An autonomous approach and a high degree of diversity characterise the Norwegian design research environment. New initiatives emerge from the individual academic and professional fields. That produces a strong environment but also requires efficient cooperation across institutional boundaries, says Petter Øyan, head of Norway’s Professional Council for Design Education, and Rachel K.B. Troye, pro-rector and head of the Institute of Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. 

By Trine Vu

Norway is a skier racing down the mountain slope with ease and grace. A knit woolen sweater with a red and blue pattern. The wooden Tripp Trapp chair that is found in so many families with young children.
Norwegians often take their own unique approach to things. That is also true of Norwegian design research, which is characterised by a high degree of autonomy and diversity, according to, among others, Petter Øyan, head of the Professional Council for Design Education.
The Professional Council for Design Education is a national council under the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions. It represents the state-run design education institutions and, among other purposes, facilitates their mutual cooperation.
“Norway has no national master plan for design research. On the contrary, there are many actors working on many different levels. It’s a fairly autonomous process with very little top-down management,” says Petter Øyan and adds with a smile that the decentralised structure may also reflect the fact that Norwegians are simply averse to top-down management.

Strong Norwegian design research environment. Petter Øyan, head of the Professional Council for Design Research in Norway, says that Norwegian design research is motivated by ambitions in the individual academic or professional environments, and that this helps create a strong design research environment. Photo: Olav-Johan Øye

A Strong Environment

Petter Øyan is also dean of the Faculty for Technology, Art and Design at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences. He explains that Norwegian design research is motivated by ambitions in the individual academic or professional environments, which is a great advantage.
“The individual schools have ownership of the design research and its focus. They are free to decide which research tasks and grants they want to take up, and that produces a great sense of pride in achieving good results and having an impact on development. It also helps build identity for the individual institution, and this is where the diversity comes in: The institution chooses and promotes its own identity, which differs slightly from the identity of other institutions – and that is a source of strength,” says Petter Øyan.

Three Pillars

The Norwegian design research environment rests on three pillars: University colleges, universities and art colleges. The schools offer their own unique design education programmes but cooperate, for example via the professional council, to distribute tasks and avoid redundancies such as identical master’s programmes.
In addition to state-run institutions such as the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology – Trondheim, the Bergen Academy of Art and Design and the Oslo National Academy of the Arts there are a number of private institutions.
Only the university in Trondheim and the Oslo School of Architecture and Design offer PhD programmes in design, but if students enrolled in other institutions wish to earn a PhD they can do so via the two schools.
“The schools pursue different angles in their design education programmes, and that gives prospective design students a real choice – like a painter’s palette,” Petter Øyan explains and mentions that the Bergen Academy of Art and Design for example has a unique scholarship programme with focus on artistic development work. Students are granted a three-year scholarship to undertake artistic work and are required to produce a work of art at the end of the three-year process. The degree of theory and reflection in the artistic process may vary, but the scholar acquires artistic competences as Research Fellows that are treated as equivalent to a PhD degree.

Two national councils contribute to the development of the design field: One is the Norwegian Design Council, which has a commercial focus and aims especially to help Norwegian companies increase innovation by means of design. Among other activities, the council runs the DIP programme – a design-driven innovation programme funded by the Norwegian government with the goal of promoting companies’ use of design. The other council, Norsk Form, focuses on communication and the exchange of design knowledge and user experiences with design.

More cooperation in the future. Cooperation is the keyword for the future design environment in Norway, says Rachel K.B. Troye, pro-rector and head of the Institute for Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Photo: Norsk Designråd

Current Challenges Require Many Types of Designers

The diversity and the collaborative spirit that characterise the Norwegian design environment are also viewed as key qualities by Rachel K.B. Troye, who is pro-rector and head of the Institute for Design at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.
“It is an ongoing debate whether the design field is too diverse. But I believe that the diversity is necessary, because society and the challenges we are currently facing require very different types of designers,” says Rachel Troye and mentions that in recent years, for example, there has been a growing demand for service and interaction design.
The diversity is, not least, evident at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. The school’s design research projects range from technology and business to culture and innovation. The development of design research here has been very strategic and involved both external and internal partners and a broad research agenda. The school places particular emphasis on accessibility in design and is now specialising in service and interaction design.

