Europan Norway

FF229 has a very flexible plan with towers surrounded by open public space. It introduces the idea of nature as a place for discovery. At the same time it also gives priority to a suburban lifestyle where social space is very freely organized. While the architecture echoes modernist ideals of liberated space and high-rise building, the typology and programming definitely gives a new direction to the urbanization of the site. Both the ground floor and the forest as a public space is designated for sports and recreation. A pathway curves and bends through the forest, linking the towers.

The sports facilities asked for in the competition brief is fragmented and spread out in order to activate the whole site, and give added value to the housing towers. FF229 offers interesting juxtapositions of the ‘modern’ with the ‘wild’. Still, the project remains slightly anaesthetized in its architecture. The project would perhaps benefit from further programmatic mixity within the towers, while the interior-exterior glass interface should remain as boldly minimal as it appears.
The conceptual framework offers great flexibility for fitting the different programmes into the urban structure.

Architecture and landscape are designed as one spatial continuum, clearly delimiting closed and open spaces. Buildings interweave with with outdoor space, and together they give rise to a new site topography. The result is a quite even density and distribution of spaces. Some of these in-between spaces are larger, and contain sports-related public activities. The result is that sports and other public functions are well-integrated into an otherwise residential area. The project shows a great variety of surfaces and spaces, both in and outdoor, related to sports and recreation. Still, the in-between spatial sequences are quite complex and the structuring of public spaces is not sufficiently argued for or clarified.