BIG AMBITIONS: KIRUNA
We want to engage the
inhabitants in a dialogue about
their wishes and dreams for the new Kiruna
you?” says von Schmalensee. “Different parts of the old – mostly wooden – buildings will be moved and we plan to set up a kind of marketplace, where people can exchange materials or parts from old buildings so they can be incorporated into the new ones. This will mean people can keep part of the old city – they might find a doorknob from a public building they loved, for example.” The remote location of Kiruna adds an extra challenge. It’s 87 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Swedish Lapland, and has a sub-Arctic climate where the sun never sets in summer and never rises in the winter and temperatures can plummet to -40°C. It’s vital that the masterplan uses resources efficiently, therefore, and the plan is to harness the enor- mous amounts of waste heat generated by the mining activity, combined with wind turbines to create energy and recycling infrastructure to reduce freight and waste.
LEISURE AND CULTURE The past three years have seen White Arkitekter engage with the community via a series of consultations and meetings to find out what they want from the new Kiruna. One of the themes that has come up repeat- edly is a desire for more leisure and culture – for places to meet and more social activities. “There’s not much leisure or cultural pro- vision in Kiruna at the moment,” says White Arkitekter’s social anthropologist Viktoria Walldin. “What there is is mainly focused on hiking, skiing, and outdoor sporting activities. There is a swimming pool, but it’s very old. Residents find that when they have visitors from the south, they get bored because there’s
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Kiruna’s sub-Arctic climate means that the sun never rises in winter and never sets in summer
nothing to do. There’s no downtown – nothing. “If you ask the people of Kiruna what they want, the first thing they say is that they want more leisure facilities. They want a modern city. The people of Kiruna are active, well-travelled and multi-cultural. This needs to be reflected in the new town.” So, how is White Arkitekter planning to work this demand for more leisure and cul- ture into the plans? “It’s partly to do with speaking to the residents, and partly getting the leisure, culture and social departments of the municipality to work together to upgrade their offering,” says Walldin. Creating more leisure and culture will help in the bid to make Kiruna more attractive to women, families and tourists, says Walldin. “Also, increasing the size of the service industry will create more jobs for both men and women.” Exactly how the new Kiruna will look is
being debated, but the new town will defi- nitely feature a swimming pool and a library,
says von Schmalensee, and more hotels are a must, as demand currently outstrips supply.
CIVIC SQUARE AND CITY HALL Phase one of the masterplan will see the con- struction of a new civic square for Kiruna. It will house its historic clock tower, which is being moved from its original location, and a new city hall – called The Crystal – which has been designed by Danish firm Henning Larsen Architects. This will house cultural, social and music events, as well as the admin- istration for the local government. Inspired by the area’s iron ore, the inner
building will be shaped like a crystal, with the outer building surrounding it like a ring to protect it from the elements. Parts of Kiruna’s old City Hall – which dates back to 1958 and was designed by Artur von Schmalensee – are being incorporated into the new one, with the bell tower and a range of existing building materials being reused wherever possible.
CLAD mag 2015 ISSUE 1
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