Europan Norway

Winner: Repositioning the Remote (CW 120)

Repositioning the Remote, the first prize winner for Vardø, demonstrates not only a deep knowledge of the history, geography and assets of the site, but also a desire to strengthen and build upon the existing structures and dynamics of the area. The strategy proposed is articulated around short-, mid- and long-term objectives which embrace the cultural, industrial and ecological facets of Vardø.

First, cultural spaces would take the place of abandoned industrial structures, providing a boost to the local community and attracting interest from outside the area. The winning team forecasts that by 2030, Vardø will play an important role in Norwegian energy production by monitoring, exploiting and servicing nearby oil reserves. Concurrently, Vardø will consolidate its unique position as an outpost of ornithology and marine biology in the Arctic, protecting the fragile ecology of the Barents region. 

In the distant future, Vardø will have to face pressing challenges which range from finding a place in Norway’s post-oil economy, meeting the effects of global warming and raising aquacultural and hothouse production to a higher level of self-sufficiency. Repositioning the Remote suggests that Vardø take advantage of its powerful offshore Arctic winds to create energy for local needs, while distributing the surplus to the southern regions. Vardø’s harbour will be reconfigured to face the rising level of the sea, encouraging new modes of production in the process. In the meantime, the interstitial and reconfigured harbour area would be welcoming a 24-hour sunlit greenhouse to produce Arctic char and stock king crab for trade abroad.

Winning Team:

Runner-up: Datarock (OO 101)

Datarock is a bold and forward-looking proposal that turns the daunting remoteness and Arctic climate of the city into its biggest advantage, while at the same time providing an answer to the world's ever-growing need for the storage of digital data. In fact, Datarock suggests the creation of a brand new industry for the area: the data centre. Also called a ‘server farm’, a data centre is a facility that stores digital information made available on the Internet. Far from being as intangible as the goods they store, these infrastructures require huge amounts of energy to cool down. Installing them in extremely cold but inhabitable regions is therefore a natural solution.

Datarock is not designed to function as a separate entity, but rather to service Vardø. The warmth continuously produced by the data centre would be used to heat new and existing public spaces while answering the daily needs of the city’s inhabitants. The data centre itself is fused within the landscape; half buried, half submerged, it appears on the horizon like a rock from which three luminous cubes emerge. Located on the edge of the city limits, it evokes the atmosphere of a lighthouse. 

Interestingly, the project proposes that this new industry would create a new form of 'digital tourism' in Vardø. People will flock to see the material face of the Internet, while sustainable energy practices will exploit the heat produced by the massive machines for various facilities in the area.

Team:

Honourable mention: The White (RR 004)

‘The Myth is dying. It is about to be defeated. There is a war between two worlds: Rationality and Myth.’ With reference to Adorno and Horkheimer, The White evokes a historical and mythological dimension of the High North in the European imagination. An expedition is made beyond the Kingdom of Reason to measure new territory, designating a northern odyssey in space and time between mythology and rationality. We follow the explorers’ journey and the parallel sub-stories presenting the physiology of the myth. The expedition passes through Vardø – the North Gate to an unknown world – to prepare for encountering this vast frozen land. Through extraordinary experiences, encountering strong natural forces and by facing the reality of human limitations they return to Vardø, released from their original ability to consider the triviality of ordinary life.

The project brings a substantial amount of interesting momentum into the discussion of Vardø’s future, and ‘The Choice of Myth’. The White recognises the duality of mythology and rationality, the role they both place in driving human behaviour and the impact of myth in the context of Vardø – a city on the border of both worlds.

Team: