“Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in. I drink at it; but while I drink I see the sandy bottom and detect how shallow it is. Its thin current slides away, but eternity remains.”(H.D.Thoreau-Walden)
We can see Hammarö territory like a sum of different systems: Urban, Architectural, Mobility, Landscape and Social. Every layer is defined by a very strong connection with nature, that is the Identity of the place and its inhabitants.
Natural processes are the driving force of the project, considering nature by three different apectss: environment, heritage and time.
Project considers connection an re-connection like the most important available tools to generate a new natural equilibrium in the place.Actually existing buildings are not connected with the environment. The lack of pedestrians, bikes and mobility has created an abandoned landscape. Environment and its ecological balance can be restored developing a new paths system between lagoon and the future town center, between nature and community.
This project will create meaning and feeling by wing elements of the historic heritage of the land.
Utilizing the existing structures as an outline for the development, project will allow a permanent urbanistic and architectonic design strategy ready to future growth or decrease of the area.
Future development will incorporate cultural elements to the existing urban plan. This heritage of Hammaro concerns:The existence of pavilions with its old uses; the presence of the long-time paths and its connection between lagoon, farm and towns; typical Swedish rural Landscape with his woods and fields. Design strategy regenerates all these physical characters achieving a restored cultural landscape.
At last the project gives prominence to the Time like expression of nature and life cycle, and not like an economical parameter. Project doesn’t look for a fast urbanism, a totally solved masterplan with a new well-defined urban form. To produce an organic and healthy Hammaro community, we need time and a progressive growth. For an efficient integration of the proposal with social and economical environment, the growth will be divided in different phases like an important resource, not only as an economic point of view, but an opportunity to development architecture with logical of maximum flexibility and progressive adaption. Duration of every phase should depend from natural rhythms of social and economical growth.
Used tools are rehabilitation and recycling of existing buildings, urban structures and landscape.
This project is trying to achieve a model of development that will conserve and adapt the original buildings as main idea to rejuvenate the environment. The first phase is a social-economical reactivation: re-use the existing pavilions to generate economic growth and social activities that will promote “new” facilities.
This renovation of the existing pavilions need to be attractive to the younger generation; strategy is to improve coworking and new technologies companies and creative factories, mixed up with new entrepreneurial activities concerning land use and heritage, like agriculture, breeding, fishing, handcraft, arts, education and hospitality. To fulfill the necessary this has to be an ever evolving project that will always preserve and utilize the existing structures. The proposal is divided in to two main sections:
Building the Urban Path
We decided to not consume rural soil but to preserve forests and agricultural areas. The strategical plan is to create growth around a closed a street in the shape of a “Ring” producing a new urban pathway with open public spaces and a new stone flooring. To achieve a connection with the existing pavillons layout, we developed towers dwelling typology and an integrated system of links with rehabilitated pavilions on ground floor.
The lower plant of the tower is occupied by common spaces, bicycles parkings and meetings rooms. There are glass porches that work as thermal regulators as well as filter spaces which links the pavillions with the houses. The porches also work like an extension of the pavillions towards the street and will act functional spaces for commercial activities or cultural events.
The urban ring system gives many benefits to the new Hammarö community:
- The development of a new urban street with better climatic conditions and a safety perception , and improvement of social relationships.
- Centralization and improvement of commercial activities, generation of new public spaces. In this “built ring” pedestrian and bicycle mobility is supported.
- More density
- The environmental rescue of forest and agricultural soil.
Along this path the locations of interchange stations allow cars outside of the urban ring. The perimeter is defined by six storey towers and other activity oriented corridors. Others two or three level buildings will be incorporate to the existing street layout generating new public spaces and completing urban ring. These buildings offer differing bioclimatic solutions; the south side will have a double glass facade terrace, the north side will have a totally closed façade containing services and wet areas, and on east and west façade, transparent bow-windows will work like heaters.
Building the Eco Path
Project defines strategies to restore the existing forest; to preserve and regenerate the perennial landscape and strengthen the system of functional vegetation for sun and snow season. Eco Path will be developed on the outward ring around the urban core area. A complete ecological restoration would be necessary to produce the forest and to offer a visual and climatic protection for the new built area: a natural way of contention of urban growth.
A wetland trail will increase a natural progression and will link the urban area to the lagoon, changing from a static to a dynamic landscape. The wetland line generates constant change all the time within the landscape. The production of smaller community orchards creates meaning, conservation activities, and constantly changing landscape that will give the area a strong identity.
Landscape:
The landscape is based on two guidelines:
- Restore and regenerate the forest.
- Using the new wetland (rain gardens) it will connect the lagoon to a wet landscape, that is dynamic and will change over the summer and winter. the main idea is to achieve integration with the urban landscape and the first ring of the forest. New community orchards regenerate the landscape and give identity to the place as well as maintaining a dynamic and productive landscape. The wetland line creates a strong bio-diversity that help spread grasses and reeds which follow the pedestrian path through the lagoon.
