Tromsø – A City as a Garden
Posted by Design for the Living World, HFBK April 5, 2013
The community-based project Tromsø – A City as a Garden is characterized by participatory design and a concern for sustainability.
We think of the city of Tromsø as an inspiring but fundamentally fragile environment – the latest findings tell us that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as other regions of the Earth. What awaits the people of Tromsø are not only the opportunities that come from the new extraction of natural resources and increased traffic through previously inaccessible oceans, but also potential social problems from accelerated migration and development, as well as a dramatically changed living environment. At a time when the world is experiencing a backlash against globalization and looking for solutions to the questions posed by climate change, the people of Tromsø can develop the tools they need to their community and environment so they will be able to address the coming challenges. Following local sustainable principles, they can articulate a new culture of living, which other communities can learn from in the search for a sustainable existence.
A hundred years from now, what will life in Tromsø look like? In a scenario based on local sustainable principles, it will be a city of strong, small neighbourhoods. Here shared space – community space – will be more important than public space. The emphasis will be on collectivity and a new culture of living, as well as on the preservation and protection of the local culture and local knowledge – think of current efforts by the Sami community to reclaim their culture and territories. The city will be redefined into smaller sustainable territories operating on the community level – think of a decentralized compost system, for example, and a recycling centre where building materials can be reused for do-it-yourself construction. Another example would be a hybrid heating facility composed of a 20th-century heating plant and attached greenhouses. Any unneeded heat produced by the heating plant is captured and reused to heat the greenhouses for local food cultivation. In sustainable Tromsø, the residents’ involvement in organizing their living environment and a participatory form of governance are essential; they are two sides of the same coin. Here, too, new allegiances are forged as the local community connects with the world. In an age of collaborations, sharing ideas and practices with the world is essential.
Artists and Designers as Mediators
The practice of the Design for the Living World class is based on the production and exchange of knowledge with local residents. We create relational objects that communities use as tools to change their culture of living. We see ourselves as mediators in this process. The designer’s role is to mediate and help envision a project that articulates a new culture of living.
PROPOSALS FOR A SUSTAINABLE CITY – ON-SITE PROJECTS IN THE NORTH
Recommendations for More Sustainable Food Production and Consumption in Tromsø
A hundred years from now, what kind of food will the people of Tromsø be eating? Will it be locally grown root vegetables? Industrially produced foods? How can traditional local knowledge be applied in the twenty-first century, which we hope will be more sustainable than the past century?
SELF-CONSTRUCTION
Residing in a world that is increasingly specialized. Surrounded by enigma machines. Without knowledge of their inner workings.
Trust is the only option; and hope, hope that the machine is on your side, and when the machine stops. The only thing that glows in the dark is the error message.
A vessel for exploring gaps in regulations, conventions and economy.