The studio is project oriented and the program is based on local authorities (Longyearbyen Lokalstyre) idea for establishing a visitor center communicating the on-going climate change in the Arctic, as well as displaying on-going global actions taken to get our societies into a carbon neutral era. Apart from tourists, the center will serve UNIS (The University Center in Svalbard), local schools and kindergarten and visiting educational institutions. Besides reaching an understanding of life at Svalbard, the site and specific program, the design parameters include local landscape and climate conditions (permafrost, wind, snowdrifts, sun etc), building physics, energy efficiency and energy production as well as construction methods and conscious use of materials. To reach carbon neutrality, strategies will be implemented to balance the total energy use and relating emissions, with production of renewable energy integrated in/on the building itself. The overall goal is to develop site specific architecture highlighting the embedded qualities in local nature and culture, still emphasizing how human activity and buildings in the future needs to leave a minimum “footprint” in this vulnerable spot on the planet.

Background

The Arctic region represents a unique area among Earth´s ecosystems and is the area where the ongoing climate changes are most prominent. With the ice melting follows new opportunities as well as severe challenges, and the region has these days got massive global attention.

The origin for settlements at Svalbard - the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean - dates back to the 16th and 17th century when the international whaling industry was at its peak. In the beginning of the 20th century, coal was found and mining companies established more permanent communities at several locations. In 1920 the Svalbard Treaty was established (followed by the Svalbard Agreement in 1925), giving Norway sovereignty to the territory, still leaving it a free economic and demilitarized zone. There are in 2019 five operative settlements at Svalbard: Barentsburg (Russian settlement, coal industry and tourism), Pyramiden (Russian settlement, post coal industry, today tourism), Svea (coal industry, being phased out these days), Ny Ålesund (research station), Isfjord Radio (old radio transmission station, today tourism) and the administrative center Longyearbyen (coal industry, local authorities (LL), The Governor of Svalbard/Sysselmannen, UNIS, tourism). Longyearbyen has approximately 2300 inhabitants. 

The Norwegian coal industry at Svalbard is recently decided phased out, while well-established academic research institutions (UNIS) as well as a tourism continue to grow. Longyearbyen is experiencing a process of transition on many levels with the aim to strengthen the basis for Norwegian sovereignty. One of the major shifts is the one from 100% fossil energy dependent to a society based on renewable energy sources. This means an increased focus on energy efficiency as well as utilization of the building mass and existing infrastructure to produce and distribute electricity. Seasonal energy storage is then the next big step to make the green shift happen in this particular location (technology available, but a matter of investment). The studio framework will let us work with all of the above mentioned (politically delicate) topics in a future scenario where technical and economical solutions are at hand!

Climate adaptive

To fully understand how architecture can improve both the physical and social living conditions, we need to fully understand the impact of local climate like wind, snow and sun, as well as daylight and view, and implement this knowledge as design parameters. The studio will implement lectures and provide tools to reach a and basic understanding of how climate analysis can materialize in design response. 

Carbon neutral

Relating to buildings, the target of zero emission is reached by balancing the total emissions counted for during the buildings lifespan (lifecycle perspectives are set to 60 years), by production of renewable energy integrated on the building itself (solar energy harvesting by solar panels/photo voltaic panels). The lifecycle of a building includes all phases, from production and transportation of building materials, through energy used for operation of the building to the re-use/re-cycle scenarios eliminating waste and promoting re-cycling when the building is being demolished (end of life). This methodology is in use by the research center ZEN Research Center on Zero Emission Neighborhoods in Smart Cities hosted by NTNU, and is an internationally renowned standard also used as guideline for other “green building” targets like FutureBuilt.