Reconnecting the lost knowledge - The revival of the harbour and the human ecosystem
This concept aims to bridge a perceived gap between human urban culture and nature by reconnecting citizens with the work of the hand in relation to sustainable production and a heritage of knowledge.
Local
Sweden
Gothenburg
Mainly urban
It refers to a physical transformation of the built environment (hard investment)
No
No
As an individual in partnership with other persons
First name: Matilda Last name: Hansson Jessen Gender: Female Age: 29 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Sweden Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Asperogatan 8B Town: Gothenburg Postal code: 414 74 Country: Sweden Direct Tel:+46 70 424 19 47 E-mail:mtldajessen@hotmail.com
First name: Jade Last name: Yakutiel Gender: Female Age: 25 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Belgium Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Riemstraat 49, apt. 2.2 Town: Antwerpen Postal code: 2000 Country: Belgium Direct Tel:+32 488 62 20 85 E-mail:jade.yakutiel@gmail.com
First name: Marcus Last name: Andersson Gender: Male Age: 28 Please attach a copy of your national ID/residence card:
By ticking this box, I certify that the information regarding my age is factually correct. : Yes Nationality: Sweden Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Asperogatan 8B Town: Gothenburg Postal code: 414 74 Country: Sweden Direct Tel:+46 73 687 98 38 E-mail:marcus.andersson15@outlook.com
This concept aims to bridge a perceived gap between human urban culture and nature by reconnecting the citizens with the work of the hand in relation to natural materials and processes. The aim is also to create and support a vibrant public space filled with an atmosphere of inspiration, hope, education and creativity. The main idea is to create an educational platform on how to perform traditional handicraft, take part of a circular production chain and to awaken a local ecosystem through urban farming. Another important part of the concept is to restore the local cultural heritage of the site and meanwhile create a new public space typology in the city. The aim is to inspire a more sustainable relation to production and an increased sustainable lifestyle, where methods for circularity and self-sufficiency become more available. This new typology of public space provides a platform for working craftsmen, urban farming, educational courses and scientific research. By gathering a diversity of knowledge and designing a pedagogical spatiality, workshops and other spaces for activities can link through a thematic narrative. This is to give visitors and participants a visual and experienced understanding of a relevant relation between different fields of knowledge. Architectural sight lines are used throughout the building as a method for showcasing both manufacturing and the use of a final product. The interface between creator and user becomes visible as the building spatially guides one activity to another. The interface between humans and other species also becomes present by expanding the concept to the surrounding grounds, which on this site has a great potential for education and scientific research on treating polluted seawater and soil. Together with urban farming, this can showcase the necessity to collaborate with other species in order to create a future sustainable society.
Cultural heritage
Handicraft
Knowledge
Circularity
Diversity
This concept creates a physical space to gather initiatives and local production of handicrafts, knowledge and food at a central urban location. With a respectful approach towards the local cultural heritage, a gentle transformation of a suitable unutilized building can result in an inclusive and accessible center where the citizens can learn, take part of or just visit to reside in a positive atmosphere of transition towards a sustainable future. The method also involves a creation of supportive environments for other species and an illumination of the necessity of co-existence in a future sustainable society. One part of the process is to clean the heavily polluted grounds through phytoremediation and to cultivate seaweed in the harbor basins to restore aquatic habitats and exploring the advantages of multispecies co-working strategies. This could also expand in parts of the concept to invite the wild and partially restore the former wetlands. We have strived throughout the entire process to work closely with the Agenda 30 SDG e.g. by considering life on land through making space for plants, animals and humans, as well as the life in water, by locally restoring marine habitat with seaweed farming. The restoring and preserving of an existing building as well as reusing its materials, gives the project a lower impact on the climate. The goal for the usage of the building is to teach and revive knowledge in crafts and locally produced goods, as well as to support the local farmers and producers near the city. This to set an example of responsible production. It is an inclusive center, for everyone to participate and contribute to diversity within the different purposes of the facility. The activities and spaces within our project encourage new meetings and opportunities between people.
The local context is a vital part of this concept, to carry the memories and traces of the historical use of the city to guide the future development and use. To learn from the cultural heritage when creating new cultural layers is important in order to respect the knowledge of different actors from different times, but also for noticing past mistakes or success. Because of the central location of the site and good connection to infrastructure, the conditions are beneficial for an urban-rural linkage and also gives the site great potential for experimenting with a new typology of public space. Urban farming could then collaborate with farmers on the local countryside. The initiative of marine cultivation in the harbor could collaborate with researchers at the local university. This strengthens the identity of the city by revitalizing work in this central harbor, which is inactive today. Our proposal is to establish a center dedicated to handicraft such as pottery, glass blowing, woodwork, forging, and cooking etc. Architectural sight lines are used throughout the building as a method for showcasing both manufacturing and the use of a final product. By e.g. locating a café between a pottery and a bakery, the visitor can observe a series of the same coffee cup being made while drinking from it, as well as observing their bread being baked in the other direction. This method is used throughout the whole plan and connects all actors involved in the project. By accumulating situations that show these otherwise often alienated production chains, the understanding and perception of the value of each crop or object increases. Citizens are invited to learn how to create and repair everyday objects and in that way learn how to become more self-sufficient. This strengthens a sense of value and belonging and provides the city with tools to promote a more resource-efficient society. Overall this public space becomes a showroom for local production and sustainable initiatives.
