GREENHOUSE IN VELBASTAÐUR, FAROE ISLANDS

A community center

2022.01 - 2022.06

Master Final thesis Project / individual

Site: Velbastaður, the Faroe Islands

Key words: public architecture, landscape Superviser: Tom Mose Petersen

When it comes to the greenhouses, people are familiar with the image of a pure glass-andiron structure for cultivate plants. However, greenhouses was known as "winter garden" in history, because it's features also provide suitable indoor climate for human at high latitudes. The greenhouses become one of the prevailing public space in Eroupe.

In Faroe Islands, the extreme enviroment is a big challange for people and plant, so that the indoor public space is critial for faroeses to gather and have their social lifes, and the indoor controlled climate is a way for grow new species in Faroe islands, where almost only the root vegetables can grow up in. The greenhouse could be a promising prototype for people and plants in Faroe islands.

Velbastaður is built on a slope of nearly 30 degrees, with houses, roads, and any space deliberately created, like isolated islands, weakly linked by human acquaintance physically. In a city built on flat land, public spaces such as squares are of great importance to life. It gives people the possibility to connect with each other and create a common memory. In this project, try to bring the quality of the square to the city in my greenhouse; to become a "slope square" for the village.

The undefined open space I try to create is a background for the life here. I believe that space is not defined by the architect, but by the user. What the design is supposed to achieve is contextualized with the possibility of development and change. The villagers might bring extra chairs from home to the site and come to relax and chat sometimes. The water is gurgling, with horses and sheep passing by occasionally. This is my vision of the greenhouse.

David:-new comers:

"The village gather together in new year, we set a bonfire. but I don't join that much. the people live in this street we gather four times in a year. we don't use the village house, we ...hold in our houses by turns."

Simona Heinesen -teacher in kindergarten: "All the kid in the village come to this kindergarden. and there is also a few kids from thoshavn. because their parents appreciate the nature here."

Theodor Kapnas-Musician "the reason i wanna settle here is the good view and peaceful vibe. and the village is very open-minded, more and more young artist are coming to live here."

"I am from greece originally. moved here in 90's with my family, so im almost a Faroese."

Bergur Dalsgard -nurse in rehab: "the reason why they build the center here, is to closed to the city but away from the city.

Marin Katrina Frýdal -Former board mumber of Sólarmagn: " born here, and than moved to thoshavn. Even not lived here anymore, but I still come back for the events in the community house."

Oli Rubeksen -farmer/private restaurateur: " am almost the eldest people in the village, and i bearly know the new comers. my son know them because they meet in their kids' school."

The nature is a method to get rehab."

"we try to invite the new comers to join our kniting club, but some of them never come."

The Introduction Of The Site

The story begins with the greenhouse. When one thinks of a greenhouse, the stereotype would probably be a structure of steel and glass used to cultivate plants. Within the history of greenhouses, they took the form of winter gardens, a type of popular social place in the high latitudes especially during the winter-- a warm, greenery-filled interior, yet with the airy feeling of being outside. For the site of this project,I chose the Faroe Islands, where extreme weather exists and a greenhouse might be a potential solution to some needs. Everything about the Faroe Islands is the opposite of what I used to know. It was challengeable and also important for me to learn a new place and try to position myself properly since the Faroe Islands is such an isolated and colorful world. With its changing extreme climate and dramatic landscape, the human presence seems particularly insignificant. Full of awe, caution and passion, the Faroese people have created their home in this land. Since the Faroe Islands have had colored paint, each tiny house leaps colorfully across the tundra as if to say,"I'm here! I'm here!

I went to the Faroe Islands for research in March, windy, cloudy and rainy, and it would be very lucky if we could see the sun. I chose Velbastaður, which is ten minutes away from the capital Tórshavn, as my site. Due to its close proximity to the capital, it is a popular settlement while still preserving the feeling of living in the countryside with the sunshine and by the sea. But also because it is too close to the capital, the village does not have much infrastructure, and the villagers just live in their sweet home most of the time. More than 300 people in the village know each other, but they also keep themselves disconnected in many ways.

Velbasta Ur

The village Velbastaður is built on a slope of nearly 30 degrees, with houses, roads, and any space deliberately created, like isolated islands, weakly linked by human acquaintance physically. In a city built on flat land, public spaces such as squares are of great importance to life. It gives people the possibility to connect with each other and create a common memory. In this project, I try to bring the quality of the square to the city in my greenhouse; to become a "slope square" for the village.

Design Process

My first step was to plan the functions of the greenhouse, which is selling, gardening and dining. Acting in these functional spaces encourages informal social activities to occur. Secondly, a gently sloping path was introduced in the site to break the large volume of the building while breaking the restrictions that the slope creates based on people's activities. This is also the logic of the development of the village form, where the roads were built to guide people to settle in the sloping site. Finally, some open space are placed between houses and the slope. The outdoor space can be sheltered from the wind by the cooperation between the buildings and the terrain.

THE "PATH"

The undefined open space is a background for life here. I believe that space is not defined by the architect, but by the user. What the design is supposed to achieve is contextualized with the possibility of development and change. The villagers might bring extra chairs from home to the site and come to relax and chat sometimes. The water is gurgling, with horses and sheep passing by occasionally. This is my vision of the greenhouse.

Continuous Wood Structure

After the whole volume was broken by the walkway, I formed their clues through the wooden structure relationship between the small blocks, making them a whole. A few tiny wiggles between the small volumes create a more dynamic surrounding space.