We are honoured to have been interviewed in connection with the research project “iResponse” on crowdsourcing and citizen participation in urban planning. iResponse is a research project funded by the Research Council of Norway exploring social responsible crowdsourcing tools for environmental research and decision-making, in the areas of urban air quality and wood burning, urban stormwater management and blue-green infrastructure, and urban planning. Read the interview here.
Ideal cities of the future in St Petersburg
Miia-Liina was recently invited to give a talk in St Petersburg in the Ideal and Normal -conference organised by Project Baltia Magazine. During recent years some of our work has been published in this magazine focusing on architecture in the Baltic region, and it was a pleasure to have the first chance to present our work in Russia. The conference was about the future of cities, and Miia-Liina presented our Neighbourhood 2100 vision among other work. The conference was also a wonderful opportunity to meet many young architects from St Petersburg and discuss the future of architectural practise in the Nordic latitudes. Thank you Project Baltia and the Finnish Institute in St Petersburg for the invitation!
You can find the entire conference program here - in Russian.
Silje Klepsvik one of the diploma assessors of 2018
During the past week one of the co-founders of Kaleidoscope, Silje Klepsvik, has had the honor of being one of the diploma assessors for this group of promising architects from the Bergen School of Architecture. We want to congratulate the students with the immense work and efforts, and with several relevant and outstanding projects! There are many challenges to be met in our society today and in the future, and these young architects are to enter a complex landscape where there is a need for critical thinking, explorative ideas and a more humanistic and environmentally conscious approach to architecture. We wish all the students good luck in finding their path in this landscape!
Workshop on Porvoo city centre development
On Thursday 7th of June, the citizens, politicians and planning authorities of Porvoo gathered to an open workshop concerning the development of the city centre. As a part of Uusi Kaupunki collective, and together with WSP Finland and Trafix, we are currently working with a general plan for the renewal of the central areas. The work addresses the traffic and parking solutions of the future, need for increasing pedestrian access and biking lanes, as well as possibilities for densification within the city's classisistic centre. After tonight, we have an abundance of input and feedback to move forward with.
Check out the latest media coverage from the workshop from Östnyland magazine here.
Article in YLE Svenska about city centre development in Porvoo
YLE Svenska writes about city centre development in Porvoo and visited the public workshop held by Uusi Kaupunki last spring in the shopping centre Lundi. Miia-Liina is interviewed in the article written in Swedish, you can read it here. Check also out the proposal we made for the central quarters on our website.
Artikkel i Det Norske Bransjemagasinet
Det Norske Bransjemagasinet har skrevet om Kaleidoscope i sin nye nettutgave - les artikkelen om vår bedriftsprofil og fremtidsplaner her:
http://www.norskebransjemagasinet.no/nyheter/artikel/Kaleidoscope_NordicAS
Y installation nominated for Building of the Year Awards!
Photograph: Saana Wang
Archdaily (world’s biggest architecture website) has listed our tiny, but fierce, Y-pavilion as a candidate in their “Building of the Year” -vote.
Y is running in the “Best Small Scale Architecture” -category. Help our David beat the Goliaths with your vote through this link!
Built in three days and few pairs of hands last summer in Seurasaari/Helsinki, Y is a temporary experimental wooden structure designed by a passionate collaborative team of architects and fine carpenters.
See more on Archdaily or our website.
#Y #seurasaari @etcompanyarchitects @woodenresearch @kaleidoscopenordic #irmelinvågen
In collaboration with: @HoiskoClt @heikki.paso @kulttuurirahasto @taikegram #askonsäätiö #alfredkordelinfoundation @utenriksdept
#suomalaisnorjalainenkulttuurirahasto
The problem with our public plazas void of life
Placemaking as a strategy for activation: the centre of Dikemark, dominated by asphalt, got a new layer of colour which defines an area for collective activities. Photo: Tone Berge
Researcher, blogger and multi-active urbanist Timo Hämäläinen writes in his blog critically about the urban development processes around public squares and plazas through many examples mainly from Helsinki. In architectural renderings, plazas appear full of live and urban buzz, but the built reality is often more the opposite: our (Nordic) cities are punctuated with open spaces which are void of activities and life. Where are the problems in the current planning processes and how to do better, asks Timo, and continues: "The problem is that the process of designing or managing public spaces is dominantly a top-down exercise. The user perspective isn’t truly included." A good and balanced read we recommend!
We believe in participation and in the inclusion of all stakeholders in planning processes from early stages and on. Connecting and co-creating with the communities in a city is the way of the future. Low threshold initiatives, piloting and testing periods for new ideas should be made wide spread praxis. Design-wise it is not only a question of "minimalism or not", good design can surely be both and everything in between. But without the user-perspective, we are bound to be lost.
Our approach to fast kick-off and low threshold of activating a public space is demonstrated in the Dikemark Nye Torg project, where we painted the main area at Dikemark with a colourful geometric pattern. The centre of Dikemark is dominated by asphalt and characterised by the lack of facilitated spaces for people. Through a simple and inexpensive action we created a public floor where gatherings and events can take place.
