Type: Urban development, Public space
Location: As – Norway
Design members: Marinos Panagi, George Georgallides, Kyriakos Zacharia, Christos Yenakrites
Research members: Marinos Panagi, George Georgallides, Kyriakos Zacharia, Christos Yenakrites
Structural Engineering: George Georgallides
Area: 6700 m²
Site Area: 15900 m²
Year: 2012
Due to the new geopolitical circumstances concerning the gain of more than half a million new inhabitants until 2050, where a vast majority of them will move to the suburbs around the city, mainly in those involved with commercial and educational purposes, a new design approach will be carried forward according to the standards of the modern urban planning. In addition, the number of public transports will definitely increase as the population size of some regions all over the country can be doubled within the next few years, having as a result the development of some brand new cities close to the main economic centers. Moreover, in the recent years, as some new conditions have entered the rules of the urban design around the developed European cities, the need for an adaptable city comes over. In the recent past, concerning similar occasions, the designers have failed to preserve the Identity of those cities, having as a result, the alteration of the traditional aspects of those places.
For the proposed site of Akerhsus county, the need of an adaptive environment around the existing urban fabric has risen, as a result of the development and future prospects brought to the area through the university, which is located within the town’s limits. At present, there are some clear signs of expansive growth which can be found clear in the municipality of AS, where at the moment appears to have some clear lack of space for both housing and industrial developing.
Therefore, in order to improve the city’s ‘’branding’’ within the new demands of the 21st century, it is obvious that is necessary not only to maintain the identity and the traditional character of the city, but at the same time to make some drastic improvements on both the infrastructure and transportation networks, creating some stronger links between AS and the nearby capital of Oslo.In a way, the AS municipality will have to get a place into the country’s map, considering its part not only as a center of education for the surrounding areas, but at the same time to preserve its initiatives and become an attractive location for students all around the world.
In addition, having a great reputation as a former agricultural area with bonds for over the last 150 years concerning the planting production, it is important to maintain its status, by creating a new architectural environment in the community center, providing a direct synergy between the university and the public life, concerning not only the pedestrians and the students, but also the visitors of the city.
Therefore, the main objection of this proposal is to create a time machine, which not only will provide better status for the city, but at the same time to preserve its tradition and promote it to the public. This central location provided for design purposes can become a real pick in the overall concept of the community, as its central location can be used as a great bond for the university activities, the municipality commercial needs, the local exhibition purposes or the research and study center of the town, providing in that way a great meeting point of the area. In that way, this particular point will not only become a great entrance for the visitors of the town (for people coming through the train station), but at the same time the very center of life of the area will be concentrated into that point, providing a great mixture of feelings to the visitors.
Moreover, due to the existence of some older buildings around the site, it is very important to make a clear statement that those buildings will not be destructed, as this should not be considered wise, as well as for budget purposes. All these buildings will become a part of the existing site escorting the new ideal concept, while the main part of the square will be redesigned and sculptured in a way that will remind the great past of the community, which will not be eliminated but by contrast will always stay there.
Through this urban re-qualification plan, a number of resources and manipulations are removed there and used again in a more appropriate form. At first, at the basement level, of Tanger’s house that is considered as a great man of honor in the culture life of the town, is converted to his artistic ‘’atelier’’, which is opened now for the public. In that way, following the levels of the available public space, the ground floor is now expanded towards the square, while a new covered open air pavilion is now constructed In the front of the house. On the other side, the Asheim, will include an art workshop on its ground floor, with exhibition space available, as a sequel to the open square and to the minor structure. In addition, this particular provision provides some further connection of the East side of the square with the rest part of the proposed site.
Ending, concerning the existence of the mall structure in the center of the proposed square, a connection arcade will be put in order to provide a further joining between the two sides Of the square (central and west), while the existing structure can be redesigned according to the new needs for student residences and shops. This building will be renovated and turned into a multipurpose building while gradually can be further improved in order to accommodate the university student groups by providing them a central point within the community, to hold their exhibitions or organise their meetings. In that way this building will not only be the meeting point of the town, but at the same time with its new student accommodation on the rest of the floors may provide a good quality living accommodation for some potential foreign or domestic students. All floors will include flexible design accommodation, with movable panels which can be assorted according to the quest needs. In the floors of the Mall there are dormitories for students, as well as for the transient visitors of the University and the cultural center. A new floor is added as an extension of the building, while the quest families can be hosted there (according to the needs). The alteration of the space in these residences from residential to focal use is easy, via the light movable separating panels.
