Thank you for a beautiful evening at Bergen Camping. As part of the Generasjonsfestivalen by Anna Helle-Valle, we gathered on May 23 for a vibrant conversation on care, connection, and compassionate cities with Amy van den Hooven, Eamon O’Kane, Tina KM Sinclair, and Christian Pagh—followed by the launch of Greymatter/Grått gull, edited by LOCAL and published by BAS School of Architecture, with bubbles and live music into the night.

Excited to be part of Le Réinventaire in Maromme, organised by Benoit Lemennais starting July 7! In collaboration with KMD,ENSAAMA and LOCAL, we designed the mobile booths that will activate the event—more about the design soon. A big thanks to Les hommes fourmillent, Le SHED, and all partners involved in this collective effort to reimagine everyday objects and create a new shared heritage with the inhabitants of Maromme.

I’m honored to be selected for the University of Bergen’s Momentum Programme 2025–2026. This career development initiative supports early-stage researchers in building leadership, international networks, and competitive research proposals. I look forward to connecting across disciplines, strengthening my academic profile, and advancing new ideas through this exciting opportunity. Grateful to UiB for the support and recognition.

Excited to be mentoring a group of talented students for their final exam presentations at this year’s Bachelor Exhibition in Design at KMD Bergen. Opening May 9th at Øvre Hall, the exhibition features 29 projects across visual communication, furniture, and interior architecture. Open to all from 9–12 May and 18–22 May, 12:00–18:00.

Representing KMD Faculty, I joined the ECIA Conference “Substance” in Oslo — an inspiring gathering exploring the essence of interior architecture. Highlights included Graeme Brooker’s keynote on materiality and meaning, Vesma Kontere McQuillan’s take on fashion shows as experimental typologies, and Siv Helene Stangeland’s reflection on drawing as a transformative act. The DISCOURSE debate, moderated by Carola Ebert, advanced vital conversations on practice research. Grateful to NIL Norway for the 80-year anniversary celebration and site visit. A truly inspiring network!

Our Erasmus Mobility in Rotterdam explored radical urban and environmental experiments—floating cow farms, yellow thread, rooftop and care gardens, survivalist pods, and tidal beach park. From Keilewerf 2 to Nai, we investigated emerging forms of neighborhood and outdoor community life, expanding our Greymatter research and themes of Ecological Agency at KMD. The journey included meetings with professor at the ENSAAMA in Paris and the Art Academy in Amsterdam.

As part of ongoing research at KMD on care, music, and ambiance, I am working in Pont Audeville along the Risle river basin near the Seine. In collaboration with Les Hommes Fourmilles, and supported by the Region and Caisse des Dépôts, the project explores how sound can reinterpret landscape and identity. This spring, with students from ENSAAMA and LOCAL, we will design micro-architectures activated this summer—featuring Lossonante, a CRESSON-developed listening object—turning the riverbanks into a resonant, collective archive.

This week was launched the DNMADE 3 diploma project that is taking place in Vaksdal, Norway. Students are working along the future disused train track along the fjord with projects aiming to address the municipality key challenging - aging population, degrowth by strengthening community, imagining alternative scenario for slow tourism, work and living places.

I am thrilled to announce that our project “Compassionate Communities – Building a New European Bauhaus initiative at KMD” has received Strategic Funding 2025. Iniated with Wolfgang Schmid and Eamon O’Kane, the project brings together all three departments at the Faculty in an artistic research initiative that explores care, community, and design. This marks an exciting step toward developing a cross-disciplinary NEB platform at KMD.

As a part of KMD Research Week 2025, we present Compassionate Communities, an artistic research project across the faculty’s three departments by Eamon O’Kane, Wolfgang Schmid, and Jerome Emmanuel Picard. This project is part of a New European Bauhaus initiative at KMD and will be on display as a part of the Open Studio series in the Studio Forum space for one month.

We had the pleasure to present the behind the scene and processes of making Greymatter film documentary to LINA fellows of the Oslo architecture triennale working on 3 films documentary this year. Very nice to share and see ongoing work. Thanks for the invitation!

