OSLO
EXPLORING WASTE SPACE
Historically, landfills have been the most common method of organized waste disposal, and remain so in many places around the world. But as more and more waste is recycled, composted or incinerated with energy recovery, opportunities arise for these spaces to be put to new use.
In its hay day, the Grønmo landfill used to be the largest in Northern Europe. Having functioned as Oslo’s main spot for the unwanted since 1969, Grønmo counted over 8 million cubic meters of trash, (or more than 3 times the volume of the Cheops pyramid) when it closed in 2009. An enormous, artificial landscape built up from household waste, industrial waste, asbestos, hydroxide sludge, fly ash and more, fills up the former valley-scape.
How can Grønmo be transformed into something different? Can Grønmo become an attraction and a meeting place in the future? Can Grønmo take an instrumental role in increasing understanding and awareness on waste issues and recycling? Oslo municipality asks for innovative proposals on how Grønmo can be transformed and given new identity.