Ocean Literacy
How can ocean literacy- our understanding of oceanic systems- inform our architectural interventions both at land and sea?
The ocean is a spatial realm about which we still know very little, despite its global importance in regulating climate, as a maritime habitat protecting biodiversity, in providing resources and as a global transport surface. Only with minor exceptions we live on land, concentrated around the edge toward the sea, with which we have been exchanging for centuries. Current tendencies show that maritime space is being increasingly constrained within lines of territorial demarcation through the emerging field of marine spatial planning and increasing economic pressure under the paradigm of “Blue Growth”. These processes are unfolding rapidly, largely without the influence of architects, rather controlled by lawyers, engineers and experts in logistics.
But the ocean is a planetary commons- the largest public space on earth. There is a call for broader involvement in oceanic issues, more imaginative and holistic ways of communicating about and interacting with, ocean space. The “Ocean Literacy” programme reflects this demand, defined by UNESCO as “an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you, and your influence on the ocean – a way not only to increase the awareness of the public about the ocean, but as an approach to encourage all citizens and stakeholders to have a more responsible and informed behaviour towards the ocean and its resources.”
Our course looks beyond the surface to the bigger picture, critical theory and relationships between science, art, economy and ecology. Central terms like sustainability, anthropocene and deep ecology are introduced to frame and decode and eventually develop a deeper understanding of the ocean and to encourage the paradigm shift from a human-centric to a planet-centric and more-than-human world-view.
The focus on Ocean Literacy therefore involves several perspectives- to read, to write (draw), and to listen. In this way, we aim to understand how scales are interconnected and encapsulated in planetary systems from the very large to the very small, through thinking and making. Rather than problem-solving, student projects are exploring this new worldview and making their own contribution to ocean literacy.