Quary Rock Festival

Lakes for SwimmingLakes for Swimming

Shopping Mall

Pizza Restaurant

Fitness Centre

Gas Station

T-Bane Terminal

Sports Fields

KindergardenSchool

Church

Cemetary

Hill

Sports and Leisure

Social

Commercial

+

Cumulus – Grorud densifiedGrorud, Oslo

Oslo’s population is expected to double within the next ten years.The subcentre Grorud is part of Oslo’s densification strategy and therefore aims at bringing in new inhabitants while consolidating the existing. Diversifying social structure comes along with the sustainability imperative – what is the public space to project from these demands?

Cumulus is a proposal for Grorud that believes in the latent potentials of the site: its latent ecologies and orders, the environmental presence of outer city low density urbanism, the mix and publicness of the blunt peripheral pro-grammes and the underlying ideas of modern light and lit dwelling manifest in the existing housing slabs of Grorud senter. Cumulus is thus a strategy to re-cycle, de-sectorise and confront these latencies and interweave them through a con-cept of (water) flow: The project conceives social spaces as related to environmental dynamics and develops a close - but not too close- public sphere inherent to the loose aggregate at hand.

Cloud! The white and heavy cumulus congestus cloud serves as performative model to develop an architectural typology for this synthesising approach: undetermined and open on the ground, heavy and stable on first floor, a spongy heap in the sky. It floats above and fixates rudimentary every day programmes, it enables an intimate and lit inhabitation of the skies, it collects and stores water while the release of this water becomes a social event – on the day in nearing winter when it is cold enough to freeze the flooded surfaces to an ice skating plane. Morphologically the typology enables desired shifts in scale: On ground the crowding of programmes assembles to-wards a patchy canopy rather than a homogenising cover. Above ground miniature skyscrapers at the scale of single rooms produce a multiplicity of spatial situations and light conditions. They fabricate a sense of urban “interior” at a small scale while keeping it open to the environment. Social densities and encounters merge with openness and porosity.

Cumulus builds on an accumulation of public programmes within a defined area framed by an ecology of gardening and sports. It strives for a packed mix and the adjacencies of different users: Close, but not to close! Above this social field hover private dwellings, which are developed as a means to live in the sky: You can wander from one part of your L – shaped apartment to the other by crossing a glass bridge: Air and the outdoors become part of the house.

A step by step guide to Cumulus:

1.0 Interpretations of the existing on a set of scales: 1.1 Enclaves and/or a network of ecologies- Start with the programmatic enclaves of the 6os and 70s, read their separating borders as different ecological bands touching each other: river streams, topographical conditions, forest straps and lawn belts. Together they form a network. Thicken this net by developing a new frame for the Grorud Senter. This will host allotment gardens, sport fields, jogging trails, and constructed wetlands – an open ecology coined by human inhabitation. - Within the frame: relax the highway into a web of urban streets: This introduces a horizontal logic of movement and brings the two if not four parts of Grorud together: Culture and education, sports, shopping and transportation. Favour crossovers instead of programmatic separation. 1.2 Everyday programmes and/or their spatial articulation- Start with an inventory of the existing everyday programmes such as gas station, bus terminal, pizza place and fit-ness studio. Move the planed ice skating rink to the site. This will be an initial. Add a supermarket, a hot dog stand, a bowling center, a cinema, a hamam – attracting people from regional Oslo - and a community centre serving the very local needs! - Shift these programmes next to each other. Count on their different heights, lights, signage and users. Arrange them dynamically and in such a way that diagonal relations emerge and connection across the site are promoted. - Add a thick layer of program on top: a heap of dwellings. This will serve as the attic as in classical architecture yet it is inhabitable. The aim is to create a canopy that will loosely merge the different public programmes into a continuous, overlapping field. 1.3 Modernist dwelling and/or inhabiting the sky- Start with the advantages of modern panoramic living: Light, air and views. Combine it with old town adjacencies of facing street sides where casual glances of the neighbours and their lives are possible.- Exaggerate the idea of airiness and lightness: The L, S or U - shaped configuration of an apartment makes out-door space part of the dwelling. Amplify this concept through the luxury of having parts of the apartment connected through a glass-house bridge that can be completely opened in summertime. Translucent insulation keeps the warmth in, the sun out and makes light an intrinsic part of the dwelling. - Save square meters and shift your house towards the others. Privacy is guaranteed by partial use of mirrored glass and curtains as a second layer – your fellow citizens’ walls become yours. Glimpses across to the neighbours’ and long views into the wider surroundings alternate. Inhabiting the sky means the sharing of clouds, air, reflections and light conditions and daily rhythms.

13

Pedestrian and Bicycle Connection to Ammerud T-Bane Terminal

Allotment Gardens

possible later extensions

Watershed

Bus Terminal

Water Purification

Sport Fields

NSITE PLAN M 1/50000 10 2525050

INVENTORYit’s all there

4 PROGRAMMATIC FIELDS AND CROSSOVER AS INITIAL

COMBINING MODERNIST PANORAMIC VIEW AND OLD TOWN INTIMITE RELATIONSHIP

supermarketsupermarket gas stationwork out

DENSE PACKING OF PROGRAMMES

SUMMER OUTDOOR PROGRAMSrearranging the packing according to sun exposure: close but not too close relationships

WINTER OUTDOOR PROGRAMSice skating surface connects all public programmes

CROWNING ORDINARY PROGRAMS OF THE PERIFERY WITH HOUSINGa cloud inhabited by air dwellers is defining a continuous horizontal public field on ground level

CONNECTIONS AND RELATIONS OF PROGRAMMES

ADJUSTMENTS OF PROGRAMMESto site boundaries and through rotation of the cen-tral ice skating rink for better connectivity

RESULTING SPACES OF INTERACTION

MODEL PHOTOGRAPHS OF GRORUD SENTER

SITE MODEL

Grorud

WEB OF URBAN ROADS AND PEDESTRIAN PATHsupports horizontallity of movements

Allotment Gardens

Allotment Gardens

Allotment Gardens

LOCATION within OsloGrorud Senter is located in the north-eastern part of the Grorud Valley.

