An experimental pilot developed by VR-Lab and the LAA341 course at NMBU was presented at a recent NLA workshop in Oslo, where students and teachers shared experiences from exploring how AI and VR can support landscape architecture design, communication, and critical reflection.
At the end of last year, VR Lab and the LAA341 course “The Urban Landscape as a Social Arena” completed a collaborative AI pilot project. Since then, the project has received increasing attention for its exploration of how digital tools can be used in landscape architecture education in a thoughtful and practice oriented way.
On 18 March 2026, the students who took part in the pilot project, Solveig Storaker Christensen, My Scott Hagen, Dagny Lein Værnes, Erlend Tegneby Vegstø, and Dorthe Sverdrup Thygeson, were invited to present the work at a workshop hosted by NLA, the Norwegian Landscape Architects’ Association, in Oslo. They were joined by course supervisor Ellen Husaas and Ramzi Hassan from VR Lab. The workshop created an opportunity to share the results of the pilot and to take part in a wider conversation about the role of artificial intelligence in landscape architecture education.
During the session, the students presented how they had used AI and VR in the development and communication of design visions and urban strategies. Their work showed how these tools can support design exploration, strengthen communication, and help make complex spatial ideas easier to discuss and understand.
The pilot was connected to the ongoing case of Porsgrunn Municipality. Here, questions related to pedestrian friendly urban transformation, green infrastructure, and social sustainability gave the students a concrete framework for testing new ways of working. Within this setting, the project explored how digital tools could support reflection, idea development, and spatial storytelling in landscape architecture studio teaching.
What made the presentation especially valuable was the students’ own perspective. They shared both the work they produced and their experiences from the process, including what they learned and where they saw both potential and limitations. Their contributions showed that working with AI and VR in design education also requires reflection and careful use.
The invitation to present the project at NLA in Oslo reflects a growing interest in how landscape architecture can engage with technological change in a critical and academically grounded way. It also points to a broader curiosity within the profession about how AI may become part of future design practice. For VR Lab, the pilot forms part of a wider effort to examine how emerging technologies are shaping landscape architecture education and planning.