Project:
En, To, Tre...Rødt Lys!

About

• Project description

  Architecture And The Open Field Of Possibilities

  The growth of the Oslo region is activating energies and hopes as well as uncertainty and concerns regarding a transformation that seems radical and inevitable. The ever-changeing nature of the contemporary condition demands the elaboration of a strategy that could direct the urban development and all together accommodate unpredictable changes.

  The proposal “En, to, tre...rødt lys!” is based on the conviction that architecture can frame changes through space and over time: rather than being subjected to the volatile desires of the market, architecture can be used as de- vice to define an open field of possibilities.

  Ås Territory As Objects On The Field.

  The territory of Ås is defined by a peculiar relationship between nature, agricultural land- scape and urbanization where architectural artifacts are singular objects lying on a continuous open filed. Going beyond the generic definition of sprawl we consider such condition as the spatial result of a specific way to inhabit the territory, where the relationship with the landscape has both a productive and a spiritual dimension. The project embraces the qualities of the existing territorial and cultural conditions and defines a strategy to formalize them into architectural devices.

  A New Civic Dimension And The Strategy Of Growth.

  The act of founding a new civic dimension for Ås is marked through the definition of the space, through an enclosure. The enclosure is not a fence that exclude but a boundary that, establishing a distinction between interior and exterior, identifies a space, giving a coherent frame to different possible speed and intensity of the development. The project defines therefore the strategy through which the density can vary within the enclosure without prescribing the quantity, the type and dimension of the interventions, but rather presenting three possible scenarios, three steps of the growth out of a field of possibilities. Densify to define the city on the urban level the project proposes to strategically focus on the existing resources, ostering the diversity of programs and subjects involved in the transformation and concentrating the density increase in the town center. At the same time the connection be- tween the town center and the University has to be strengthen stitching of the urban tissue toward the west. On the site scale, the inser- tion of the enclosure frames the field of a civic urban arena, allowing the transformation of existing buildings. A key role is played by the Mega, a “city lab” where urban activities could be tested to be then spread out in the city. We imagine the open space as a beach, a place where all men are equal, where the political debate to constitute the future of Ås can take place and form.

  Expand To Connect Lifestyles
  

  A further growth should be directed along the axis East-West as an urban injection in the territory of Ås. shifting the focal point of the city toward West and therefore facilitating the integration of city and campus life. The site will further develop, increasing its density in terms of both building mass and activities. The Tandberg estate could become an entirely new building for exhibition, workshops and learning activities replacing the old house. New buildings are imagined to increase significantly the density of the site while the open space should become a proper civic square that could combine a representative character with a degree of flexibility.
  

  City Form To Preserve The Fields
  

  A further development could be imagined around the voids where the agricultural land is already surrounded by the urban fabric. We propose to rigorously preserved the rural productive landscape, with “agricultural court- yards”, wide cultivated space on the scale of the urban fabric that will open a productive dialogue between the urban and the rural life. At the site level the enclosure will perform as an urban device capable to manage the urban circulation, a portico that will give an intense specific form to the urban environment. A glazed platform will flood the open space melting it into a kaleidoscopic interior field of activities defined by the enclosure as limit and the roof as horizon from which the distinct volumes will still emerge as islands of an archipelago.
  

• Jury remarks

  This entry is an intelligent approach to a complex site. The proposal has managed on the one hand to create a frame for the development and on the other hand it shows aware- ness that urban planning today is not about designing and controlling but about reacting and adapting to the unpredictable future. This is materialized with a literal ‘frame’ construction that ‘will embrace an open field of possibilities’. This strong gesture of ‘framing’ creates a new civic dimension and identifies the space of the future development. The frame idea contains also poetic interpretations reminding to the concept of paradise, a fenced garden.

  The project proposes a development in phases. The first phase of the proposal integrates the existing buildings that might be altered in order to incorporate new additions. The jury found it very positive that the plan can deal with the existing buildings of the area. After this, two more steps are described as pos- sible future scenarios, with different levels of density transforming the site eventually into a covered space with some open air patios.

  At the larger scale the project answers in a logical way, reinforcing first the city centre to make use of the existing resources and the proximity to the station. The link with the university is first materialized with an improved system of public transportation and in future phases with the progressing densification of this east-west axis, all with a careful preservation of agricultural areas, what the designer describes as ‘agricultural courtyards’.

  Although the plan argues that in Ås there is a tradition of ‘object placed in the landscape’ and uses this logic to position the new buildings in the framed ‘field of possibilities’, the project lacks a deeper reflection of the structure and character of the public space, that appears as the room left out by the buildings. The project could also elaborate more in the different functioning in summer and winter.

  In general, in spite of these points that the Jury finds easy to accomplish in future development, the project makes a very interesting 1st prize for Ås. It shows a good understanding of the conditions, the context, the program and it is also able adapt and evolve during the development process while keeping its strength and character.

• Team

  Team Representative: Luca Moscelli (IT) – architect; Associate: Angelo Renna (IT), Davide Sacconi (IT) – architects
  Contributor: Raffaele Patitucci (IT) – architect urbanist

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