The concept’s take on inclusion has a lot to do with the creation of a new typology of public space. A center dedicated to handicraft and urban farming, which would work similar to a library or a cultural center, where the entrance is free even though plenty of events are taking place. This center would not be driven by commercial interests, but be financed through several economical legs and curated initiatives. Visitors are invited to stroll around, sign up for a course in one of the workshops or have a meal in the restaurant while observing the food being prepared in the kitchen, the drinking glass being blown in the next room or the vegetables growing right outside the window. Workers and craftsmen are partly financed by the center and partly provided by their driven business. The site, and case study, for this concept is located within an inactive harbor area in the center of Gothenburg, Sweden. This harbor area carries a great historical and cultural value but the central parts are no longer in use. The surrounding areas are today mainly used by small businesses such as local breweries, carpenters and artists. This concept wants to support these actors and activities while also making space for other initiatives that share a common need for a low rent. Today the building, the surrounding actors and the cultural heritage is threatened by the city development plans for the area. But, there are major difficulties regarding the appropriateness for new constructions on the site, which has postponed the development for an indefinite period of time. By gathering the local actors with new initiatives and groups of interest, this concept can be supported by different levels of economical input and rather be a strategic relocation and co-ordination to fill multiple purposes at once. This might be a solution to the difficulties of the site.
A vital part of this concept is to invite and encourage citizens and groups of interest to take part in developing the area. Different actors can be brought together and with supported guidance and provided resources, it can result in a thriving urban culture. Because of the ambition of making the site into an open public space, all citizens can visit and take part in a vibrant public space filled with an atmosphere of inspiration, hope, education and creativity that shares and cares for resources, knowledge and cultural values.The theme of providing knowledge and education addresses the citizens own ability and aims to expand it further. This new knowledge can become the foundation of a more sustainable lifestyle, which benefits the individual as well as the collective.
This concept is developed through a student project, but the local municipality has officially reached out for inspiration regarding the use of the site. The existing building will be preserved due to its cultural heritage, but the future function is still not determined. Today the building is not in use and has not been for several decades. During our process we interviewed a variety of different craftsmen and researchers to better understand the spatial needs for their work. This had a very positive effect on the result of our conceptual drawings, as we’re now sure that the workshops we’ve designed should be fully functional. We also mapped the historical and cultural layers of the site for preserving the heritage of the city.
The craftsmen, the architects, the citizens, the current actors in the surrounding area, the former harbor workers, the universities, the pollinators and the urban farmers are all part of defining this concept. Collaboration across disciplinary borders works as a great potential in order to develop sustainable innovations. The gathering of different actors, disciplines and perspectives on one site is a fundamental part of developing an interdisciplinary collaboration. The citizens as well as the different actors and educators can be inspired by each other and in that way develop new perspectives and solutions to their own issues.
We find that the site has a great potential for experimenting with a new typology of public space, a platform where citizens can meet, observe, learn and participate in the transition towards a more sustainable society. Instead of being commercially driven, the platform is funded by different stakeholders within the municipality. A center for learning, creating, remembering and contemplating. It becomes a pedagogic manifestation on how to face today's challenges like climate change, pandemic restrictions or cut off resources due to national conflicts. When in use, the center becomes a spatial expression of how a community can make a difference. Hopefully this concept will act as an inspiration on an international level and lead to further exchanges of knowledge and cooperations. The concept can also be adapted to different scales and be applied in similar contexts.
The architectural take on the concept is to work with a pedagogical, thematic and narrative spatiality through architectural sight lines and transparency, while respecting and highlighting the cultural heritage of the site. A great focus is on the preservation and restoration of the existing building and the added architectural grip is to be modest and primarily indicative. The aim of the concept is achieved through conceptual activities, beautiful settings and the access to knowledge by doing. The core of this concept can easily be indicated in another context and on different scales.
The concept is a pedagogic manifestation on how to face global challenges like climate change, pandemic restrictions or cut off resources due to national conflicts. One important part of the solution for a more resistant and sustainable society is an increased and stabilized ability to become more self-sufficient, on the whole scale from an individual to a global level. When it comes to the use of resources, there’s an urgent need for a shift of mindset as well as a shift of act, but this cannot be achieved with only a moral compass. To be able to shift a behavior, get a deeper understanding and gain actual knowledge by doing, the right conditions must be available. Through local initiatives like this, a change can be achieved on a global level through further collaborations and inspirational influence. The point is to meet and exchange knowledge, to develop on an individual level and to participate in the transition towards a more sustainable future through a local community. A greater sense of belonging is also important to get more people involved.
