kuopio (fi

292

IntErvIEW

of the Site’S repreSentative tApIo rÄsÄnEn, architect Safa, planning Director, city of kuopio

presentation of the site within the context of the city development and in terms of strategy

the area is located at the northern edge of the city centre, along the entrance traffic artery, within the master plan’s public service zone. the competition area consists of a school buildings dating from the 1960s , 1970s and 1980s, which are being made available for other purposes, 1960s sports buildings reaching the end of their life cycle, as well as a railway cutting between them. West and south of the area are sports halls and school buildings, and on the east side are a museum and cemetery. the motorway functions as a backbone for the ribbon-like urban structure, with its exits immediately to the north of the planning area.

How can the site be integrated in the issue of the adaptable city and how do you consider this issue?

the objective is to defragment the urban structure, possibly with superimposed infill building above the railway line, to look for ideas for the reuse of the soon to be vacant educational institutions and sport facilities, as well as to improve the area’s urban image. under the urban strategy, the proposed ideas for activities can be supported by the existing recreational services in the city centre and vicinity. through building over the railway tracks, the hatsala campus becomes more tightly linked into the adjacent kuntolaakso sports area and the city centre.

At the time of sustainable development coupled to an economic crisis, have you already defined a specific strategy for the urban development of the site?

in the future, depending on the needs of the time, the area can be used for different types of housing, services, workplaces, schools and other functions typical of a city centre. the area of the adjacent multi-purpose hall may evolve into a conference and congress area, which must be taken into consideration in the development of the competition area. the economic crisis may alter plans to relocate the school from the competition area and delay the plan to develop the adjacent kuntolaakso area with sports and recreational services. this means that it must be possible to implement the overall plan in stages without heavy investment in amenities such as railway overpasses and mass car-parking facilities.

293

294

MaSterplan

savo nueva

team point of view Savo nueva consists of the new health campus with residential quarters around it. both are linked to kuopio city centre via a new pedestrian bridge. Meandering housing blocks on both sides of the railway (hatsala hill & north west hatsala) enhance urban quality in the east-west axis. former Savonia university of applied Sciences campus is being converted to a health campus. the main objective is to provide housing and wellness services for both elderly people and students, who share similar living requirements, providing synergistic and flexible advantages for both. the health campus is also a cultural hub. the former sports hall is renovated into a multi-purpose hall, which can serve as a venue for sports and cultural events. the health campus is part of the new public attractions for outside visitors.

jury point of view the three blocks containing apartment buildings as well as townhouses on hatsala hill, just south of and parallel to the railway, together with the bridge over the railway and its continuation as the “health bazaar”, form one of the competition’s most interesting and original urban ensembles of the competition. the wide bridge over the railway that going north turns into the health bazaar has the potential to become one of the most handsome public spaces in kuopio. this “health axis” also provides the programmatic “meat” for the new area.

façaDe to karjalankatu

aerial vieW froM South

295

DiagraM of health caMpuS Main builDing a=houSing for elDerly people / b=ServiceS / c=reStaurant / D=MultipurpoSe hall

ooiio architecture, calle galileo 91, 2º2. 28003 MaDriD, Spain t. +34 912826219 info@ooiio.coM WWW.ooiio.coM

296

criStina vicario Del cojo (eS) architect Maria SoleDaD antón vicente (eS) Sergio gonzález góMez (eS) patricia Moreno blaSco (eS) juan naranjo garcía (eS) lorena villoria caSaDo (eS) StuDentS in architecture

Somewhere over the train flow… rethinking the problem as the solution

team point of view the train divides this city area and generates disconnected areas that automatically become “b zones”. We decided to change that problem by going straight over it. Why not recycle this wasted space? over the railway we have created a pedestrian bridge street, with a wellness centre, shops, restaurants, gym… instead of building over the whole south railway plot zone, which would apparently be the easiest place to fulfil the entire project brief, we decided to concentrate the buildings programme on both sides of our pedestrian Wellness centre bridge-street, obtaining free space for a park on the whole proposed plot. We think that this strategy of bridge-constructions over railways could be an excellent idea to export to other city plots, to solve kuopio´s problem with its railway barrier.

