The project revolves around Vollsmose. A city district of Odense, Denmark, which at the time was classified as a ghetto. It was as such our task to complete a course of city planning, with the key goal of identifying and rectifying the downfalls of Vollsmose, as well as other factors having an effect on the district.
This was our first project regarding planning, and as such, the learning curve should be fairly noticeable throughout the project. The delivery of the project consisted of a set of posters meant for presentation. These posters should however be self explanatory, but the larger view and the backstory of the area isn’t covered to its fullest. Feel free to reach out if interested.
The posters are sorted as follows:
4 posters of analysis,
First one focusing on the relations between Odense and Vollsmose in a broad scale
Second one picks Vollsmose apart in an attempt to understand the various functions
Third one is a timeline for the area. We believe Vollsmoses past is what keeps it back
Fourth one is focused on the image of the area. As integration is a large problem, what the people of Vollsmose think of the remaining people of Odense and vice versa is of large importance.
1 poster for the general strategy
Maps out the most basic interventions we wish to take, and the relation between these.
1 poster for the master plan
Highlights the entire area of Vollsmose, depicts the incisions to be done and gives the onlooker an idea of how the future of Vollsmose can look.
5 poster for individual proposals
First one is to change the facades of the area. Most of the buildings need renovating in any case since the insulation doesn’t live up the current standard. As such we saw this as an opportunity to reintroduce the human scale, as well as to introduce the green areas around the building, into the built environment itself.
Second poster describes one of the strategies we wish to implement to fight the isolation of the area. The general Odense area is currently building a light-rail. We propose this ligh-trail should go straight through Vollsmose, and with it a linear polycentric pedestrian street should be created. This will allow flow through the various otherwise isolated of Vollsmose, and as such hopefully partake in joining various cultures.
Third poster is the proposal of laying the foundation for a street food market. This may seem as an uninteresting and irrelevant proposal, but the general Odense area has had great success with this type of social activity, and the large amount of cultures and ethnicities of the area would easily be appreciated and showcased here.
Fourth poster proposes the creation of a skate park. Again it seems like a low impact proposal. However, Vollsmose has large amount of green unused areas, of which we would like to activate through our project. Large amounts of these areas however have problems with flooding. The skate park will as such serve as a rainwater basin, preventing flooding, and via underground connections to the nearby Odense river, lead water away in case of heavy rain, while simultaneously activating the area and embracing the culture that is already there.
Fifth poster seeks to open up the ground floors of the area. Currently it is a common occurrence to completely cover the facades of the buildings of the area, and heavy vegetation doesn’t help the issue. This proposal seeks to open all the ground floor directly connected to the linear polycentric pedestrian street, in order to ensure the activation of the general area.
In summation. It is our hope to turn the area into a modern, yet culturally embracing city district, that respects its history while continuing its movement into the 21. century. Similar areas have historically been successfully been converted in Denmark, however have often times driven off the inhabitants of the area with the rising housing prices as a result of the increased interest in the area. In this case we have the unique situation where most of the area and buildings are government controlled, allowing us to hold our hand under those inhabitants that needs it, until they are fully integrated into Odense and can sustain themselves as well as whom else may need it.
The presentation posters, beware, large file size.
Clicking view original in the top right will download the PDF
Clicking view original in the top right will download the PDF