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Gertrud Olsson
Senior Lecturer
The Design UnitAbout Gertrud Olsson
Senior Lecturer in Design at HDK-Valand – Academy of Arts and Design
I am a designer and architect with a PhD in architecture (KTH School of Architecture, Stockholm), a senior lecturer in Design Studies at the Design Department at HDK-Valand. In addition, a Visiting Scholar at SRII Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, a member of the SRII Research Collegium.
My research in the intersection of architecture, art, design and craft deals with perception, light, colour and material; investigations of mosaic, tile and glass from ancient times to contemporary structures. The aesthetic value of materiality is of interest, the tactile sensations in relation to touch and tactilism, the concept of aging of the materials. Understanding and awareness of the materials, the room and architecture as such, the relation to human size, the interacting body are of importance .
The overall subject in my research deals with intermediation and intermediaries between different cultures; examination of social, historical and architectural perspectives, investigation of the craft people and artist role in cross-cultural boundaries, of how new knowledge is produced. An example of an agent in east and west in the late 19th century is Osman Hamdi Bey (1842–1910), Turkish painter, archaeologist and founder of Istanbul Archaeology museums. In this context, Mualla Eyüboğlu Anhegger (1919–2009) became one of the first female Turkish architects, and also, one of the first professionals working with restoration. The concept of modernity in relation to tradition is present. An ongoing project deals with the African city of Asmara and the complex relation between modernity and the vernacular heritage. Asmara is designed by Italian architects and built by Eritrean crafts people in the 1930s during the colonial time (and from 2017 included in the UNESCO World Heritage List).
My thesis The Visible and the Invisible: Color Contrast Phenomena in Space, published in 2009, explores colour contrast phenomena in a context of visual culture and aesthetics, in architecture and in art. Early modernism manifested an interest in colour contrasts and perception, which lead the way to a new interdisciplinary outlook on vision and simultaneity.
Den lilla skalan i den stora – Kaklet i osmanska rum (Appell förlag, 2022) [The small scale in the large one: Tiles in Ottoman Rooms] is a research project on tiles and subsequent book which focuses on tiles highlighting their importance in rooms and architecture. Since the beginning of time, patterns and ornaments have been fundamental and are found in all cultures, not least in Turkey. In the book, the ornament, the material and the story of craftspeople, artists and architects who worked together to create the Ottoman tiled walls, meet.
Forthcoming publication 2025:
The book Challenging modernism in Tirana. An Italian Albanian architectural heritage will be published in early 2025 at ArtMonitor in collaboration with Gent Grafik in Tirana. Five scholars from Albania, Italy and Sweden will share knowledge and perspectives on history, the present and cultural heritage.
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En båge genom tiden - ritualer kring en göteborgshistoria. Om Flickläroverket i
Artisten
Monica Sand, Ola Sigurdson, Gun Lund, Mats Nilsson, Ulla Eckersjö, Louisa Palmi, Emanuel Cederqvist, Ami Skånberg Dahlstedt, Julya Hedblom, Emma Johanssen, Angelica Karlsson, Frida Karlsson, Melina Bigale, Anna Wennerbeck, Anders Hagberg, Astrid von Rosen, Gunilla Bandolin, Bengt Isling, Barbara Ekström, Hampus Pettersson, Gertrud Olsson, Claes Caldenby, Ewamarie Herklint
2024 -
The original room – in the making as a tool for
understanding
Gertrud Olsson
Crafting relationships with nature through creative practices / Editors: Biljana C. Fredriksen, Per Ingvar Haukeland - 2023 -
Reuse of Edirne Balloon Hangar building in the light of other similar practices of the
period
Gertrud Olsson
XIIIth International Sinan Symposium, April 27–28th 2023 Trakya University, EDİRNE - 2023 -
Bergväggen
Redux
Gertrud Olsson
Not Quite, Fengersfors, 1 juli–10 september 2023 - 2023 -
Den magiska färgen
röd
Gertrud Olsson
LERA, Byggkeramikrådets magasin om kakel och klinker i samtida arkitektur - 2023 -
Leaves
Gertrud Olsson
Southern Sweden Design Days, Restaurang BISe, Malmö, 23–26 maj 2023 - 2023 -
En båge genom tiden. Konstnärliga minnesprocesser i
Flickläroverket/Artisten
Monica Sand, Gertrud Olsson, Gun Lund, Lena Ulrika Rudeke, Anders Hagberg, Anna Wennerbeck
