Hiedanranta 1-10 | From industrial site to new city place within 10 years

Abstract

The continuous progress of our economic and social environments have a direct effect on how cities organize themselves both physically and functionally. The built environment is under constant transformation, and the resilience of the city scape is thus under continuous testing. The deactivation of the pulp mill in the Lielahti area was a result of this dynamic, which seeks better economical prospects in the contemporary context. However, the willingness of city officials and the local community to integrate the remaining buildings and site to the existing environment is evident, since not only was a participatory process of planning this new city area was set to begin, but also an ideas competition was launched. This thesis explores all the potential that exist in the remaining built environment of the factory mill and its vicinities in light of local community interests, city expectations and the designers expertise. The goal is to propose a design solution that blends in with its environment, is as flexible as possible, and ensures the integration of the area with the city and the users through time. The work is divided into three parts: Introduction; Historical Background and Situation analysis; and Development strategy and Design proposal. The introduction consists of the situation of the project in the city scale, the objective and expectations, the methodology to be applied, and the motivation behind the topic. The background and site analysis part covers Lielahti’s history and construction growth, the site’s occupation through time, analysis of the site’s current situation, comparative analyses, and stakeholders expectations. The design approach and proposal is composed by the project brief, the main concept, zoning and morphology, sketch design and final proposal.