KIRUNA
Kiruna, SV
Area
3.650.382 m2
Client
Kiruna Municipality
Contract Period
2011-2012
Collaboration
COBE
KIRUNA
In 2011, Kragh&Berglund and COBE participated in the competition for a plan moving and replacing large parts of Sweden’s northernmost town Kiruna, where the unstable landscape was on the verge of collapse. The competition was an opportunity to create something new based on the town’s unique history.
Kiruna was founded in 1900 with the purpose of creating a model town for the good life in the Arctic. Setting ourselves similarly high goals, we conceived the new city center as an urban network where the city’s history is translated into a modern interpretation. Collaboration between the different actors in the area is developed and local research and education tied to activities. A “bottom-up” process with workshops for the residents, Sami, and partners ensures a sense of ownership and continuity. Exposure to cold and wind is limited by making the new town dense with varying street lengths and low buildings at the center and taller ones in the outskirts.
A NETWORK OF URBAN FIREPLACES
The existing now deform landscape is transformed to the park Kiruna City of Ruins, where visitors can watch as the terrain gradually consume the old part of the town from beams suspended above the ruins. The story of the town is preserved in a number of culture-historical initiatives such as an online database of historical building parts and a ”Kiruna Heritage Recycle Center” will receive and store recyclable historical
