Show of Wonders is a fictional novel.

The physical landscape is a patchwork of different physical and immaterial structures and networks built up through time, where nature and culture cooperate in processes of shaping the landscape. Since the first settlers in Sweden the grass meadow has taken a central part in the agricultural practices, but today little of this landscape remains. As the most biodiverse land type in Sweden, the loss of meadows states a threat to many endangered species. To maintain an agricultural landscape with high variation in land use, where biological values and cultural environments are maintained, the current landscape pattern and activities must be redesigned. This thesis takes it departure from the territory of Småland as a region defined by its long agricultural practises. The research aims to provide new learnings and insights from the agricultural landscape through historic and modern activities and patterns, to understand how ecological processes and human actions has influenced the landscape. Theories and methods supporting the research and design choices are Actor-Network Theory, landscape ecology and case studies from the agricultural landscape. Actor-Network Theory is used to prevent braking down a complex problem into static actors, but to instead recognise the links and connection the actors already make. In this case the main actors are agricultural tools and structures, landscape elements, landscape ecology, plants and animals. Through a set of design guides based on landscape design principles and the understanding of the rules actors follow in the landscape network, a new diverse landscape pattern can emerge, defined as a meadowscape. As architects we have the possibility to thorough understanding the rules and logic of historic and modern actors in the landscape, rethink their patterns and use them to create a new type of landscape that cater both ecological activity.

Metal artifacts from the pirate Blackbeard's flagship, Queen Anne's Revenge (1718), were studied and a preliminary assessment of the corrosion products that have formed on them is presented. Artifacts made of iron, lead, tin, copper, mercury, gold, and silver were recovered from the site with only those made of precious metals displaying no corrosion products. Detailed analysis was conducted of the surfaces of pewter artifacts, made from a tin-rich alloy, revealing corrosion products composed of romarchite (SnO), hydroromarchite (5SnO.2H2O), and abhurite (Sn3O(OH)2Cl2). For comparison, corroded pewter artifacts originating from five other archaeological sites submerged in seawater, dating to between ~1550 and 1733, were analyzed. All of these samples also exhibit abhurite, romarchite, and hydroromarchite, however, some of the artifacts also display cassiterite (SnO2). Textural analysis indicates that abhurite is the first alteration product to arise, followed by romarchite and hydroromarchite and, in some cases, ending with the formation of cassiterite. The absence of cassiterite on many samples demonstrates that, while appearing to be stable under the conditions that were present, the phase has not yet had time to form. Because of the very limited stability field for romarchite, its presence on these artifacts seems to be the result of a kinetic effect, while its universal appearance suggests that it is a required step in the oxidation of pure tin to the final most stable phase of cassiterite. Knowledge of the stability of pewter corrosion products and their effectiveness as agents of passivation can provide insight into the processes of tin corrosion. / Master of Science

This project report accounts for my final MFA project, Traces of Existence. This body of work began as an exploration, partially borne of the love of genealogical research translated into visual art by exploring the things my ancestors touched, be it ephemera, the soil they lived on, or artifacts they left behind, and partly as a pathway through which I could learn to understand more about my own identity, all the while finding beauty in the mundane. Although the works are personal, it is my hope that the viewer will respond to them in his/her own way, and that considering them will create an interest in the viewer to discover more about his/her own lineage. I believe we are all a part of a global family, and because of this familial connection, it is my hope that many viewers will have a dual response; one of appreciation for the aesthetic qualities of the work, and a sense of belonging.

This thesis presents a discursive and historical investigation of the origins and causes of the design review in architectural education. The design review, jury or ”crit” i s an integral and central part of the contemporary paradigm for architectural education – the design studio. The thesis discusses previous research on the design review, which paints a gloomy picture of the learning possibilities of the review. The historical roots of the review are studied with the Swedish context as a focus, showing that the review in its contemporary form was adopted concurrently with the design studio paradigm during the 1990’s. Furthermore, interviews were carried out with instructors at the School of Architecture at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Results from the interviews point to several contradictions and issues in the discourse about the review. Seeing the concept and faculty of judgment as central to understand the implicit definition of the architect, as manifested in the review and in the canon of the discipline, these findings are the discussed and contextualised. / I detta examensarbete görs en diskursiv och historisk undersökning av kritikgenomgången i arkitektutbildningen. Kritikgenomgången utgör en central komponent i det samtida paradigmet för arkitektutbildning – studion. Examensarbetet går igenom och diskuterar aktuell forskning om kritikgenomgången, vilket ger en nedslående bild av kritikgenomgångens pedagogiska potential. Vidare undersöks kritikgenomgångens historiska rötter med fokus på den svenska kontexten, vilket ger vid handen att kritikgenomgången i sin nuvarande form fick sin roll i svensk arkitektutbildning under 1990-talet, alltså samtidigt med studioparadigmets genomslag. Dessutom redovisas resultaten av en intervjustudie med lärare vid KTH Arkitekturskolan, vilka visar att diskursen om kritikgenomgången innehåller flera motsägelser och problem. Resultaten av undersökningarna diskuteras sedan utifrån en förståelse av omdömet som centralt begrepp och förmåga för att förstå den implicita definition av arkitekten som manifesteras i kritikgenomgången och i disciplinens kanon.

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I have in this project studied the area of personalized design as a way to create stronger bounds between artifacts and user. The way we relate to what we surround us with is important when we want to expose our personalities and tell who we really are. Today, in a world of mass-production, design and production seldom occurs at the same place. It feels like we are gliding away from the way we were connected to our things in the past. When we needed new cupboards for the kitchen, we went to the local carpenter and let him design and produce what we needed. The clothes were brought from travelling vendors, produced in the village or made by someone in your family, often with self-made yarn from the family farm’s sheep. We often had a connection to what we owned in another way than today. People knew exactly where their possessions came from, what material had been used and where that material had grown.I have within this project investigated how to create that personal connection to an artifact and adapt it to the contemporary. To achieve this I have looked into the different kinds of invisible information that our bodies contain. Information that is produced by numerous processes all the time, which we may not think about. I’ve been studying how people react when their inner processes are visualized through usage tests, exhibitions and finally interviews. The result is a concept I call Emotional Artifacts. The concept is describing how the idea of personalized fashion can be realized. A prototype has been built to show some of the possibilities with this kind of design that, with certain rules and ground sets, is generated by the user and later applied to different media.

Architecture exists through human experience. As the product of the relationship between a building and a person, architecture gains meaning when it is viewed and contemplated by an individual moving throughout a building. Architecture simultaneously engages the body and mind of one who experiences it, and its intentions become visible through a continuous weaving of motion through situations that constitute a place. My thesis examines the interplay between architecture and human action. Manifest in the following thesis are explorations of the institution of the museum. From its earliest forms to its present day forms, the museum has undergone many changes due to a number of influences. In this thesis I will look at the cultural dynamics that shape museums. Specifically, my critique will be through the lens of its cultural history, my own culturally based observations, and through a design: the demonstration. One objective of this thesis is to revive the idea of the museum as a place of the muses, where the muses inspire those people who experience the place. I have selected Charleston and its historic setting for the project location of a Museum. This is a place where one might participate in a journey of initiation, education, and cultivation. Through design, I demonstrate a museum, which aims to initiate and encourage self-cultivation by one's experience of the objects in the museum and the space that surrounds the objects. It is perhaps through a perusal of objects contained without authoritative concepts applied that one may acquire knowledge and become inspired. / Master of Architecture