PHASMATODEA | E13
Europan 13 - ESPOO, Helsinki, Finland
HOW TO USE NEW INPUTS TO CHANGE URBAN SPACES
The concepts of development, growth and evolution lead to imagine new ways of working and new lifestyles. Environmental needs and new human needs lead to have to deal with new inputs that can intervene in the way of living and manage the existing natural and anthropological system.
The project stems from an attempt to study the HUMAN NON-HUMAN INTERACTION through architecture and the process that you can put in place to achieve it. The answer to the problem of interaction is through the study of a process that could be taken as a repeatable method capable of handling successive external inputs needed to change society and the natural environment with which the human society interacts.
Interactions between man and nature and interactions between different social actors who perform different activities and roles within a social landscape varied and constantly changing, make possible to transform the concept of nature conservation in a concept of interaction / evolution through which identify styles life eco-friendly and sustainable.
Resilience, Adaptability, Integration, Share, evolution, basic elements of a process approach helpful to define a methodological process of social and cultural development. These principles become instruments in the hands of the actors appointed to the future planning. Possible weapons with which to identify potential in response to probable new scenarios. Each of these principles becomes a nodal point of the planning strategy that has the aim to insert new buildings that become new elements of a more complex environment that points to the complete integration between man and nature.
Resiliency is the ability of an element to have in itself the potential of response to a traumatic element. The clearings between the dense wooded areas, become the place in which to highlight the regenerative capacity of nature.
The areas already populated and already taken to nature, become the place of examples of adaptive capabilities and human transformation. Roads, car parks and areas previously built, they become useful spaces to urban renewal and to be exploited for a drastic reduction of the consume soil.
The balance between the green spaces stolen to nature to build, previously urbanized areas and natural environment, aims to a substantial budget in favor of nature, in order to ensure continuous greens corridors necessary for local wildlife.
This combination of natural and man-made areas with different potential and availability, become the place of integrations between man and nature, between city places and nature places, between human activities and the various needs of wildlife. Integration should be an integration such as to be inside of the very nature of the system, like a stick insect he has inherent in itself being perfectly similar to the branch to which it tends.
The building, in this way, it becomes a long architectural element that winds through the green vegetation and above the old Otakaari street. The volume resulting has large voids that become places of the sharing. Sharing that occurs between different users of the buildings and between man and nature. In this way nature can interrupt the building continuity and define important ecological corridors.
All these elements have the task to regulate a complex project with an urban character that has the ambition to define a new evolution model in which human intervention has to support the environment and not only its protection. A real evolution of human life can only happen through a full involvement of all aspects of human and non-human life.
PLANNING CONCEPT
The search for a balance between man and nature is the basis of the choices of the urban planning. The track Otakaari street is moved to the built environment by increasing the distance between vehicular traffic and protected area. The area occupied by the old Otakaari street together with the areas resulting from the demolition of obsolete buildings, becomes the places on which to build the main part of the buildings. The Strongly longitudinal development of the building becomes the opportunity to interact with the dense vegetation, taking advantage of the continuous system of clearings.
The project takes shape becoming the place of interaction. The articulate volume thus formed is raised from the ground and interacts with the cycle lane that runs through all intervention area. The link between natural and anthropogenic elements increases the bond between man and nature.
The volumes are designed to fit within a complex system of empty and full spaces, contrasting the verticality of the vegetation with the horizontality of the buildings and paths of bike paths. The planned volume becomes an articulate complex horizontal development that arises horizontally between vegetation, the road and the protected area; altimetrically between the ground, from which departs significantly and the tops of the trees, which never exceeds. The strategy described allows a reduced consumption of land. The entire surface request is made with a focus on sustainability by increasing the green areas than the built areas.
THE PROJECT CONCEPT
Architecturally, the project blends in the close relationship between nature and the built environment in which the formal strength of the Alvar Aalto's architectures characterize the entire campus.
In addition to the program guidelines of urban character there are two choices to scale more purely architectural. The lifting from the ground of the built volumes for most of its development, allows a permeability and a continuity both for the man and his need for mobility, both for the nature which has at ground level to a continuity important for the fauna and flora. Also the full visual permeability and functional ground floor allows you to have a perception of the green and the protected area from the street.
The second formal choice expresses the close relationship with the built environment and is displayed through a new interpretation of traditional materials already present on campus. The traditional relationship between the brick walls, soil and oxidized copper roof, is overturned to oppose the green of copper to the green of land and leaving the verticality of the brick walls to communicate with the existing buildings and the environment.
The articulated form and the insertion of the volumes between vegetation, never allows the overall view of the building making it possible to reduce the visual impact of more than 20,000 square meters made. Going trough the new Otakaari street, perception is that of a complex that hide itself into the vegetation leaving large invitations to cross the street to go to the Natura 2000's protected area.
FUNCTIONS
The functional program designed provides a functional strategy useful to give an easy flow distribution as in present as in future, in order to ensure flexibility and transformability.
The course of the road system suitable for vehicles, even if moved towards the inside, it is maintained in its functional structure ensuring the circulation of the main distribution. The parking requirements are locate in three strategical points useful to meet the new requirements dictated by the demands of the plan and to implement the requirements of the areas and of the surrounding buildings. A mechanized parking garage near sahkomiehentie street useful to collect flows from the south. A second mechanized parking is located along the new Otakaari street and the third parking pick up the flows that comes from the residential area at the north near Servinkuja street. Other car parks are located along Otakaari street and in the three vehicle entrances to the new building in order to ensure accessibility also to disabilities.La pista ciclabile esistente è stata incrementata di nuove tratte e diramazioni che attraversano l’intera area verde e si relazionano con il nuovo edificio attraversando i patii e mettendo in comunicazioni tutte le funzioni di servizi presenti nei volumi a piano terra.
The functional program includes a system of buildings in which the university services are distributed around the square at the south of the area. The buildings that wind through the vegetation have a residential destination with services on the ground floor.
University laboratories, administrative offices and classrooms define the square to the south, new access to the lot, and drawing of a new relationship with the existing building of Alvar Aalto through the design of buildings on two levels and regular geometries. To dominate this geometry is the volume of the bar and eatery that, coming from Otakaari street, becomes an object "bridge" that introduces the irregular volumes of the residences. These volumes, articulated both planimetrically that altimetrically, have a ground floor completely emptied within the perimeters of the patios that serve as link with the natural soil and through which the nature gets inside the building. In the few points of contact with the ground along the volume, they find space services for both university students and residents. The shops and commercial spaces are located in the body of the building closest to the street, in the part closest to the protected area, there are services related to the welfare and health (gym Finnish sauna). In the small arm to the north-east are services related to culture (media room, music room). At north near the area for parking and close to all other residences already present in the neighboring lots, are placed services like food (market). The upper floors have a predominantly residential destination. Special accommodation (university) occupy the main body that overhang the area of the old Otakaari splitting into two types for a student from 36 square meters and 70 square meters for two students. Accommodation regular occupy the secondary arms closest to the protected area. Three types simplex from 50 to 90 square meters and a type duplex 100 sqm. This rich system of accommodations is interspersed with patios that give a breath green, common areas and Entertainment Centres for housing, relaxation areas and study areas for special accommodation.
