeed, which is most essential if we are to take care of both nature and historical buildings, and give shape to new places and houses?

 

Architect and professor Christian Norberg-Schulz's (1926–2000) architectural theoretical writings spanned nearly fifty years. In his desire to support the modern movement in architecture, he developed a way of thinking of place in which natural experience is given importance. Norberg-Schulz's thinking of place is founded in a critique of the division that has taken place within modernity, between nature and culture, aesthetics and ethics, measurable and immeasurable – a division that today manifests itself in instrumentally planned buildings on the one hand, and a retrospective, historicizing approach to design on the other.

 

Today, it is interesting to see how Norberg-Schulz's way of thinking resonates in an Eastern culture, while at the same time he is often criticized here in the West – perhaps because he can be said to be a counter-voice to the prevailing way of thinking of our time. In what way can Norberg-Schulz still be a companion in architectural education? Can his thinking point the way to a deeper understanding of the significance of place, and of architectural quality? And if so, what can this mean for architectural practice and policy.

 

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Christian Norberg-Schulz's birth on 23 May 1926, we will mark, celebrate and discuss his architectural contributions. We have invited friends, philosophers and thinkers of place, and outstanding practicing architects from Europe, Asia and South Africa to a two-day event hosted by NTNU in Trondheim. The contributors either have a relationship with Norberg-Schulz's teaching and writing, or they are architects who, rather than putting their own power of action first, have a listening attitude to what is given on site.

 

About the seminar

About the seminar

 

REGISTRATION: Registration via HOOPLA 
NB: Registration is binding, no refunds

PARTICIPATION FEE: See price information on Hoopla. Reduced price for seniors and if you are newly graduated/on temporary layoff/unemployed. The fee also includes lunch, coffee and a bite in the breaks.
FREE FOR STUDENTS.

LANGUAGE: The conference will be held in english

ORGANIZER: NTNU Faculty of Architecture and Design in collaboration with AHO School of Architecture and Design in Oslo

PROGRAM COMMITTEE: Gro Lauvland, Geir Brendeland, Olav Kristoffersen, Fredrik Lund, Beate Hølmebakk og Bendik Manum

CONTACT: If you have any questions, please send an email to emily.h.sjogren@ntnu.no

 

Program Thursday, 27th of August

Program Thursday, 27th of August

 

08:45-09:15: REGISTRATION

09:15-09:30: Welcome by Sarah Brinch (Dean at faculty for design and architecture at NTNU) and Daniel Johansen (Head of Department of Architecture and Technology and art historian)


Friendship: Christian Norberg-Schulz – friend, architect, place thinker, author and professor

09:30-10:00: Raf de Saeger (Professor University of Leuven) in conversation with Serban Tiganas (Dean at the School of Architecture in Cluj, Romania): “Genius Loci: discovering the secret of our everyday life-world”


Thinking of place: Building a bridge between theory and practice

10:00-10:20: Anniken Greve (Philosopher/Professor UiT): “Architecture and Nature. Learning from Aristotle”

10:20-10:40: Margaux Loubser (PhD fellow, University of the Free State): “Becoming friends”

10:40-10:50: Comments and questions led by Gro Lauvland (Associate Professor NTNU)

10:50-11:00: COFFEE/TEA


Reading: What relevance can Norberg-Schulz's thinking of place have for the practice of younger architects today?

11:00-11:10: Between earth and sky. A book about places and houses (1978) read by Henrik Skovli (Studio 10000 AS) 

11:10-11:20: Comments and questions led by Olav Kristoffersen (Professor NTNU)

11:20-11:30: Genius Loci. Towards a phenomenology of architecture (1980) read by Tai Grung

11:30-11:40: Comments and questions led by Hendrik Auret (Professor, University of the Free State)

11:40-11:50: Minnesjord (1991) read by Mats Heggernæs and Håkon Vetlesen (Studio Et al.) 

11:50-12:00: Comments and questions led by Anniken Greve (Philosopher/Professor UiT)

12:00-12:45: LUNCH


Architectural practice: What is architectural quality?

12:45-13:30: Gion A. Caminada (Architect/Professor ETH): “On the path to building” (Title to be determined)

13:30-13:40: Comments and questions led by Bodil Reinhardsen (Reinhardsen Architects AS)

13:40-13:50: COFFEE/TEA

13:50-14:20: Philip Christou (Architect/Artist/Professor): “Finding the Spirit of Place in the Site”

14:20-14:30: Comments and questions led by Wilfried Wang 

14:30-14:50: Wilfried Wang (Professor, President of the International Committee of Architectural Critics): “Architectural quality”

 

Teaching in architecture/communication: Place, architecture, nature – what are our ambitions?

14:50-15:20: Hendrik Auret (Professor, University of the Free State): “Making-with Minnesjord”

15:20-15:30: CAKE/FRUIT

15:30-15:50: Beate Hølmebakk (Manthey Kula/Professor AHO): “Into Place”

15:50-16:15: Mio Tsuneyama: "Habitability Through Weak Forces”

16:15-16:40: Nori Kawashima (Nori Architects/Professor NTNU): “Towards a Delightful Architecture with Nature” 

16:40-16:50: Comments and questions led by Olav Kristoffersen and Bendik Manum

16:50-16:55: Summary/closing by Alex Booker

17:00-17:20: Access to Nidaros Cathedral

Program day 2

Program  Friday 28th of August

 

10:00: DEPARTURE – bus to Teigen community center near Selbusjøen

11:15-11:45: Tour of Brendeland & Kristoffersen architects AS.
Geir Brendeland and Olav Kristoffersen will talk about the place and the project, and about Norberg-Schulz's importance for their own architectural practice

11:45-12:00: Tor Inge Hjemdal v/ DOGA on Norwegian architectural policy

12:00-13:30: LUNCH – and conversations about the legacy of Christian Norberg-Schulz. Talk by Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz (Professor UiS)

13:30-14:00: TO BE ANNOUNCED

14:00: RETURN – bus to Trondheim city centre