Location: Krogenes, Norway
Date: 2023
Programme: New Town
Client: Krogenes
Status: Completed
Area: 600 ha
Team: Traumnovelle (architects)
THE IDEAL CITY
Nobody likes car-orientated big-box urbanism. It is shuned by well-meaning
planners and politicians and unloved
by laypeople. Its cheap architecture and
unthought urban fabric are no less than
climatic, humane and aesthetic catastrophes. Nonetheless, this urban typology is probably one of the most prevalent worldwide. As such, it is frequented by large numbers of people and home to significant economic value.
In the current era of impending climate
collapse, efficient use of resources is a
necessity. The demolition of these urban
fabrics is unthinkable. Therefore, we must
learn to refit them to future uses, making
their architectural typologies more efficient
as well as the lifestyles they entail more durable. This is a bare minimum.
Beyond this, however, might we consider
actually finding qualities in these spaces?
Might we be inspired by their style, scale,
expression? Might we find opportunities
in their buildings’ huge and flexible structure? Might we find charm in their coloured materials and bold design? Might
we find meaning in the relations between
these buildings and the open areas that
surround them?
Could we transform these urban developments into something we might actually love? In a quest for archetypal typological solutions to answer this challenge, and their site-specific adaptation, The Ideal City combines the big box with the picturesque.
On the one hand, a neo-vernacular approach is prevalent in the architecture. The proposed typologies blend references to historical housing typologies of southern Norway - particularly those bordering strong landscape features and shorelines - with the scale and material expression and colours which characterise industrial
and commercial developments. In a timetested approach relying on reuse of old
structures, nearly all existing buildings are
saved and, in some instances adapated. In
others, they are left to live out their lifespans.
On the other hand, a neo-picturesque approachmarks the urban composition. Scenic networks dialog with natural features. Urban composition is based on a pedestrian’s point of view and aims to create diverse frames reminiscent of the historic city, but composed non-historicist architecture.
Damage to the existing site has already
been done. It is now our responibility to
make to most of this damage: to retroactively make it worthwhile. This is true both on the level on land-use, use of ressources, function, occupation, inclusion, style, narrative... The Ideal City is a case-study for the meaningful conversion of the many, many such urban developments that occupy our planet.