MOSAIC OF ENCLAVESGrorud Senter potentially linking the surrounding neigborhoods

EXISTING ENCLAVESGrorud, Ammerud, Romsas and Grorud Senter

1.0 Interpretations of the existing 1.1 Enclaves and/or a network of ecologies

1.2 Everday programmes and/or their spatial articulation

1.3 Modernist dwelling and/or inhabiting the sky

PROMOTED ECOLOGIESdefining and connecting the enclave trough adjacencies

OSLO - NORWAY

...01 europan 9sustainable city and new public spaces

GH028 CUMULUS

Winter Use

Over the course of the year the sky bridge is changing character. In sum-mertime it can be opened completely and turned into the large outdoor space of the apartment. During the transitional periods it serves an ad-ditional indoor space and during wintertime it works as a climate buffer like a winter garden.

0 10 2550

PUBLIC SPACE LEVEL - SUMMER M 1/1000

APARTMENT DIVERSITY AND OFFICES

CONGESTION WITH A VIEWfragmentation garantees a view for every apartment

T-Bane Terminal

Bus Terminal

Travel Agency

Bike Rental

Flower Shop

Stair to Parking

Entry Parking

AllotmentGardens

Watershed & Water Purification

Watershed & Water Purification

Watershed & Water Purification

Pizza Restaurant

Fitness Studio

Watershed & Water Purification

Fresh Food Market

Indoor Ice Skating Rink

CommunityCentre

PublicPool

Entry to Hamam

Entry Parking

BowlingCentre

Gas Station

In & Out Burger

Hot Dog

Stair to Parking

Entry to Cinema

Ball Room

Bar

Playground

Outdoor Ice Skating RinkShopping Mall

SkyBridge

SkyBridge

SkyBridge

SkyBridge

SkyBridge

0 10 2550

HABITATION LEVEL M 1/1000

APARTMENTS INHABITING THE SKY M 1/300 0 1 105

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollectionSurfaces

AllotmentGardens

Rain WaterCollection

Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollectionSurfaces

Apartments

Apartments

Apartments

Apartments

Apartments

Apartments

Apartments

Offices

Offices

Summer Use

PUBLIC SPACE LEVEL - WINTER M 1/20000 10 2510020

PLATFORM LEVEL M 1/2000 UNDERGROUND PARKING M 1/2000

FACADE DIFFERENCIATIONtransparent - translucent shutters - single and double glazed - mirrored

AllotmentGardens

AllotmentGardens

AllotmentGardens

AllotmentGardens

AllotmentGardens

look at your own house from inside

winter space

summer space

winter space

partial mirror glassgaruantees for privacy

long views

Mini Topography to cross Ice Surface

Weekly Market

Outdoor Pool

Vacum Cleaning Station

Outdoor Cinema with seating

topography

Outdoor Stage

Ice Café

2.0 Social spaces related to environmental dynamics 2.1 Seasonal changes

...02 europan 9sustainable city and new public spaces

GH028 OSLO - NORWAYCUMULUS

270.000 liter /p.a.1500.000 liter /p.a.

1500.000 liter /p.h.

2 loads p.w. /p.p.

1000 liter / m2 /p.a.

0 5 25

ELEVATION M 1/500 Cinema Hot Dog Stand Ice Skating Rink IN&Out Burgers Gas Station

0 5 25

PRINCIPAL SECTION M 1/500CinemaIce Skating RinkSuper MarketTravel AgencyBus Terminal

Rain Water Collection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollectionSurfaces

Rain Water Collection Surfaces

Rain WaterCollectionSurfacesCommunal Spaces

Communal Spaces

Rain Water Collection Surfaces

Rain Water Collection Surfaces

WATER HARVESTING & FLOW DIAGRAM

INHABITING THE AIR

2.0 Social spaces related to environmental dynamics

2.1 Seasonal changesConsider the extremities of northern living: Long summer nights and dark winter days equal the expansion and contraction of programmes. For the summer: reserve spaces for the weekly market, the kid’s pool, film screenings and communal dancing; for the winter: re-use these surfaces for ice skating, skating lessons and punch, hot wine and chessnuts.

2.2 Water cycles Look at a dominant environmental force: rain. Dwelling becomes an active part of the environment when collecting water on top, on the facades and on the platform. On top enough water can be harvested to supply a neighbourhood of dwellings with their weekly loads of washing machines. Water collected on the facades and on the platforms will be stored to serve an event in early winter: the release of water to freeze. An ice skating surface congeals slowly according to the smooth topography of the area. In spring time, when the water is warming up, it will be discharged into the constructed wetlands – ultimately to help gardening the allotments and trough animals passing by.

water collection on the roofs of the apartment towers

communal washing maschines filled with collected rainwater

water collection on the platforms

drain lits parking garage underneath

water freezes to an Ice skating surface

flooding of surface with rainwater collected on the platforms

melting water drains to the constructed wetlands

greywater drains to the constructed wetlands

constructed wetlands filter and clean the greywater

cleaned water attracts animals and is used for irrigation of the allot-ment gardes

evaporation

yearly flooding event

2.2 Water cycles

GH028

...03 europan 9sustainable city and new public spaces

OSLO - NORWAYCUMULUS