I rörelsesalarna i Flickläroverket i Artisten den 7 och 8 december 2022 och på Jonsereds herrgård 9 mars 2023 - 2022 -
Den lilla skalan i den stora – Kaklet i osmanska
rum
Gertrud Olsson
2022 -
Flux Studios –
Bergväggen
Gertrud Olsson
Konstfrämjandet Fyrbodal och Scenstudion Gerlesborg, 26 juni–23 oktober 2022 - 2022 -
En båge genom tiden. Konstnärliga minnesprocesser i
Flickläroverket/Artisten
Gertrud Olsson
Flickläroverket i Artisten den 7 och 8 december 2022, Göteborg - 2022 -
p l a n r i t n i n g e n – en källa för information och
mystik
Gertrud Olsson
Galleri Silk, utställningen Planlösning, 9 april–16 maj 2021 - 2021 -
P l a n r i t n i n g e n – en källa för information och
mystik
Gertrud Olsson
Galleri Silk, utställningen Planlösning (9 april–16 maj 2021) - 2021 -
Edirne and the Unique Blue-and-White Tiles in Early Ottoman
Time
Gertrud Olsson
ETTDERGI magazine - 2021 -
The Turkish Modernist Osman Hamdi Bey and his view on
Artefacts
Gertrud Olsson
Proceedings of the ArCo 2020, 1st International Conference on Art Collections (1stArCo): Cultural Heritage, Safety and Digital Innovation. - 2021 -
Mosaics
Gertrud Olsson
Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology - 2021 -
The renewal of street-scape through glass
mosaics
Gertrud Olsson
Transactions vol. 24 "Transformations of Public Space : Architecture and the Visual Arts in Late Modern Istanbul 1950–80" - 2021 -
Transformations of Public Space – Architecture and the Visual Arts in Late Modern Istanbul
1950–80
Gertrud Olsson
2021 -
Color
Contrast
Gertrud Olsson
Encyclopedia of Color Science and Technology - 2021 -
The Matter of Touch – the Case of
Asmara
Gertrud Olsson
sITA studies in History & Theory of Architecture - 2020 -
Osmanlı çini tarihi ve Bursa’daki
sır
Gertrud Olsson
Kalibalik! Bulletin of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul - 2019 -
Punkt…
Gertrud Olsson
Samlingsutställningen Inblick/Insight i Steneby Konsthall, Dals Långed - 2019 -
Osmansk kakelhistoria och hemligheten i
Bursa
Gertrud Olsson
Kalabalik! Bulletin of the Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul - 2019 -
Asmaras färger – att läsa Asmaras arkitektur utifrån byggmaterial och
färg
Gertrud Olsson
Romhorisont. Tidskrift för Föreningen Svenska Rominstitutets Vänner och Svenska Institutet i Rom - 2019 -
Mualla Eyüboğlu: A Female Architect to Serve the
Country
Gertrud Olsson
MoMoWo Symposium 2018. Women’s Creativity since the Modern Movement (1918-2018): Toward a New Perception and Reception. - 2018 -
Den avbildade tulpanen – Något om estetik och förhållningssätt i konsten under den osmanska
eran
Gertrud Olsson
Dragomanen. Årsskrift utgiven av Svenska Forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul 20/2018: Imperier - 2018 -
Osman Hamdi Bey och berättandet genom historiska
lager
Gertrud Olsson
Dragomanen. Årsskrift utgiven av Svenska Forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul & Föreningen Svenska Istanbulinstitutets Vänner - 2017 -
Kulturmöten i Istanbul via Bedri Rahmi
Eyüboğlu
Gertrud Olsson
Dragomanen. Årsskrift utgiven av Svenska Forskningsinstitutet i Istanbul & Föreningen Svenska Istanbulinstitutets Vänner - 2016 -
En färg för hand och
sinne
Gertrud Olsson
Byggnadskultur - 2016 -
Southern Light and Northern reflections – on Einar Forseth’s travel to
Sicily
Gertrud Olsson
EdA [Esempi Di Architettura] International Journal: Baltic and Mediterranean. Architects’ Travels in the 20th century - 2016 -
Dammi i
Colori
Gertrud Olsson
ICAUD Second International Conference on Architecture and Urban Design - 2014 -
One and a half millennium of coloured
light
Gertrud Olsson
Proceedings of CIE Centenary Conference Towards a New Century of Light - 2013 -
Möte med det historiska
rummet
Gertrud Olsson
Ikaros - 2012 -
Farbe und
Architektur
Gertrud Olsson
Farbe in der Kunst - 2010 -
Colour and
Architecture
Gertrud Olsson
Colour in Art - 2010 -
The Visible and the Invisible: Color Contrast Phenomena in
Space
Gertrud Olsson
2009 -
Färgens yta och djup – om färgmaterialets betydelse för synupplevelsen av
färg
Gertrud Olsson
2007 -
Färg i tid och rum: Om
utställningsarkitektur
Gertrud Olsson
Forskare och praktiker om färg, ljus, rum - 2006 -
Simultaneous Contrast in Visual Culture and in
Fashion
Gertrud Olsson
AIC SOUTH AFRICA 2006 Colour in Fashion and Colour in Culture: Proceedings of the Interim Meeting of the International Colour Association / [ed] Natasha van Tonder, José Luis Caivano - 2006 -
En translucent utopi i färgat
glas
Gertrud Olsson
KVHAA Konferenser nr. 61: Konsterna och själen : estetik ur ett humanvetenskapligt perspektiv - 2006 -
Färgperspektiv
Gertrud Olsson
2004