Future Rural Communities project in the north of Norway

 

Two rural villages in Northern Norway have been chosen for the Future Rural Communities project (Fremtidens bygder). They are Flakstad in Nordland and Mosjøen in Nordland.

This project is an initiative from NAL-Ecobox, in collaboration with Trefokus and Zero and has a focus on environment development in rural areas in Norway. Just seven rural communities have been chosen for this phase:   Norddal in Møre og Romsdal, Granvin in Hordaland, Iveland in Aust-Agder, Rakkestad in Østfold, Harestua in Oppland,  Flakstad in Nordland and Mosjøen in Nordland

About the project:
The project’s objective is to demonstrate practically how to design and build in an environmental friendly manner not only focusing on the big cities but also in rural communities. Area efficiency is an important part of a holistic vision on sustainability and it’s also applicable in rural areas. It is environmentally correct to project and build in a compact settlement instead of the disperse settlement pattern that exists now in rural areas. Much of the work done now in Norway is concentrated in main cities while rural communities are characterized by a disperse settlement pattern.

Michael Lommertz from Ecobox explains in this months Arkitektnytt 4, that there are many large houses in rural areas where big families lived before and now only very few people live. By moving people near to each other transportation will be reduced and public transportation is easier to plan. Less transport and more compact development reduces energy. Another key reason for a compact building pattern is, according to Lommertz, to protect land resources.  In rural areas there may be lack of space: Disperse development will often spread into agricultural land or natural areas. For those who believe density is a problem, Lommertz says that it can still contribute to an attractive environment because people and activities are gathered, and in concentrated settlement the architectural qualities can be raised more easily. In other words this project is about developing places where it is attractive to live.

I hope this project, besides helping environmental friendly building, will make these communities, characterized by depopulation, a more attractive place to live and do business. In this way the people will return to rural areas, the cities will get less crowded, and the quality of life will increase for everyone.

Fields of Exploration _ Limits of Exploitation

Course on mining operations on the landscape in Northern Norway.

                                                                                               photo: Syd-Varange mines, reiseliv.no

Architecture Students from AHO (Oslo architect school) led by Kjerstin Uhre and Knut Eirik Dahl, from the Tromsø office Dahl & Uhre architects, are mapping mining operations on the landscape in Northern Norway.
The students together with their teachers are trying to understand what is happening with the people, the landscape and the cities  in the Northern part of Norway when the mining companies arrive here. "Because of rising commodity prices abroad closed mines will reopen in the north and local activity will dramatically increase in the near future. The goal of the course, declared Dahl, is to get the students to understand how territories changes. A difficult task, that will teach the students to dare to challenge certain issues and by doing this they will be at the forefront of development" http://www.arkitektnytt.no/vil-vare-i-forkant-av-utviklingen

This is a very interesting and important course that will bring knowledge not only to the students involved but to our region.
I recommend all to follow the students’ blog to learn more about this problem that will eventually affect all of us.
http://fieldsofexploration.blogspot.com/

Exhibition in Cuba

 The beginning:

When I arrived to the Faculty of Architecture a few days after I arrived in Cuba, both the Dean and the teachers welcomed me with open arms and showed me where they thought the exhibition could be.

The place needed painting and some of the windows had to be sealed, but apart from that the room was great. So, that same day we started planning where to hang the material I had taken with me.

 (photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

Because Sami Rintala teaches and works closely with his students I wanted to include local architecture students in the exhibition somehow. One of the teachers suggested that the students could design a “Vara en Tierra” (this is a typical Cuban small hut to take shelter during hurricanes). The idea was not to build a traditional one, but one with a new interpretation, a new concept….

 

 Setting up the exhibition:  

Two days later, the room was ready and the students had designed a new “Vara en Tierra”, unfortunately they did not have the materials to build it, nor the time to find materials, but they tried anyway. Their concept was to show in a computer inside the hut what they had planed to build. 

 (photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

With the help of the teachers, students and my family we set up the exhibition in a couple of hours and we finished just when people started arriving.

 (photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

 The opening:

The Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Jorge Peña Díaz, and the Vice-dean Lic. Lourdes Rodrigues officially opened the exhibition. Then it was my turn to say some words about Rintalas work. Two well know young cuban actors (Gabriella Griffith and Carlos Alejandro Halley) held a performance where they at the end made a bridge with their arms for people to enter the exhibition.

 (photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

 Participation:

Over 50 persons participated in the exhibition among them representatives from the Foreing Affairs Department of the CUJAE, students, teachers and others.

(photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

 Impact:

I am happy with the impact that exhibition had on the faculty, the participants signed a book and gave compliments to all of us for the exhibition and stated their satisfaction and hopes for a new exhibition in the near future. I have also received some letters of exposure assessment from the university.

(photo: Michele R. Widerøe)

 Future plans:

Sami Rintala and I are planning to set up a workshop in Cuba where Rintala and his students from NTNU will conduct a two week stay, work and cooperation with the students of the Faculty of Architecture in Havanna.