Design Helps Victims of Sexual Assault

As an example of the wide scope of the design profession, Rachel Troye mentions a diploma project: Designing for dignity, where two design students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design analysed the procedure in place for dealing with victims of sexual assault.
They spoke with police, healthcare professionals and rape crisis centres, documenting and visualising all the issues in the process. They examined the procedure from the victims’ point of view, and since police, healthcare professionals and crisis centre staff were all very interested in the new knowledge that was emerging about the issue, the students brought them together in a workshop where they identified the sore spots in the process and began to develop new design solutions.

A Blanket Secures Traces of DNA

“One of the sore spots was that when victims come into the clinic, they are asked to sit on a sheet of paper and to wear paper gloves. This is done to secure any traces of DNA, but it’s like being put on display with a sign around your neck saying ‘I was raped’,” says Rachel Troye and explains how the students instead developed a blanket that the victims can wrap around themselves, and which captures any traces of DNA.

The students developed three conceptual solutions. In addition to the more humane way of collecting DNA material this includes an integrated information system and a guide for creating a new centre for victims of sexual assault.

New Concept for the Offshore Industry

At the other end of the spectrum lies the project Ulstein Bridge Concept. Here, the Oslo School of Architecture and Design is working with the Ulstein Group, which builds large ships for the offshore industry, to develop a brand-new concept and new technology for the bridge of these ships.

“It is a mix of interaction design and product design, and it’s fascinating to see how such a big corporation perceives the value of involving designers in the development process,” says Rachel Troye and adds that although Norwegian design research remains a fairly young discipline, in her assessment the researchers’ results have reached a wide audience and are widely recognised.

Even More Cooperation

The broad scope of the design profession also marks one of the main challenges in the field of design right now, says Rachel Troye. This concerns both the degree of cooperation among design researchers and the quality of the design field.
“Among other things, we are aware of the need to safeguard the aspects of form and aesthetics, because they are so crucial to the design discipline,” she says.
The key word for the future design environment in Norway according to Rachel Troye is even more cooperation. Even if Norwegian design research and the design education programmes have a long-standing tradition for cooperating with business and industry, and even though the Professional Council is coordinating the efforts of the individual programmes, cooperation could be strengthened further. Also on the political level.
“The big issue, of course, is what will provide Norway’s livelihood once the oil runs out. But even though the politicians also talk about the need for Norway to develop a more innovative edge, I see us falling behind countries such as Denmark, for example, in terms of political support for the field of design. I would like to see a greater willingness to invest. After all, we’re a small country, so we really need to pull together - politicians, business and industry, education and research,” says Rachel Troye.

The Councils in Norway The Professional Council for Design Education is a national council under the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions. The members of the Professional Council represent the state-run design education institutions, including Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Oslo National Academy of the Arts and the Bergen Academy of Art and Design. In addition, it has representatives from the National Union of Students in Norway and observers from the Norwegian Design Council, Norsk Form and other organisations. The Council has approximately 20 members. One of its responsibilities is to provide a form of oversight of research publication channels. In Norway, research publications are categorised as either Level 1 or Level 2. The Council reviews the journals, raising the best of them to Level 2 and removing sub-par journals from the system. Another of the Council’s responsibilities is to coordinate grading in the educational programmes and facilitate cooperation among the many actors in the design field.  The Norwegian Design Council seeks to promote the use of design as a strategic tool for innovation in order to improve competitiveness in Norwegian business and industry. The Design Council is funded by the Norwegian government, and one of its initiatives is the so-called DIP-programme – a design-driven innovation programme aimed at encouraging companies to use design. The Design Council also runs the programme Design for All, which offers inspiration and advice about developing products and services that are accessible to all users. Read more at www.norskdesign.no  Norsk Form, The Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway, is working actively to improve people's quality of life and everyday situation through the use of design and architecture. The foundation achieves this by initiating and participating in chosen projects and through teaching, events, competitions and exhibitions. Read more at www.norskform.no Oslo School of Architecture and Design presents its design research. Bergen Academy of Art and Design presents the Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowship Programme.

Mind Design #51, 2012