Urban by Nature | E13
Runner Up - Europan 13 - Ørsta, Norway
Our entry for E13 is an urban strategy for the Norwegian town Ørsta, suggesting to strengthen the city's identity by use of nature. New green corridors are connecting the outer Ørsta landscape to the town centre and creating new public spaces with unique atmospheres and urban qualities to revitalize the city of Ørsta.
Ørsta has the potential to become an urban center in the region of Søre Sunnmøre. Ørsta has a strong retail position and a natural surrounding that is attractive to families. It is in the combination of these qualities that the Urban by Nature-project envisions Ørsta in the future: an intensified natural setting that creates urbanity, enhances the shopping conditions and will attract new inhabitants to the urban core.
The green-urban structure of Ørsta will be optimized by three strategic interventions: a) a high-quality residential area along the water front b) a variety of green urban spaces and shopping experiences c) connected public spaces that are adapted to the climate and make the natural surroundings accessible in all seasons.
The project envisions this new physical connections on two levels. Firstly, a series of green corridors are designed, flowing into the urban core of Ørsta, connecting city and periphery and allowing for nature and urban life to merge. At this level the project introduces a new landscape path “landskapsstien” binding the city center and the surrounding nature together. Secondly, in the core of Ørsta, an urban surface is shaped as a place of densification, strengthened by a series of intense green public spaces and a waterfront promenade.
The urban surface / town core
There is not enough urban life in Ørsta to sustain a viable urban culture in the sprawling center of today. We therefore propose to make a small, but intensified inner town core.
The urban surface will work as a patchwork of pavements and green urban spaces. In the development of Ørsta, new functions and infills will be primarily aimed at this urban surface. The focus will lay on the water front, that will be more actively programmed and where high-quality residential areas will arise, and the areas around the Amfi shopping mall, where urban space is created by clever parking solutions.
The green corridors
A series of green corridors flow into the urban core of Ørsta, connecting city and periphery and allowing for nature and urban life to merge. The project introduces a new focus on ‘wilfully wild’ nature along the existing rivers or ‘elvas’ flowing through the urban core.
Nature will be brought into the city by ‘cutting open’ parts along the grey and empty streets making them lively, green and wild without maintainence. The new green corridors will run all the way into the city core creating identities for three new spaces in Ørsta; Vannrommet, Skogsplassen and Elvebroa.
By giving spare paved areas back to nature, and precisely choosing some others for intensification of urban life, Ørsta will bee revitalised with more live - both urban and green.
Skogsplassen
The main city square of the new Ørsta is Skogsplassen. It is situated between Amfi Shopping Center and Ørsta Torg Shopping mall and connects the shopping malls with the pedestrian shopping street Vikegata. From Skogsplassen a green corridor runs along Vikegeila to Vikeelva, creating a cross country ski trail and hike track out of the city towards a new nature center on the way towards Saudehornet. The green corridor is merging into the square and the result is a strong urban anchor in the city, connecting trade, city life and nature.
Acknowledging that the inner street of Amfi is the most popular street in Ørsta, the Urban by Nature-project wants to strengthen the urban core by creating a better coherence between urban spaces and the inside world of the shopping malls. We suggest expanding Amfi with functions such as a restaurant or a market place in order to achieve integration between the center and the city and strengthen both the brand of the shopping mall and the urban life of Ørsta.
Skogsplassen gets a unique character from different planting zones. One zone is planted with pine trees that creates shelter from the wind and offers the special scent of pine forest. Others zones are functioning as an urban pantry where people of Ørsta can harvest local blueberries, mushrooms, herbs. The space in front of Amfi is a large flexible surface where there is space for a flea or local food market or a large gathering at May 17th. This is the new place to meet!
Vannrommet
Vannrommet is a transformation of Halleplassen and is located in the northwest part of the city core. It connects the Villa-åa – a small backyard stream – with the fjord and creates a new urban water space next to Kaihuset.
Opposite of Kaihuset, the new water space is framed by a new building with collective open facilities on the ground floor and new youth housing on top. The abandoned buildings next to it are transformed into workshop facilities and new apartments added on top.
In the urban space of Vannrommet a special atmosphere is created by the use of water. It is meant as a place for play and a transition between the urban core and the fjord.
The waterfront is given back to the people of Ørsta, who can now enjoy a huge water field, with water damp, fountains, a sauna and access to bathing in the fjord via the new water edge. A pier is created for kayaks and small sailing boats to lie at and access the communal activity house directly. The parking area is optimized around the street in the north end of the square, where the paving creates safe crossings connecting the square to the surrounding functions. A wooden promenade is established with a variation of accesses to the water along the harbor front, combining an active waterfront with an active urban center.
Elvebroa
Elvebroa is an important touchdown, located on the landscape path creating a connection between the landscape and the urban core. The area is situated at the estuary of Vikeelva and Skytjeåa, between the south parking lot of Amfi and the marina.
The existing Hamneparken is transformed into a new landscape area – an archipelago consisting of a topography that can be flooded during high tide and rainy seasons. The new landscape provides a more organic edge of the river and generates new microclimates. It brings the grand nature closer to the city. Smaller wooden bridges connect the islands for pedestrians and bikes.
In order to bring the ‘campus’ area - consisting of schools and public institutions - closer to the urban core, a new public function is placed in the middle of the landscape. The function could for example be an afterschool care or kindergarten with unique proximity to nature, where the children can fish for tadpoles, have courses outside and learn about the different nature types of Ørsta. The Elvebroa is a wooden bridge on the landscape path, creating a safe passage across the E39 and a new point of access to the water.
Urban by Nature reintroduces the strong connection between Ørsta and its surrounding nature as the main driver of further development of the city. The diversity of nature within close proximity of the city offers great possibilities for a variety of outdoor activities in both summer and winter with cross country skiing, mountain biking, hiking, river-fishing, kayaking, sailing and bathing in the lakes and fjord. For many people living in Ørsta, this is the main reason for settling here.
Ørsta is already a strong local community and we suggest with our project a strategy that continues on this path, creating new partnerships involving public and private partners, entrepreneurs and voluntary organizations. The strategy works on different scales and can develop in different pace, making way for a locally-based dynamic process, in the revitalizing and development of Ørsta.
Stuen Architects
Anders Liisberg,
Anne-Mette Hjøllund,
Anne-Ragnhild Larsen,
Christian Stahlfest Holck Skov,
Jan Loerakker,
Lea Olsson,
Louise Dedenroth Høj,
Rie Davidsen