The Rim | E13 | Special mention
Europan 13 - Trondheim, Norway
Through the overall analysis of the masterplan proposed for Nyhavna we detected an unbalanced distribution of dwellings and offices in the northern and southern areas (1). Such a zoning would create an undesirable lack of mixity fostering an alternation of activities on daily and weekly basis. Our proposal aims to counter this programmatic zoning through a more equal distribution (2).
According to recent studies and our own evaluations, Nyhavna has the capacity of accommodating 10000 inhabitants and the same amount of work places (4). Complying to this maximum capacity - while Norwegian population keeps on growing - follows the duty of exploiting the inner vacant spaces of the city, countering the perpetuation of non-anthropized-soil consumption towards the outside of the city.
Strandveikaia accounts for approximately 10% of the whole Nyhavna and it will probably be the area with the highest economic value. Hence it is important to develop it according to a density which is -at least- proportional to the maximum capacity of Nyhavna. It means a thousand dwellers and a thousand workers. (7.1).
The accommodation of these beneficial quantities, together with both the need for a qualitative open space and the respectful consideration of the cluster of heritage buildings present on site, engendered a configuration whereby the buildable area is concentrated along the edge of the site, defining a generous and continuous open space within it (9, 9.1).
The presence of a local specificity, constituted by the merging of the built environment and of several cultural actors, calls for the establishment of a territorial definition. A limit is defined along the edges of the site in order to preserve the enclosed land and its activities. This architectural device is not conceived as a static frame. On the contrary it is constituted by a porous public colonnade, acting as a dynamic infrastructure for both current urban life and future development. The latter has been prearranged by a division in parcels both on top, for dwellings and offices, and below, for commercial space, strategically positioned along a covered continuous boulevard which fosters the stroll of a high number of consumers.
Considering the preference of Norwegians home-owners for detached houses with an idealised high quantity of green space, we opted for implementing a scenario where most of the open space within the rim is planted as a forest. Apart from promoting house purchase in Strandveikaia, the urban forest is a profoundly innovative type of urban centrality, and one with a great evocative power.
A generous square is carved in the middle of the site. This space is conceived as multipurpose, hosting a variety of public events, such as the local market, concerts and fairs.
Three of the heritage-buildings present on site define two edges of the square. Our strategy for all the preexistences is based on two main points.
Firstly, a specific climatic approach has been deployed for the refurbishment: a core heated up to 21°C is surrounded by an inhabited buffer zone heated up to 14°C consti¬tuting an extension of the exterior public space into the building. This buffer zone contributes reducing energy dissipation as the energy expenditure increase exponentially when the temperature difference between inside and outside increases linearly. Several heat-generating activities (such as music rehearsal rooms, gym, club) that would demand for cooling, are integrated in the buffer zone making their presence synergetically virtuous. The heat supply is a combination of CHP and geothermal sources.
The second point concerns the programmatic definition of these precious structures. It mainly aims to implement the activities currently taking place on site. In order to maintain and increase the presence of the cultural actors, the local potential is capitalized into joined configurations combining public, entrepreneurial and low budget figures. A special attention has been directed toward the progressive movement of the present actors, to avoid any form of displacement outside the site.
Buildings 100 and 102 will constitute the Strandveikaia Art Incubator Centre, able to host all the cultural actors present on site and to establish an attractor for new figures. Building 98A will be refurbished as a mediatheque, establishing a connection with the prevalently music-related activities present on site and with the Rockheim in Brattøra.
In both the Art incubator center and the Mediatheque a cross-programming has been introduced: the presence of commercial and rentable spaces guarantees the financial support able to perpetuate the presence of low budget actors in a new cooperative-like configuration, only partially supported by Trondheim municipality and Trondheim Havn.
In time the heritage buildings will constitute a system connected through open air paved paths and publicly accessible mildly heated spaces. This system will be startegically integrated within the site, becoming an exploration line crossing different programs, spaces and atmospheres. A Sjokoladefabrikk hosted in building 96A wants both to revive the presence of local micro-scale production and to establish a physical and thematic connection with the National Beer Center.
The urban configuration proposed adapts in a peculiar way to the progressive growth of Nyhavna. Strandveikaia is conceived as a centrality that remains a stable reference point for the whole area. In fact, while the built volume on top of the colonnade progressively increases in time from one building for young pioneers to several diverse flats and offices (buildable by different developers), the quantity of open space is kept constant and its quality preserved.
The presence of new inhabitants and new families raises the need for a Kindergarten. Its architecture stimulates abstract thinking, imagination and sense of wandering. The division in rooms allows for multiple interpretations of space: rather than following one linear narrative, the daily and seasonal routine of the groups of children of different age unfolds along multiple trajectories. The partitions are conceived in such a way as to become highly flexible. The architecture of the kindergarten is centered on peculiar relationships between nature and children. The open space is shared between different users, being a playground for kids.
This proposal seeks to synergetically combine strategic, economical, spatial, poetic, social and energetic aspects, fostering, both in terms of inhabitants and in terms of activities, a dense and sustainable future for Strandveikaia.