Bjørvika New Urban Spaces
Location: Bispevika, Lohavn, Bjørvika, Oslo harbour, No
Client: Bjørvika Infrastruktur
Team: Stig L. Andersson, Hanne Bruun Møller, Lisbeth Westergaard, Jonas Rune Sangberg, Thomas Kock, Stine Poulsen, Marie Priem
Collaborators: Gehl Architects
Design phase: 2004-2005
Area: 18 ha.
Watch the video Let's Not Talk About Aesthetics by SLA and learn more about the project.
Other SLA projects in Norway:
Fornebu: plan for a new residential area outside Oslo
Ulset Vest: Planning of new housing with views for all homes
What came first, buildings or urban spaces? In the central harbour areas of Oslo both the construction process and the seven urban spaces have been turned upside down. Planning starts with the spaces, only later are the buildings added. The urban space and city life are the starting point for a development for the benefit of the citizens.
The development plan for the quayside in Oslo and seven central urban spaces connects the centre of town to the fjord, the mouth of the river, Akerselva, the Central Station and the new Opera House. The plan unites city and water in three sensory elements: contouring, edges and water
. Angles and slopes create variation, the edges of buildings and differences in level create seating and paths, whilst rushing, trickling and vaporised water accentuates the position by the fjord. Each place has its own identity in an individual combination of water, edges and contouring. A continuous floor of black basalt rolls itself out and creates one space for the seven central city spaces.
On the one hand a unified picture is created, a basic space with its starting point in the landscape, the city and life. On the other the unity is anchored in site-specific terms, in activities and in situations in the general sense and for strolling. Together an operational weft of unity and variation is created, which simply makes it possible for the city spaces to be developed over time and become springboards for city development.
