Diploma

The diploma semester (18 weeks) is an architectural study on a theme chosen by the candidate. Program for the diploma has been prepared by the student in the pre-diploma course (6 credits).

Each student has one main appointed supervisor from AHO´s academic staff. In addition, the student can make use of the entire academic staff at AHO, and have the possibility to consult special expertise from outside of AHO, which is supported by the school by a limited amount.

Nicholas Coates

Erik Langdalen is a practicing architect and a professor of architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design. 

 is an award-winning office specialized on the preservation and transformation of historic buildings, including the Eero Saarinen designed US Embassy in Oslo (2023), the Magnus Poulsson designed Dombås Church (2023), and the soon to be opened Karl Norum-designed Posten Moderne Museum of Contemporary Art in Trondheim, as well as a number of heritage sites across Norway. His teaching and research focus on the recent past, specializing on concrete architecture, buildings systems and components. Erik is in charge of the Re-Store course portfolio, investigating how architectural education needs to respond to the climate crises through the reuse, preservation and transformation of what is already built. Since 2021, his teaching has engaged the concept of provenance in a number of master studios and seminars. His books include 

Sverre Fehn, Nordic Pavilion, Venice. Voices from the Archive

 (2021). He is the owner of the cultural center 

. Erik holds a Diploma of Architecture from AHO and a M.ARCH AAD from Columbia University GSAPP.

Erik Fenstad Langdalen

Diploma fall 2023

Coastal Memories

Coastal Memories delves into overlooked historical landmarks, centered around the intricate play between the past and future of Træna lighthouse. Conceived as a monument of the past, the diploma endeavors to preserve the structure by repurposing it to future dissemination.

Oslo's Urban Canvas

Oslo municipality own 198 abandoned buildings, adding up to 140 000 square meters, spread across the city. The majority of the buildings have been abandoned for a number of years, and have an uncertain future.
This project establishes a framework for the revitalization of abandoned buildings owned by Oslo municipality, focusing on the strategic transformation from temporary activations to permanent community developments, grounded in the urgent need for sustainable urban regeneration.


The research delves into understanding the characteristics and inherent possibilities of these buildings, shifting the narrative from obsolescence to opportunity. The project´s foundation lies in the hypothesis that temporary, community-focused interventions can act as catalysts, sparking a transition towards long-term, sustainable redevelopment that resonates with the social, cultural and environmental need of the city.


The methodology adopted is multi-scaled and dynamic, beginning with a city-wide analysis of the abandoned buildings, followed by a focused exploration at neighborhood and individual building levels, and then choosing three buildings as case studies to test out the different strategies. The research on all of the buildings is compiled into a book incorporated in ”binder 2”. A key aspect of the project is the ”temporary-to-permanent” strategy. This involves initiating with low-cost, flexible temporary uses for the abandoned buildings, such as pop-up cultural events or community workshops. These temporary interventions serve as platforms for testing ideas, engaging the community and assessing viability, paving the way for more permanent, substantial redevelopment plans. The approach underscores the importance of flexibility and responsiveness, allowing the project to evolve organically based on real-time feedback and changing urban dynamics.

Landing at Lista

The Hidden Plastic Age

The Hidden Plastic Age – External Thermal Insulation Composite System In their course description from fall 2020 Studio Anne Holtrop at ETH Zürich states that “the first plastic age in architec-ture ended with the oil crisis in 1973.” From the 1950s on, synthetic plastic significantly influenced the field of architecture. The versatility, lightweight, and malleability of plastics opened new possibilities for architects.1 I argue that – at least in Germany – the plastic age in architecture did not end with the 1973 oil crisis but became a hidden building standard.

Schools Out: Adaptive Reuse of Flø Skule

My diploma project deals with the typology of the rural school, which has been left behind in the dust of societal development. A once important typology, developed and erected with the Norwegian people in mind, now lies dead as they either grew outdated because of their limiting size, or as the pupils were shipped to larger and more central schools.


In my diploma project I’m using the former primary school of Flø skule as a case study for what these former school buildings can be.


The overall question for my research is “Where lies the key to reuse a former school building?”. There might not be an definitive answer to this question, and the answer varies from case to case. In the case of Flø skule, I’m researching into how the nature of Flø can be a part of adapting and reusing the school building.


Flø is known for both it’s bouldering and surfing possibilities, as large boulders scat-ters the pasturefields of Ytreflø, and the raw, unshielded coast towards the west makes for strong winds and big waves. At the same time, Flø skule offers something unique to Flø as a settlement, as it is a village emptied of any public resources in the form of low effort activities.


From my point of view, the building typology of the rural school offers qualities within the building that one can’t easily find in other buildings, and these qualities should be mixed with the qualities if its context.

Facade Autonomy: a study of the 80s facades at Aker Brygge

A central effect of global capitalism is the pressure for change. Urban patterns and building programs are increasingly becoming redundant, demanding change to accommodate new functions, identities and economies. When urban areas are being refurbished, so are also the additional facades. With ambitious environmental goals, existing buildings are re-clad with new, efficient facade sys-tems, resulting in the disposal of old materials as waste. However, in the context of climate change, this waste poses a significant burden on the planet.

Rather than attempting to build our way out of the problem by fo-cusing on new and sustainable structures, there is a newfound ur-gency for contemporary architectural culture to address the pres-sure for change through alternative methods. Instead of simply discarding the old, there is a growing need to explore and harness the potential of existing structures.
This diploma investigates possibilities for repurposing the already existing facade materials in the creation of new facades. The proj-ect is exploratory and does not seek to find the one right answer, but rather to find new strategies when dealing with the already built. The facade study delves into inquiries surrounding the con-cepts of authenticity and deception, examining how facades serve as conveyors of representation and language.
In the previous course Re-store: Petroleum, a fascination emerged for the Aker Brygge area in Oslo. How in the 80s, the transfor-mation from an industrial hub to a mixed use development, they chose to preserve certain fragments of the past, such as the fa-cades to emphasize the historicity of the place. The study looks at previous examples of transformations dealing with the facades at Aker Brygge from different times. Different preservationstrategies that reflects on how the transformations affects the areas identity and cultural heritage.

The study is broad and explores numerous themes that could have been further pursued. Due to the absence of a specific order, it led me to wherever I found it intriguing at the moment, guiding me into new paths that I found fascinating.

A house for Ole with friends

Can the residential areas in Oslo, be densified in a sustainable way socially, environmentally and culturally, with the recently revised zoning plan for these areas, Smahusplanen?

With the new regulations some of the sites that could have been densified, can not. As a result these areas are getting more exclusive as well as houses still will be demolished to be replaced by denser ones with more units.

The house for Ole with friends is a transformation of a detached house from 1960, a house for Ole with wife. Can the site be densified without demolition, while taking into account the recently adopted changes to the Smahusplan?

By adding to the old house with a universal design, my aim is to explore the feasibility of enhancing accessibility in the residential areas, socially and physically.

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