Learning with the Sea
Nancy Couling
Thursday 27/11, 14.00
Hall D and online

Our previous work reveals that we know little about the ocean although it lies directly in front of us, surrounds us, we hear its soundscape and observe its surface. Human–Ocean relations are today characterised by different forms of Ocean Blindness –from lack of knowledge or the dominance of complex science to persistent perception of the ocean as an empty surface or the ruthless exploitation of marine resources with disregard for the ecological consequences. 

In collaboration with the art triennale Bergen Assembly (2025) we have explored what a reversed perspective from and with the sea–can teach us about these relations, the more-than-human oceanic world and different systems of inherent oceanic intelligence. Learning with the Sea may require unconventional research methods and produce challenging outcomes.

Nancy Couling is an Associate Professor at the Bergen School of Architecture in Norway. She is also a Senior Researcher & Coordinator MAS in Urban & Territorial Design, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. She was a workshop expert on the urbanization of the oceans at the 5th Holcim Forum 2016 dedicated to “Infrastructure Space”. Nancy Couling completed a Marie Curie Post-Doc Fellowship at the TU Delft with the research project OceanUrb- the unseen spaces of extended urbanisation in the North Sea. Her special field of interest is the entanglement of urbanisation processes with liquid spaces and she is part of the research group “Territories of Extended Urbanisation” led by Christian Schmid & Milica Topalovic, Future Cities Laboratory 2, ETH Singapore. She previously taught and practiced in Auckland, NZ, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Venice & Berlin where she co-founded & -directed the practice cet-0/cet-01 until 2010. She co-edited the prize-winning Barents Lessons- Teaching & Research in Architecture (2012) with Harry Gugger, Aurélie Blanchard & Ludovic Balland Typography Cabinet Basel, and The Urbanisation of the Sea (forthcoming 2020) with Carola Hein, and continues to exhibit, publish and lecture internationally. She formed the interdisciplinary partnership cet-0 in Berlin in 2005, (2005-2010 cet-01) focusing on urban design, and also taught in the Department of Urban Design at Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin). She is the author of Barents Lessons: Teaching and Research in Architecture with Harry Gugger and Aurelie Blanchard (Park Books, 2013).

In the framework of the course EKTOS POLIS: Researching the Urban Otherwise - Wanderings across Extended Urbanisation
Observatory of the Countryside
tutor: Metaxia Markaki

For online attendance contact memarkaki@uth.gr

See the poster here.