The new railway will bring Vaksdal closer to Bergen, raising questions about identity, transformation, and social sustainability. Students explore site-specific projects, reusing existing structures and promoting intergenerational living through green mobility and clean energy. Very nice review of the DOR201 2nd year studi with guests from our collaborator at Vaksdal municipality and Vestlandet Region County. Read more about previous similar work.

Since April, research leaders at KMD met for a serie of seminars to explore collaborations accross departments and within their research group. The last meeting was in Brussels, to visit UiB office in the city and understand better EU commission plan for our field, New European Bauhaus, where I am the representant for design in KMD working group, or other initiative like COST actions and Creative Europe. Very exciting times to be a part of research leadership at KMD!

Seminar at Osteroy Municipality, about current research on Health, Aging and Culture, presenting Greymatter, the integration of health ecosystem in the city as well as the potential role of Music in the development of innovative places. Showing of (Last)ing Music and IMAGINE from Wolfgang Schmid, Professor in music therapy at the Grieg Academy

During this fall research week of KMD, we presented Greymatter to the whole faculty and future research initiatives on health, music and architecture across department!

This year's Placemaking Europe event is organized in Rotterdam and it takes place between 24th to 27th September. Jerome presents work on care and neighbourhoods and how to integrate health durably in Danish social housing - Nursing the Care.

Jerome Picard & Elida Mosquera representing LOCAL and KMD Department of design at University in Bergen, will be present in this year's Tampere Architecture and Design Festival in Finland as part of the international section of the event. This category carries out presentations from top names in architecture and urban planning in Europe. The presentation will take place on 4th of October at 12:30. The theme for the 2024 TAD Week is Resilience.

The new railway will bring Vaksdal closer to Bergen, raising questions about identity, transformation, and social sustainability. Students will explore site-specific projects, reusing existing structures and promoting intergenerational living through green mobility and clean energy. The work aligns with Vaksdal 2030 and 2035, aiming to counter population decline through cultural and qualitative development.

Prospective for Ecological Action: Towards New Territorial Narratives As climate change demands ecological planning and the creation of future narratives, can territorial foresight help anticipate and make informed choices while integrating uncertainty? Directors: Hiba DEBOUK (AREP), Isabel DIAZ (PUCA), Jean-Baptiste MARIE (GIP EPAU), Nicolas TIXIER (CRESSON)

Bachelor students from ENSAAMA Paris presents their diploma, exploring climate neutral and intergenerational living transformation a soon to be disused school and bleding in the wild landscape of the West-coast.

Jerome is an Associate professor at the Design Faculty of UiB Bergen University and partner of architecture & urbanism firm LOCAL in Bergen. He leads Greymatter and known for his work on creating caring communities, particularly in health and aging, attracting global attention.

Jerome participates in the Generations and Aging Festival, directed by Anna Helle-Valle. "Are we a good community to grow old in?" LOCAL and KMD host two significant events, a Story-telling booths in collaboration with Theater company Bergen Borgerscene, under the Festipillene week. The second event is a debate on architecture and neighborhoods, led by Christian Pagh, Páll Tómas Finnsson, Kari M. Kristiansen, Nils Mæhle, Kirstin M. Leiros, Maria Molden, and Jerome Picard, discuss whether good architecture can support the welfare state.

Tutoring for the Bachelor and Master is now finished with the exhibition of the 2024 promotion. Project: Bachelor project by Sofi Haaland

The project aims to create innovative urban narratives through a design and construction course, emphasizing social inclusion and sustainability in Bergen, and is part of the Generation Festival and FIB Festspillene Bergen 2024 as a collaboration between KMD, LOCAL and Bergen Borgerscene.

Practice Models is an ongoing event series that takes a behind the scenes look at the nature of architectural practice with a focus on the way a practice is started, structured and run as well as the stories of those at the center of it all. Together with tow other offices, Jérome gave a lecture about the story of LOCAL and his experiences.

