LAA350 Final Seminar
As LAA350 is reaching its conclusion, the entire LAA350 cohort was invited to Sarpsborg municipality to present their findings for the stakeholders from both public and private sector. The entire session consisted of lectures from the city planning office, followed up by project presentations, summary on key findings, and a panel debate with all the parties represented - two students, one developer, one public authority, public figures, DogA, and Anja Standal.
In finding the essence of the 13 projects across 78 students, we arrive upon these 6 key points:
Downtown blocks - urban life in a limited commercial context: According to Sarpsborg municipality and on-site observations, there isn't enough activity to fill the commercial spaces in the pedestrian streets.
Cultural (heritage) - suggestion to utilize cultural heritage and memories in the pedestrian street as an alternative to commercial activities.
Housing and everyday life - children's play, family life as alternative uses of public spaces.
Strategic placement of commerce - a limited commercial area used strategically to activate the use of streets.
Concentrated commercial activity - limited commercial space gathered in one area to increase intensity.
Tightening of pedestrian patterns - conscious planning to direct and gather people, where currently it encourages dispersal of people in the city.
Backyard private/public - open, closed, sheltered, semi-, further development of block structure = change in spatial and functional character.
zone of consideration - opportunities within limited maneuvering space: Within the zones of consideration, it is not permitted to densify, add buildings, or propose an increase in population. This means that establishing new housing units, shops, schools, kindergartens, etc., is not allowed.
Shuffling - strategically moving existing building structures to define typology (courtyard, row houses).
Community center - a focal point exclusively for the Eastern district.
Residents' association - an organizationally unifying entity.
Multi-use - various programs/uses throughout the day.
Mobility hub - minus + minus = plus? Overlap between non-commercially viable programs.
suburbia - private economy, social challenges: Challenges in the residential areas were identified as high rental rates, low-income families, lack of maintenance, paved areas, and notably, a small sense of community and belonging.
Services according to affordability - so that residents have the opportunity to participate in activities and services in their neighborhood.
Housing and commerce - formation of an overlap between large commercial spaces and smaller houses and studying how these are integrated.
Historic value - demolition or preservation?
Comprehensive densification - how both private homeowners and the community benefit.
Scalability - a strategy that can be transferred to other medium-sized municipalities with a high proportion of single-family homes, duplexes, and row houses.
local identity - demographic, architectural, and cultural:
Business cluster - clear business competence with associated strategy on spatial, organizational, and branding aspects.
Local belonging - to increase ownership and pride in one's place.
Cultural heritage, memories - rich historical foundation and the opportunity to promote the city nationally.
Overlap in social tensions - demographic and social disagreements that need to be addressed and resolved.
Religion and support functions - how neighborhoods, religion, and users of support services come together.
Green infrastructure - meeting places, connections:
Infrastructure thinking - connections across and within block structures, noise filtering, filter trench.
Fine-meshed planning - for different age groups, noisy and quiet activities, resident needs and considerations.
Contextual space formation - weaving park into varied and existing context.
Territorial connections - between buildings to larger natural infrastructure, for example, Glomma.
The course LAA350 - Projects in Urban Planning is a 20 ECTS course, focusing on the urban development of the city centre in the medium-sized city Sarpsborg. The course encourages studies of structures, massing and in-between spaces. LAA350 was conceived and previously led by professor Elin Børrud, before her departure this year. The teaching staff consist of Anja Standal, the new course responsible (BYREG), Kathrine Strøm (LA), and Tin Phan (EIEJUSS)
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Sep-Dec 2023.
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Anja Standal, BYREG
Kathrine Strøm, LA
Tin Phan, EIEJUSS -
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