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AHO WORKS StudieS 2011-2012
Institute of Urbanism and Landscape
Legacy, Opportunity, Responsibility
city. More or less since the Enlightenment, a
hard-engineering approach conventionally
dominated the way in which cities and munic-
ipalities dealt with water. Today, however, is
marked by a paradigmatic shift from a hard-en-
gineering directed urbanism to a soft-engineer-
ing steered water urbanism.
There is clearly legacy embedded in the entire
notion of water urbanism, since ancient civilisa-
tions had ingenious methods of water resource
management, often simultaneously addressing
pragmatism, urbanism and symbolism. Inno-
vative hydrological engineering, an under-
standing of topography and seasonal weather
patterns had profound implications for the
form, growth and vitality of human settle-
ments. There is incredible opportunity and
invaluable lessons for today in the world’s rich
and varied legacy of ingenious indigenous wa-
ter management methods. More challenging
is the conception of responsibility in terms of
urbanism and landscape in the contemporary
era, particularly when operating from such a
water, mineral and oil-rich privileged country
as Norway. Should clean water, simply because
it is so plentiful, be available without limits
for watering gardens, washing cars or flushing
toilets? Should minerals be continuously ex-
ploited merely because they are so abundant?
Norway is doubling the carbon tax on its North
Sea oil (Nkr410 per tonne of CO2) and fishing
industries (Nkr50 per tonne of CO2) in addi-
tion to setting up a massive fund to help com-
bat the damaging impacts of climate change
in the developing world, including money for
programs in deforestation, renewable energy,
food security and conversion to low-carbon
energy sources [
The Guardian
2012]. This is
clearly a step in the right direction, but is it
enough? And does it legitimise the voluntary
self-colonisation of the territory that Norway is
organising at great speed and on a massive scale?
Sound policy or compulsory behaviour? Does
presence in itself of abundant natural resources
necessarily imply the necessity of their massive
exploitation?
One of the questions that preoccupies us is
how design researchers in the rapidly trans-
forming northern territories can make a dif-
ference and take responsibility for a future
that we consciously want? Norway has quite
some means. The Institute of Urbanism and
Landscape can provide visions and strategies.
There is legacy. There is opportunity and more
importantly, there is challenge and there is re-
sponsibility.
Finally, as designers we need to heed the
words of the political scientist and anthropolo-
gist, James C. Scott and not loose sight of
metis,
from the Greek for deep knowledge or a thor-
ough understanding of practical knowledge.
Scott argues that metis is being systematically
destroyed:
It would be a serious error to believe that
the destruction of metis was merely the in-
advertent and necessary by-product of eco-
nomic progress. The destruction of metis