Making Future - Future Making. In this workshop, participants immerse themselves in speculative design and tool creation to aid in conducting interviews and gathering information. The workshop focuses on lowering barriers to communication and information gathering. Participants delve into the concepts of assemblage, emphasizing the reuse of materials (ready-made). Adopting an expedition-like approach, participants crafts portable units/devices that facilitate information collection, recording, and comfort during interactions with diverse individuals. Project: Naoki Mizukami - Furi

Incredible and exciting news to announce we are part of the BIFF 2023! "Gråttgull" is featured in the BIFF+Byarkitekten program, and we're excited to showcase it! It will be screened at the Cornerteateret 23rd October 2023, alongside another short film on a similar theme "Where we grow older" by Daniel Schwartz. Anna Helle Valle, Bjart Nygaard, and Anne-Grete S-Eriksen are invited for a discussion before the movie. See you there!

Organised by members of the Union of Francophone Architects for Health, the fifth edition of the Health Architecture Days (JAS) will take place from 16th to 18th October 2023, at the Palais de l'Europe in Menton. Amidst modernizing health infrastructures and evolving techniques and technologies, the JAS event stands as an essential professional gathering dedicated to health and social-medical sectors. We are invited to present our ongoing work Greymatter, focusing on the significant role of seniors in urban city centers. Meet us Wednesday, 18th October 2023, at 09:45 AM in the Salle des Pays-Bas at the Palais de l'Europe in Menton.

Almene Boligdage brings together employees and elected officials from housing organizations throughout the country. In 2023, Almene Boligdage will take shape as a series of local events and will be rounded off with a grand finale at the Tivoli Hotel in Copenhagen on 30 September. We are honoured to present the work we are doing with LBF at this event.

On Wednesday, September 27, from 16:15 to 17:30, the award-winning documentary "Greymatter Bergen" by architectural office LOCAL will be showcased, exploring innovative placemaking solutions by seniors in Bergen. The film, a winner of the Cross Roads prize at the 2021 Biennale in Seoul, offers an optimistic perspective on aging and has been featured in several international film festivals. The screening will be followed by an interactive conversation discussing aging, community, and architectural innovations for health in Norway, Denmark, and France.

We are showing our film documentary on aging in Bergen at this year ArchFest, incredibly happy to be part of this event!

We are very much looking forward to Friday's urban development evening about Laksevåg out at Smien, where we will receive input from residents, property developers and the municipality!

“How can we facilitate such a change without losing the quality of the care and the social differ-ences just become increasingly bigger?” LOCAL office in Bergen. From left to right: Anna Helle-Valle, Anne-Grete Strøm Erichsen, Wolfgang Schmid, Tina Larsen and Sebastian von Hofacker

Birth rates are diminishing while the elderly population is growing. This new challenge will affect a lot of different sectors including housing markets, and we need to ask ourselves: How are we going to live together in the near future? Join us 5th of july!

Jerome Picard on behalf of LOCAL was presenting its work at the ENSAAMA (aka Olivier de Serres) to future professionals in the design and creative field. We shared about our education and professional path, we presented projects build in timber and high-end details and we talked about growing old better.

A discussion session about GRÅTTGULL and movie screening of the movie Greymatter Bergen is happening at DOGA as part of the Oslo Triennale 2022 programme. Jérome Picard from LOCAL would presenting and panel discussion is led by Silije Lockart.

During the NABO Kveld events in Bergen, our new film, will be premiered as part of the events of this year.

We are thrilled to announce that we are part of the Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism 2021 representing the city of Bergen with our pavilion and film documentary “Grey Matter Bergen” exploring urban and active aging in our beloved Fjord city.

Selected to present Grey Matter today and talk about age-friendly Urban strategy and our senior community as catalyst of our civic life. Design as expression of Culture(s) is taking into consideration the cultures we are inheriting from the past and which should be granted for the benefit of future generations, so intertwining past and future, tangible and intangible, innovation and tradition.