The project, winner of Europan 13, addresses the housing program for students and workers of the Aalto University Campus, with the difficulty of insertion into a border forest on a Natura 2000 area The jury highlighted the sensitivity in to minimize the footprint on the territory, as well as the expressive construction and adaptability of the program among people and nature. It is expected to begin negotiations in the coming months for future construction.
Authors.- Borja Sallago Zambrano, Alan Cortez de la Concha y Manuel Pinilla Fernández.
Competition collaborators.- Ana Georgina Hernández Aranda [graphic designer], Francisco Crespo Burgueño, Alba Sospedra Arrufat, Luisa Daza Reyes y Fernando Basurto Gallegos [architect student].
JURY REPORT
In regard to the urban structure, the proposal respects the totality of Otaniemi. The street alignments have not been changed and the forest character of the building plot has been preserved. Building has been kept below the tree tops and retains a sufficient buffer zone between the shoreline and the buildings. The totality forms its own natural layer in Otaniemi’s urban structure.
The most important objective of the competition was to find the means to integrate housing and the nature values of the protected shoreline. The tower blocks in the proposal have been placed as if scattered in the forest, the buildings resembling tree houses growing out from the forest itself, and they sit well in their location. The solution minimises the construction footprint in the area. In addition, the facades of the buildings have been designed so that they endeavour to facilitate the common paths of movement of the flying squirrels. The interface between building and forest is softened. Construction adapts to the surroundings and also serves the needs of nature. The idea is one of a kind and there are definitely good reasons for it to be studied further. This new kind of approach could be of help on a more general level when building close to sensitive nature areas.
Overall, the jury was of the opinion that there were slightly too many buildings, and it would be good to leave out a few. The proposed underground parking is presently not a realistic solution in Otaniemi. The parking solution, however, can be developed without endangering the proposal’s values, for example as a parking garage in the vicinity of the present buildings.
The work has boldly set out to develop a new kind of tower block. The floor plans of the dwellings work well. The architecture of the balcony and terrace areas offers the promise of a new kind of campus atmosphere. The residents’ communal spaces have been placed on the ground floor and in some of the buildings on the second floor, in which case the buildings are also connected by bridges. Particularly the location of the communal spaces with passageways should be studied further. The communal spaces should be as accessible as possible for as many as possible.
Each floor in the building is different and because of this the exterior wall alignments project in and out a lot. The solution will be challenging to build, impractical from an energy efficiency point of view, and cost-wise expensive.
In the further development of the proposal, the exterior spaces between the buildings and routes, for instance the maintenance, emergency service vehicles, etc, should be examined more closely so that the sensitive connection to nature will be implemented in reality, too. It would also be important to consider more closely the connections between the buildings as well as the number of storeys. The proposed bridge that connects the buildings and their communal spaces still seems somewhat incomplete and too heavy-handed as a solution. The sculptural and unique appearance of an individual building loses its power when it is replicated en masse with the same height and appearance. The overall idea would allow for exploring buildings of clearly different heights. The unique appearance of the building type is to a large extent based on the skilful design of the surrounding unheated external structures. Therefore, it would be easy to develop the form of the insulated envelope of the building into a simpler and more economic one without the architecture of the building suffering.
The unique buildings bring a unique living atmosphere to the site, and which correspond to both the site and ambition of the programme. It could be used as a brand for the campus, giving it also an international aspect, and would help attract students to the campus site.
