ALTA

SCALES — L - Urban / architectural LOCATION — Bossekop POPULATION — 20,000 inhab. STRATEGIC SITE — 36 ha / PROJECT SITE — 9 ha SITE PROPOSED BY — Municipality of Alta OWNER OF THE SITE — Alta Skiferlag AS, Municipality of Alta POST-COMPETITION PHASE — Planning Commission

Lise AMUNDSEN — Urban Planner, City Planning Department, Alta Municipality

1. WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF THE SITE MUTATION? The municipality of Alta wants to transform Skiferkaia into an attractive multifunctional, urban and productive seafront where economic and social development as well as sustainable processes interact and reinforce one another. The transformation aims at making the seafront more accessible to the public and it is perceived as a recreational area with functional connections to the local centre. There is as goal to develop the site in order to strengthen and create an urban structure that will contribute to a more sustainable local centre in Bossekop.

2. HOW CAN THE SITE BE INTEGRATED IN THE ISSUES OF PRODUCTIVE CITIES? HOW DO YOU CONSIDER THE PRODUCTIVITY ISSUE? The specific aspect of productivity, applying here to the site, would be one that can interact with public and residential areas, and also likely to reflect the history and the site as the main arena for the slate industry.

3. HAVE YOU ALREADY DEFINED A SPECIFIC PROCESS FOR THE URBAN AND/OR ARCHITECTURAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE AFTER EUROPAN? The intention of the municipality is to develop the site following the guiding principles and visions of the Europan results. Of course, in order to achieve these goals and intentions there are decisions that cannot be made by the administration of the municipality alone, but need to be clarified both on the political side and on the site owner’s side, regarding the investors and funds.

Tanca

AUTHOR(S) — Pietro Colonna (IT), Architect CONTRIBUTOR(S) — Enrico Zetti, Maureen Soupe, Students in architecture

ALTA (NO) — WINNER

CONTACT — Pietro Colonna Architect, Sevilla (ES) T. +34 674739429 pietrocolonnaarchitect@gmail.com, www.pietrocolonna.it

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — Located far beyond the Arctic Circle on the banks of the Norwegian Sea, surrounded by the spectacular landscape of the fjords, the town of Alta hosts “Tanca” our Europan 14 proposal. More precisely, the proposal is located in the neighbourhood of Bossekop, which thrives on fishing and craftsmanship, especially on traditional carpentry and slate processing. The word Tanca means “large container for water or other materials”. Conceiving the town as a container of community synergies, Tanca hosts Bossekop inhabitants favouring the implementation of an alternative lifestyle in which social development is centred on co-operative models. It is based on a highly experimental acquaponic system combining fish farming and agricultural production in greenhouses around which the residential pattern develops.

JURY POINT OF VIEW — The project proposes a transformation strategy that densifies Skiferkaia site in three phases. The proposal works with the connections to the water structurally and programmatically. The urban scheme works with connections to Bossekop, and it has a clear relation to the waterfront. The project suggests big variety of programmes and complementary programmes related to the seafront that aims for a productive profile. It focuses on a cultural, economical and environmental development that benefits entrepreneurship, knowledge-based industry and tourism.

Re-Meaning

AUTHOR(S) — Héctor Termenón López (ES), Ignacio Pérez Anzola (ES), Pablo Menéndez Paunero (ES), Architects CONTACT — Berlin (DE) T. +49 15751945812, g33arquitecto@gmail.com

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — Transforming traditional industry in urban synergies. Within the urban context of Alta, Bossekop and Skiferkaia have a relevant position as a gateway, since the city of Alta can be reached from the South of the country by road or exit or by the airport in Elvebakken. In any case, the potential to become an icon of social and economic activities in the urban context of Alta is considerable due to its easy access from the “City”, and its unique access to the sea facing the Alta Fjord. “Re-meaning” is transforming the seafront in a multifunctional promenade. The clear directionality of the architectural intervention is broken by the appearance of two main paths that cross it, a diagonal establishing a direct connection between the centre of Bossekop and the sea front, and another horizontal line linking the resulting free spaces between buildings.

JURY POINT OF VIEW — The transformation strategy leaves much of the space at Skiferkaia open, while the sloping terrain between Bossekop and Skiferkaia is densely built with student housing. The project proposes to transform the existing buildings at Skiferkaia, and it suggests adding new structures and buildings that define, together with the existing environment, the outdoor spaces. The proposed plan, with its openings and public spaces, caters to the seafront. The strategy of transformation leaves room to adapt, and shows a smartness in how it gives the existing buildings a new meaning.

ALTA (NO) — RUNNER-UP

AUTHOR(S) — Tin Phan (NO), Urban theorist, architect CONTRIBUTOR(S) — Wai Fung Chu (HK), Architect; Eakapobh Huangthanapan (TH), Architect-urbanist CONTACT — Gattaca + collaborators, Oslo (NO) T. +47 45030748 tin@gattaca.no, www.gattaca.no

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — This entry presents an urban strategy and design proposal based on the understanding of social, economic and urban conditions. It raises the question; if production is relocated from urban areas to the peripheries, are we not at risk of losing qualities, intrinsic to production areas, such as social networks, working cultures, knowledge exchange between professionals? The proposal reintroduces production and reinvents Bossekop as a converging meeting ground for cross-cultural and professional understanding. The design is a mediation between existing and new facilities, and different types of interactions with the harbourfront. Furthermore, a plan is added to facilitate the beneficial social networks among the different citizenship, in the afterlife of the design proposal.

Hydro-Therapy

AUTHOR(S) — Victor Maréchal (FR), Architect; Maria Fernanda Serna (CO), Landscape architect

ALTA (NO) — SPECIAL MENTION

CONTACT — Paris (FR), T. +33 643415979 victor.marechal@co-pra.fr, mariafeserna@gmail.com

TEAM POINT OF VIEW — With its sub-arctic climate and the seaside position on the fjord, the city of Alta may become an exotic and attractive city if it develops a symbiotic relationship between both tourism and maritime productivity. The project finds in the potential of the algae culture from the sea a way to propose a complementary program involving research (laboratories) and well-being (thalassotherapy). The existing quay is dug to welcome public baths facilities and becomes a recreational platform in front of the fjord. Alta´s seafront will offer a revitalized landscape shared among inhabitants, tourists and workers. It creates a holistic seafront system that uses algae to link production and recreation. The sea is not only a living environment but becomes a field of production linked to a productive district.