jury point of view the proposal immediately strikes the viewer as intriguing and fascinating. it conjures up images of the urban utopias and megastructures of the 1960s and 1970s, while at the same time containing many topical and fashionable ideas, both in the chosen architectural language and in the diverse and lively hybridity of the proposed functions. the architecture, however, presents problems. the relationship between solids and voids on the facades and the monochrome colour scheme presented actually exaggerate the heaviness and scale of the individual masses and the whole composition. this leads to a situation where many would see the proposal as a dystopia rather than a utopia.

t. +358504099961 tuulikki.a.hoglunD@gMail.coM t. +358407283965 jaana.M.keranen@gMail.coM t. +35850407448217 Miia@MiiaMakinen.fi

Section through the Site

run to the hills

team point of view the central concept is the green deck that stretches over the railroad, connecting the surrounding green areas and taking the main pedestrian road smoothly into the city centre. the deck also serves as a recreational area linking the sports facilities. the deck is bordered with four new blocks that consist mainly of housing. the blocks are a combination of two baselines, the central grid plan and freely shaped surroundings. on the west side, apartment buildings form the backbone of the blocks; inside, smaller scale town-houses border the deck and higher apartment buildings connect the area to the adjacent housing area. apartments vary from senior and student studios to family townhouses with the aim of offering suitable housing for everybody and forming a vibrant area that enriches the city centre.

jury point of view the project is based on a fairly lightweight planted deck covering the railway line. this is a realistic starting point, especially since the deck becomes part of a natural route through the proposed pleasantly scaled and semi-enclosed urban housing blocks. in these housing blocks, together with the directional green park sections that form the connecting elements between them, lie the principal merits of this project. it is professionally presented and clearly shows that its author(s) possess the potential to create urban interventions of high quality.

297

viSualization of the MaSter plan

MaSter plan

298

aerial vieW froM eaSt, the exiSting city griD on the left

aerial vieW froM South phaSing

Meetings and greetings

team point of view the proposal tackles the question of adaptability by reinforcing the existing kuopio city centre grid. the urban block structure that has proved its resilience and versatility over the years is completed with six new blocks that reinterpret the traditional kuopio block system and the alternative street network called “rännikadut”. the block structure is clear and rigid to form an identifiable entity while allowing variation in typology and uses and staged completion. inside, the five storey high perimeter, three storey buildings form pleasant alleys with a picturesque scale for the pedestrian environment. Within the blocks, the newly implemented “rännikadut” with two-storey buildings forms a lively human scale for the courtyards, which encourages social interaction.

jury point of view the project provides a lightweight decking solution over the railway carrying a pedestrian and cycling route through the area as well as communal allotments. this is a sensible and realistic starting point. the main feature of the project is the new interpretation of the kuopio grid, including its special feature, the alleyways that traverse the urban blocks. the resulting five urban blocks provide a dense urban environment that forms a natural-looking continuation to the structure of the city centre as well as a strong urban edge along karjalankatu.

cronotopia

team point of view the particular context of kuopio becomes the locus for a radical proposal based on a living infrastructure capable of focusing attention on the relationship between the traces of the urban forms and the need for an architectural programme able to adapt to various urban scenarios. Working as a reaction to 3 keywords (urban grid, connectivity and greenbelt), our proposal fills the urban gap between the centre and the suburbs through a combination of complementary elements: a superimposed living infrastructure capable of filling the urban hiatus and meeting the programme needs; 7 sculptural devices capable of generating human densification and spreading urban rhythms; a crono-spatial programme based on an abacus of temporary precast elements ready to respond to the urban changes of the future.

jury point of view this very theoretical proposal appears to be trying to solve all the problems with a couple of swift strokes of the pen. going deeper into the ideas, you realize that these two strokes actually generate a lot of potential variety and that the development of the ideas shows a certain promising rationality. unfortunately, on this particular site, the chosen approach helps to solve very few problems. the project is beautifully presented, the typological graphs are fascinating as well as fun, and the general approach is utterly refreshing.

gloria caStellini (it) guya Di bella (it) boriS haMzeian (it) olMo Martellacci (it) nicola MaSotti (it) criStina paroDi (it) enrico Salvo (it) fabio Stranieri (it) Silvia torterolo (it) StuDentS in architecture neoStuDio architetti aSSociati t. +39 0105702692 neoStuDio.aa@gMail.coM WWW.neoStuDio.info hc2M re_proDuce architecture info@hc2M.eu WWWW.hc2M.eu

299