DARK 2023

Coffee and buns

(presentation 10 min + questions 15 min)

“Design and Architecture is the planet’s most important resource”
Statssekretær Anne Marit Bjørnflaten will speak at this year’s DARK conference. She will present how the government will support design and architecture in the North!

Anne Marit Bjørnflaten, State Secretary for Minister of Business and Industry J C Vestre represented the Minister on the day as he was not able to attend.

Performed by a minister, an illustrator and a student.

Jan Christian Vestre, Minister of Business and Industry.

Kine Yvonne Kjær, Illustrator in Kjærtegn and NODA board member.

Julie Hjelt Wold, student of landscape architecture at AHO/UiT.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

It is more important than ever to have a broad perspective and a holistic approach to innovation. The Value model ensures that we open up to different perspectives and gain a more holistic understanding of the challenge we face. It provides a better basis for developing innovative solutions that are successful.
Tone works in Design and Architecture Norway (DOGA) as lead designer responsible for developing design competence to increase innovation capacity. She has long experience as a partner, design director and creative leader in leading design agencies.

(presentation 5 min + questions 5 min)

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Kim loves making things and has done so since he was a child creating games in hids kids room. Having built computer games played by hundreds of millions of people around the world Kim recently explored magic of creating real world physical products as a furniture maker.

Having jumped into the world of furniture making in 2017 Ekte grew to a team of ten and delivered over 300 projects in our six years together. From Singapore in the east, via Switzerland and up north to Spitsbergen. Truly a dream come true to build beautiful things, in wood and steel, by hand! A wonderful adventure and learning experience overall.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Alongside his partnership in award-winning design studio Tank, Bjørn Viggo drifted into furniture design and woodworking by coincidence – or maybe by curiosity and the passion for chairs, wood and nice people.

He will reflect on some of the processes that turned vague dreams and silly thoughts into reality, and his sincere wish to make good things happen.

(presentation and performance 10 min)

Italian multimedia artist Macfra, German graphic designer Christopher Ide, Greek musician Theta, and Dutch writer Ivonne Wilken from Tromsø discussed their thoughts on the recent progress of machine learning models while enjoying using them to generate mysterious artworks and texts. The outcome of this conversation is physical postcards, printed nicely on quality paper.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Trained carpenter from Switzerland, studied structural timber engineer, followed by a degree in architectural engineering, Fabia Baumann is connecting design with engineering in her role as a timber specialist at Henning Larsen Architects in Copenhagen. She has a passion for timber and uses this in her work of designing and planning sustainable buildings in wood and biobased materials.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Nima Shahinian is Norway’s first qualified and graduated astronaut candidate. He was educated in Russia and completed his training shortly before the invasion of Ukraine became a reality, as a result of which he immediately withdrew from the Russian co-operation.
Now training with SpaceX, he has assembled a new all-Norwegian crew of some of the world’s best in their respective fields to conduct groundbreaking research in space. Nima is also an ex-military officer in the Norwegian Armed Forces with long experience of combat operations and operational leadership in Afghanistan, a pilot, an entrepreneur, but first and foremost he is a product designer both by education, profession and personality. He has designed everything from Lamborghinis to electrical sockets, he is passionate about innovation, technology, sustainability, culture and the evolutionary continuation of humanity and what our future and the world we live in should look like, and a deep passion for universal design. Nima is known for pushing boundaries, which has forced him to become a visionary, daring to think big and totally outside the box, even when things go against him – and his main tool for fighting against the odds and implementing projects many thought impossible is a design mindset and a design methodology approach to every assignment he is part of, goal he sets, even his everyday life.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Ane Høyem is a historian and journalist, with a background from NRK and the Norwegian Refugee Council. Today she works in the GAIA Vesterålen initiative through Museum Nord foundation.
GAIA Vesterålen is a research and innovation initiative that aims to create more sustainable and environmentally friendly local communities. The initiative stems from an urgent need to respond to children’s expressed concern about the future; both their own and the earth’s future. The starting point is nature and the relationship we have with each other. In the past, present and future.
Through various activities GAIA wats to show how a local community can take the lead in tackling the environmental and climate crisis the world is facing. The initiative is based on broad cooperation between business, the public sector, organisations, the voluntary sector, households and private individuals; in short, all parts of the local community.
Central to the GAIA Vesterålen initiative is research collaboration, work against outsiders, as well as a focus on the environment and sustainability. The initiative includes several different projects, including research project GAIA Vesterålen IPN through the Research Council of Norway, GAIA Talent which addresses alienation among young people, the climate adaptation project RESIST through the Horizon Europe programme, as well as the EU-funded research project Circular Boost which focuses on circular building processes and reuse of concrete.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Eimear Tynan is a horticulturalist and landscape architect and holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from both University College Dublin and The Oslo School of Architecture and Design. Her doctoral research examined the temporal and material dimensions of the Arctic island coasts of Jan Mayen, Bjørnøya and Hopen. She is currently employed as a full-time Associate Professor of landscape architecture at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.

(presentation 20 min + questions 10 min)

Ronny is a serial-entrepreneur, investor and ecosystem developer from Helsinki, Finland. He is working in a parallell role representing the Venture Studio VNTRS, building the startup incubator at Hanken School of Economics as well as leading the Project Nothingness that aims to create gravity and increase talent density in Kirkenes. More about Ronny at www.ronnyeriksson.com

(email for ticket discount code)