PROJECT 171

"THE HOUSE OF THE LIVING, THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD"

Fredrik Thornström & Karolina Pajnowska

We believe in the idea of urban recycling as one of the key factors contributing to a sustainable building culture. We decided to develop our project around the renovation and adaptive reuse of two grain silos in Nyhamnen.

Our objectives were based on the fact that the cities need to become denser. Some of the functions which have always been associated with the usage of extensive areas will no longer be able to claim as much cityscape as before.

We also believe that the concept of dwelling in a dense city is connected not only with creating reasonable housing typologies, but also focusing on the spectrum of other functions that surround it. Having two very similar industrial buildings, we chose to place contradictory functions in them. e crematorium occupies the eastern silo, while the residential units are located in the other one.

We believe that what now means a great contrast in functional disposition, will in the nearest future become necessity. erefore we don’t see placing a crematorium in close vicinity of residential areas as a controversial decision - rather a justi ed one.

We connected the two buildings with a dense park, resembling a real forrest. As a result, nature is a binding factor for aesthetic and functional di erence. Whilst symmetrical and calm around the crematorium entrance, it starts to slowly unravel and becomes a wild, owing landscape where the residents of the apartment building can spend their free time.

The difference in function is followed by a difference in materiality. In case of the crematorium, we wanted to preserve the industrial touch to the existing concrete structures. Since we intended on experimenting with varying temperatures, water e ects and the overall outdoor feeling, the insulation was not needed on most of the volume. In the residential building however, the need to provide certain climatic conditions resulted in a very di erent facade expression.

We believe we carried out our intention of preserving the skyline and atmosphere of Nyhamnen. We hope that through our project we can prove that what is unthinkable today can become the reality of tomorrow. 

Text credits to Fredrik Thornström and Karolina Pajnowska.