The site in question was formerly the site of the Viksund Yachts of Norway shipyard. Not so long ago, the municipal authorities bought this territory in order to remove heavy industry from the embankment area and improve it, turning it into a new residential and community center. In its research, the bureau Eriksen Skajaa Architects is just considering possible urban planning scenarios for such a reconstruction.
The main architectural and planning idea of the project is to return the building of the area to its former chamber scale. The architects propose to build up the released territory with small houses, comparable in area, rather, to boathouses, than to modern cottages, and even more so to apartment buildings. It is planned to use these buildings for the placement of souvenir shops, small cafes and studios intended both for the work of artists and for the residence of students and young childless couples. As the distance from the coast increases, the scale of development gradually increases - "slipways" are grouped into multi-storey volumes of complex shapes, and the architects have developed three scenarios of different density for how this happens. The project also provides for the creation of several green squares, a sculptural park and a small square with a fountain.
The canal becomes the central axis of the new quarter - the waterway is introduced directly into the city-planning fabric, two pedestrian bridges are thrown across it, and the embankments are being improved and turned into centers of public attraction. As conceived by the architects, the canal is intended to recall the past of both the former docks and Strusshamn in general, which in the 18th century served as the quarantine harbor of Bergen, Norway's second largest city.
A. M.
