Sewn Heart

Team Point of View

It is expected that the annual population increase may be amplified in the next two decades. This process is the conclusion of the effort made by the different workers of local industries, businesses and facilities, and also by a large number of courageous policies that have been carried out both at the municipal and national levels in pursuit of sustainability, housing flexibility and, ultimately, social cohesion.
The resulting architecture from this participatory process should not be closed on the delimited environment of the project, but should always be understood from a relational situation with an outside that has enabled its transformation.
“Sewn Heart” advocates the research of opportunities for the inclusion of all these agents in the city’s future transformation.

Jury Point of View

“Sewn Heart“ is a systemic approach that allows for an incremental, yet holistic, transformation of the site into a new civic centre for the future of Raufoss. The proposal combines a set of bold moves – a relocated train station, bridges stitching together the industrial and urban areas, and the opening up of an introvert shopping mall – with a fine-grain urbanism of small open spaces and carefully scaled mixed-use blocks. The project embraces a post-oil era with the introduction of soft mobility, compact mixed-used urban form and a fine grain pedestrian grid, urban farming and renewable energy. The industrial heritage aspect is approached conceptually through a systemic attitude, which nevertheless supports the development of a humanistic urbanism that is convincing.