2006
Entry to Open International Ideas Competition Kakolanmäki, Turku, Finland
with Edward Bennett and Ruairi Reeves
Premise
The 20 hectare site is on Kakolanmaki hill in the south west centre of the city of Turku, Finland. The present use of the old prison complex will end in 2007. The integration of Kakolanmaki hill into the surrounding city will be a gradual process, a combination of the immediate intervention and the allowance for unpredictable development over time.
Non-design
The layout of the site will be determined by the existing city grid, and the way the grid encounters the characteristics of the undeveloped site.
Integration
The integration of the site into the surrounding city must include the integration of the city into the site.
Lamppost
New lampposts are set out on the grid, regardless of the site conditions. The lampposts provide:
- light
- open access Wi-Fi
- An electrical power socket.
Grid
The site will be subdivided into a secondary grid, marking out sites for development, some immediately, some later, some never. Vacant sites are webcammed, and made available for temporary events, employing a democratic online planning system.
- New and different lampposts appear unannounced on the grid in other parts of the city, triggering curiosity and anticipation.
- A dog-walker encounters new lamppost in woodland.
- An outdoor school class, a performance or a poetry reading?
- New cycle routes and footpaths are extended along gridlines, to establish the routes and.
- Saturday morning market, stalls with electrical connections for lighting, music, etc. All the stalls are on webcam, plots are sub-letable, the website provides the advertising for the plots and mechandise.
- Larger prison buildings converted into mixture of of residential, live+work with letable spaces on webcam and commercial and retail uses at street level.