Around the arcade, all over the ground floor of the existing building, some shops, a coffee shop/bar and a restaurant will be placed, in order to provide some better services for the student clubs and the potential visitors for both the square and the new building, since there will be cultural activities and exhibitions that will be organised indoors or outdoors. In addition, for some better accommodation of quests all around the square, the design will take advantage of the ground leveling all around the site, in order to establish a more flexible design creating in that way an outdoor theater formation, for organizing events either for the town council or for the community. With the clearance of the square’s central axis, the motions and the uses are cleared, while the movement through it becomes more interesting as it’s only the tunnel that now connects the two squares.
Furthermore, for a better organisation of the events or activities on the square, there are some movable panels which can be settled according to the need of a speech or an outdoor exhibition. Also, in addition to the multipurpose room which can be found inside the existing building, there are also bleachers which are organised according to the different levels of the square outside the proposed building. As a result, the square that is positioned centrally gives the opportunity to all the closed spaces to be defused there, while the indoor space can be extended to the outside. The extension of the square through almost the entire system makes it a special element for the site as well as for the town too, unifying all the buildings into a bigger one. So the connection with the west square seems to work in a perfect order, since it is setting the car circulation through the controlled handling obstacles, and offers an extension beyond the two squares providing some open space and at the same time by covering the multitasking needs of the community. In that way the imprint of the square refers to the characteristic imprint of the area’s lands, with curves and continuing straight lines in the way that ploughing provided the development to the village during all the previous years. They are not forgotten in that way, but they are engraved to the bottom of the cultural center of the central square, to be an unchanged memory in the years that will come. Those vertical engravings don’t implement the movement through the entire square as the existing asphalt wayside has been maintained, while the vegetation is selectively positioned.
In the case of the proposed building, a number of different factors have been examined and carried through the design of the structure. The design will be built at the North site of the square facing the inner view of the square, cutting a vertical piece of the on-going passage. Inside the building there will be some permanent exhibition spaces, a controlled entrance on the side of the building, some short period exhibition spaces and some community cultural pavilions. Additionally, in the case where is needed there will be some transparent movie projection rooms or seminar rooms, where a visitor of the exhibition can participate to a direct speech or a relevant presentation. The purity of this space gives the ability to the design to communicate with the area while the architecture of the square will prepare the passers from the main access points of the town, the speedway and the train to enter the community. Main aim of the flexibility of both the new structure and the old mega structure is to offer a great mixture of the uses and activities in open or closed spaces, in order to cover the special and constantly changing programmes that the rapid development of the area may require.
With those linear exhibitions the center offers to the viewer an informative walk. The building exploiting the escalation of the ground it rises up with landings, separating the space in exhibition topics. On the south side where the building coincides with the square, there are landings that host bookshelves and can be used from audience and students. This side has a direct relationship with the square as it defuses to the grandstands that are considered to be the top of the engraved square. In the majority of the cases the exhibitions are not limited within the building but can be held outside, surrounding the cultural center, maintaining in that way the memory of the past. For the permanent exhibition items in the inside of the building main subject is the rural life and the farming tradition of AS.
The main materials of the square will be kept as they are considered to be appropriate for the occasion, since their capacity seems to suit perfectly the climate conditions and the proposed intense use of the square. Therefore the asphalt will remain and some additional green points will be put in the general layout, forming in that way (as mentioned already), the idea of a plough field. Also, a number of trees and some plants found on the North side of the plot are preserved, connecting in that way the proposal imprint with the character of the surrounding environment in this central point location of the community. The existing mall which will be redeveloped and designed according to the new standards will preserve its initial appearance, while the bricks will be replaced where needed and some new aluminium glazed windows and doors will form its new face lift. On the other hand the new cultural center will be build out of concrete structure, wood and glass, while all the materials in the interior will be polymeric with modern shaping and glossiness. Finally, all the partial structures within the square will be fabricated out of wood and steel parts, forming in that way a great incorporation to the all around site.
EUROPAN 12 URBAN DEVELOPMENT May 23rd, 2020Admin