Check out Timo's awarded urbanism blog at www.urbanfinland.com
The asphalt became an urban floor serving as an arena for local community events. Photo: Miia-Liina Tommila
Developing the City Centre of Porvoo
Image courtesy of the City of Porvoo
On Thursday 14th December, on the behalf of Uusi Kaupunki collective, Miia-Liina will be hosting a seminar on the development of the City Centre of Porvoo, Finland, together with Niilo Ikonen. The seminar is organised by the City of Porvoo in collaboration with the Living Centre of Porvoo association. Looking very much forward to presenting as well as hearing the other speakers, the evening is packed with interesting substance. What direction will Porvoo take in lifting up the central areas of the city? What should an attractive and livable centre look like in the future? The event is open for everyone and it is free of charge. The seminar is a continuation to our work last spring - check out all the projects here.
You can find the entire program here.
Friday's Revolver Interview with Kaleidoscope and Fres
I dag har vi kjørt revolverintervjuer hos Kaleidoscope og Fres. Vi deler nemlig kontorlokaler, og det er noe vi liker fordi vi kan ganske forskjellige ting, men vi er opptatt av det samme: god design som er bra for folk og bra for miljøet. Her kan du lese hva vi tenker om dette.
Today we have had revolver interviews with Kaleidoscope and Fres. We share the same office, and we appreciate this because we are good at different things, but we share the same interest: good design which benefits people and the environment. The interview is in Norwegian.
Revolverintervju med Silje, Kaleidoscope
Designfilosofi? Skape arkitektur som har en samfunnsnytte, det betyr at vi skal skape gode rom for folk å være i, vi skal bidra til sosial bærekraft og vi skal spille på lag med naturen og konteksten. Dette gjør vi gjennom å alltid å gå inn i prosjekter med å analyserer brukergrupper, behov, stedet, landskapet, og la dette være en driver for utformingen.
Drømmekunde? Idealister med mye penger. Elon Musk er min drømmekunde.
Strategi for å få denne kunden? Gjøre ham oppmerksom på oss gjennom profilen vår på Linked-In. Haha, neida, kundene våre skal vi finne gjennom å bygge opp en portefølje med gode prosjekter slik at vi blir interessante. Og så skal vi sende vår finske partner Miia-Liina etter Elon Musk. Hun kan invitere ham i sauna.
Low-tech eller high-tech? Det er ikke enten eller, begge deler er interessant. Uansett vil vi være et kontor som bruker høyteknologiske løsninger for å oppnå energieffektive bygg som heller gir energi tilbake til nettet enn å bare forbruke. Lavteknologihus er interessante fordi de tar i bruk fornybare energikilder på en måte som involverer brukeren.
Viktigste fokus i samfunnsutvikling? Identitetsbygging, omfavne det stedsspesifikke, og å ha en holistisk tilnærming til områdeutvikling. Både når det gjelder bærekraft og de menneskene som skal bo der.
Viktigste premisser i prosjekter? Utvikle oss selv for å være oppdatert, slik at vi alltid kan være i stand til å reagere på tidsaktuelle problemstillinger og utfordringer som finnes i samfunnet. Og alltid være nysgjerrig.
Personlig klima- og miljøinitiativ? Spise mindre kjøtt, er medlem i bildeleringen.
Revolverintervju med Frikk, Fres
Designfilosofi? Å lage funksjonell design. At alle elementer gjør noe, gjør de ikke noe så skal de ikke være med.
Drømmekunde? Det er et veldig godt spørsmål, det burde jeg ha visst med en gang...hmm. En idealistisk og kreativ kunde, det er den store drømmen.
Strategi for å få denne kunden? Gå ut og kommunisere med folk. Kommunisere det som du har lyst til å jobbe med. Det er det viktigste, å kommunisere interesse for akkurat den typen arbeid som du har lyst til å gjøre.
Low-tech eller high-tech? High-tech forkledd som low-tech.
Viktigste fokus i samfunnsutvikling? Skape løsninger som fungerer for flest mulig folk.
Viktigste premisser i enkeltprosjekter? Mitt viktigste prinsipp er å alltid levere det beste mulige arbeidet hver gang, og alltid være tilgjengelig.
Om natten også? Ja!
Personlig klima- og miljøinitiativ: Dyrker egne grønnsaker, kaster ikke mat.
Revolverintervju med Tone, Kaleidoscope
Designfilosofi? Å kartlegge de viktigste føringene i et prosjekt, og å kommunisere tydelig til alle involverte at det er dette vi jobber mot. Alltid tett knyttet til stedet, kundene og det ansvaret som vi alle har for vår felles fremtid.
Drømmekunde? Min drømmekunde er en kunde som bryr seg om god design, og som tør å velge å følge sin egen visjon. Som selvfølgelig blir utviklet sammen med oss i Kaleidoscope.
Strategi for å få slike kunder? Vise at vi som kontor står for noe og at vi tror på det. Og så skal jeg bli dronningen av Linked-In i 2018.
Low-tech eller high-tech? Både og. High-tech fordi jeg gleder meg til jeg og datamaskinen min blir litt mer til ett slik at vi kan finne de beste løsningene raskere. Jeg synes også at det er veldig viktig at vi tegner hus som virker også når strømmen går, slik sett synes jeg at gode low-tech løsninger alltid bør være en basis.
Viktigste fokus i samfunnsutvikling? Tenke mer på sirkulære prosesser. Alltid vurdere nøye hvilke ressurser vi har, og vi hvordan vi disponerer dem slik at de kommer til nytte igjen.
Viktigste premiss i enkeltprosjekt? Se at hvert prosjekt er ulikt, og svare på det når vi løser oppgaven.
Personlig klima- og miljøinitiativ: Lager Bokashi, og sykler til jobb.