DIPLOMA PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Never mind the bad composition of the text, here it is and there is no going back (meaning it is sent off to the sensors of my final exam).

Laura Ve, Bergen School of Architecture, 2010

(y)our  alternative  legacy
developing urbanity along bergen light rail

UTOPIA= “good place” or “no place”
(greek; eu=good, ou=no)
SITOPIA = foodplace
(greek; sitos=food + topos,place)

PLANNING / EDUCATION / ACTION
How do we plan for future urban life, and develop a good background for future generations to live “easier green” lives?
We are big spenders of oil, a resource it took millions of years to “make”, and a really dirty business,  once it is let out of its dark caves.
There is an enormous amount of oil involved in almost everything we eat and drink; today about ten calories of fossil fuels are used to produce one calorie of food. Approximately half of everything produced in the western countries is thrown away; due to trade regulations, not because its unusable or to old.
The diet in western cities is not very sustainable either; most people enjoy a meat based diet. Production of meat is very space consuming as the process requires ten times more calories than crops produced for human consummation directly.
   We have built a system on a terminal resource, making us very vulnerable.
The 21st century will be characterized by big changes in style of life, at least the way we know it in the west. Governments sign treaties and make regulations on how to lower our green gas emissions. We will maybe not go short on oil and gas during the first 50 years, but regulations on emissions will make it difficult to continue the way we have done the last 50.
But as the focus on green gas emissions so far has been driven by the existing economical system, lacking a value system for ecosystem-services, there is now a careful and slow shift attempting to value nature-services before / beside the value given in the financial  market. Market-value given to amazon forest reserves, besides the  value of f.ex rainforest wood. Financial losses discussed before turning wetlands into farmland or real-estate. These matters are important all the way down to the choice of clover fields covering the floors of our public landscapes before monotone grass-fields.
   From the ecological point of view the  aspects of nature services matters more for the future rather than (only) green gas emissions effect on climate change. Biodiversity over and under the sea surface is the eco-systems supporting our way of life.
Valuation of productive land and how we decide to manage these resources have great impact on future generations quality of life.
   The situation I have chosen to work in is the city of Bergen, a small city of challenging topography. Only small contiguous areas are good for urban settlement, surrounded and divided by several mountains forming what is known as “Bergens buene”.  Only 3,5% of the 465,68 km2 area of Bergen Municipality today is productive land.
   Historically Bergen has been an important harbor and most traffic happened by boat. Naturally most of the inhabitants lived close to the sea and the harbors in the center. From the beginning of 1900 the inhabitants was connected to neighboring municipalities, and  the east of Norway (Oslo), by rail. Then, during the late 1900, the private car was given great importance; roads, tunnels and bridges were established and the settlement pattern of the city changed. The former dense city, with its farm- and grassland right outside the city border, has now spread out into large areas with single housing making the car an inevitably necessity for people to manage their everyday life. Working 10 to 15km from home and the children’s kindergarten 5km in the opposite direction is common. Every day many of the Bergen inhabitants spend hours in their car, stuck in traffic . Not quality time spent, I think.
   This summer BergenЂs first light rail line opened for traffic, changing the infrastructural situation again.
The light rail opens up for a new way to reach destinations in Bergen, and a new style of life. Densification of the  access points and establishment of new, direct, travel-lines to and from them is important to provide this opportunity for as many inhabitants as possible.
But this is also important to save us from further development of valuable land.
   With background in the ecological footprint of our lifestyle, the project explores a possible future scenario in a site situated along the light rail line in Bergen, access point : Wergeland.
   The ecological footprint of the average Norwegian was, according to the Living Planet Report,  6,8 gha (global hectares) in 2008. Relative to available bio-capacity and the existing population of the planet, the ideal ecological footprint is 1,8 gha.
  The five eco-footprint parameters are :
#MOBILITY
#SHELTER
#GOODS
#SERVICES
#FOOD
   Working with conceptual strategies to lower our energy consumption and eco-footprint, I focus on mobility, densification and resilience.
   The “heart” of the situation, close to the stop, is strategically important for several reasons besides being the access point. It is the visual introduction to the district.
   With the challenging landscape mentioned above a strong character of the mobility issue has become to “bridge the landscape”, connecting the two sides of the valley, with a pedestrian bridge, making the access point and the “heart” of the situation more accessible,  and giving the place a strong character and new urban identity.
   Aiming to develop more resilient communities the necessary focal point of the project becomes production of food, and the processes involved.
   The amount of food produced it self is not the main issue, it is about re-introducing important aspects of eating. Visualizing the processes, influences the habits of eating, raises awareness and can change our relationship to our environment. Introducing the processes of the food-cycle (soil improvement, seeding, planting, harvesting, processing, consume and waste management) locally, can show us the impact of our choices on our surroundings. With an Artisan approach to Urban Agriculture (refers to the hand craft of making food products), education and skills become important.
   Conventional agriculture does not integrate easily into the urban fabric. It is space consuming, requires large machinery and heavy spraying of fertilizers and pesticides is “normal”. Risking dust and chemicals to drift into residential areas is a concern and therefore conventional agriculture becomes incompatible with modern city-living.
In the urban landscape of Bergen, stuck between mountain walls,  the Artisan Model can work better as it is more flexible and adaptable. Artisans employ creative thinking and manual dexterity to their produce.
   When it comes to building communities upon an artisan economy, one can assume that the food produced is of good quality and worth celebrating it, simply because of the knowledge, skills and concern puts in the effort of making it.
   Key elements relating to an artisan agrarian economy are;
# low toxicity farming; agro-ecological farming practices with a minimum of toxic pesticides and fertilizers.
# high value products; for urban markets comes from smaller parcels. A community will focus on high value products.
# vertically integrated economy; the focus of artisan agriculture is on finished food products. The local community benefit from transforming the raw foodstuff into final products.
# integrated infrastructure; water, waste-water, energy and solid-waste management systems offer opportunities to both integrate with urban infrastructure and turn waste into shared resources. ( Composting food waste for soil improvement,  treating urban runoff in ponds using it for irrigation (water source), using waste urban heat for green houses.
# diverse education; the urban farmers education, or training of skills, covers agro-ecological farming practices and possible a range of small-business management strategies (to support
vertically integrated business opportunities).
# economic diversity; mixing agriculture with processing, retail, restaurants, agro-tourism and education, greater economic diversity is achieved in the community, and offers new opportunities for the inhabitants.
   Skills and knowledge are of high value, which appeals to us and inspires us.

   ‘From field to fork’, means making food visible in all its processes. In future city planning this is the important tool. Glassed galleries on buildings, green houses on roofs and conservatories in the gardens extends the productive season, and saves energy in the built fabric creating an extra climatic buffer zone, specially important in a city like Bergen with a lot of wind and short summer season. Children at school seeding and planting in the school gardens and green houses will educate the youngest members of the society to become skilled and experienced urban farmers. Grocery stores, cafes and restaurants in the streets offer local products in their product range. Production fields for the new urban agrarian businesses and urban farmers, to supply restaurants, grocery stores, kindergartens, schools, canteens, institutions etc. Organic waste composed and used directly in the vegetable gardens and in the fields making them productive without fertilizers. Clover covering the fields resting until next season, attracting insects and possibly give basis for production of honey. Festivals celebrating the seasons and local food. Farmers markets showing and selling the local products, sharing their knowledge of the products. People enjoying their own produce in their backyards with the neighbors.


Wergeland has started its transformation.
This could be (y)our alternative legacy,

Laura Ve,
MA Diploma
Bergen School of Architecture, 2010