Grensen
Intro
Revitalise and adapt a cluster of historic wooden houses to become a living lab for the university and a social interface between the campus and the city.
Europan 17 Grensen
The Europan 17 site Grensen is strategically located between The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and Norway’s 3rd largest city, Trondheim.
Grensen means border, and the neighborhood received this name as it was built on what used to be the city limits.
NTNU is planning a major restructuring of its campus and these upcoming changes will elevate Grensen to a strategic position as a campus access point from the city as well as embedding it firmly between new university buildings.
Grensen is composed of serveral old wooden buildings. The site was intitially acquired by NTNU to make room for expansion of the campus, but the buildings were later heritage listed twarting plans for new modern university buildings on the site.
Since then, the buildings in Grensen have stood mostly empty and neglected.
NTNU is now trying to figure out how to it can make use of the site.
NTNU enters Europan 17 for ideas on how to make Grensen a living lab for CARE: experimental architectural approaches to working with built heritage through innovative adaptation and thoughtful programming.
The site and its historical wooden buildings have the potential to become a platform through which the campus can open up to the city, mixing uses and adding diversity and liveliness to the area.
The university sits on a hill overlooking the city. This physical removal of the campus from city life has created challenges for students and faculty, who have pitched ideas for potential on-site programmes.
Visions have included a meeting spot for visiting researchers, faculty and neighbours, a space to showcase and communicate ongoing research and in general, serve as a social interface between the university and the city. The university can feel like an isolated island and increasing concerns for the mental health of students and staff make the task of connecting NTNU and the city through Grensen all the more critical.
Grensen is not just a mere revitalization project. NTNU’s mission statement is creating new knowledge for a better world and the site’s unique situation and proximity to the campus makes it an ideal place for experimentation.
Can the site bring the university down from its hill and become a living lab where research and prototyping can happen in a real-life setting?
The site poses needs that the university’s faculties are uniquely positioned to answer.
NTNU is at the forefront of research on architectural preservation, sustainable building practices and technology for building energy efficiency.
The houses of Grensen belong to historical typologies typical to buildings in Scandinavia and this makes the site ideally suited for practice-based research projects on everything from energy efficiency to social sustainability.
By working intelligently with its built history, Grensen can become a living link between the city’s rich past and forward-thinking future.
Task
Propose a concept and a process for transforming Grensen into an extroverted, social and accessible urban environment so that the area can function as a social interface between the city and the university.
Do this through innovative architectural interventions and thoughtful programming of university functions under an umbrella of a Living Lab that can generate knowledge for a better world.
Site limitation.
Commission
NTNU will invite the winning team for a workshop on site in the spring 2024, the budget for the workshop (including fees, travel costs and other materials) is approximately 100 000 NOK.
Based on the results of the workshop, NTNU and the winning team will negotiate a timeline and a follow up commission valued at 500. 000 NOK (ex VAT) in 2024/25 for developing the project further through involving users, giving feedback to the zoning plan and revising designs.
The winning team might get the opportunity to collaborate with a local partner office hired by NTNU.
NTNU retains the option to increase the commission's size and scope with another NOK 500.000 at a later stage.
Explore the site
E17 Grensen
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More information
Register
Deliverables
- 3 vertical A1 project panels (pdf) - 1 illustrated text presenting the ideas of the project (4 pages max.); - Documents proving the eligibility of the team members; - Documents for communication (3 images + a text of 800 signs, spaces included);
Who can participate
Europan is open to any team consisting of at least one graduated architect, who may be in association with one or more professionals of the same or related disciplines within the architectural, urban and landscape field (such as architects, urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, artists) or from other relevant fields (such as sociology, geography, biology) and may further be associated with one or more students with a bachelor degree or equivalent (3 years of study) in architecture or related disciplines. The team may also have one or more contributors, who are not considered authors of the project. Every team member must be under the age of 40 years old on the closing date for submission of projects. See complete set of rules for Europan 17 on europan-europe.eu .
What is Europan?
Europan is an international architecture and urban design competition that takes place every two years. It was established in 1988 by to gather innovative ideas for solving Europe´s housing crisis and has since become one of the most prestigious competitions of its kind in the world.
The aim of Europan is to promote innovative and sustainable approaches to urban design, and to encourage young architects and urban planners to think critically about the challenges facing modern cities. The competition is open to architects and urban planners under the age of 40, and typically attracts several thousand participants from all over the world.
Each Europan competition focuses on a specific theme related to urban development, such as urban regeneration, social cohesion, or sustainable mobility. Participants are asked to submit proposals for a specific site within a designated European city, with the aim of addressing the theme and improving the overall quality of life for the city's residents.
The winning proposals are selected by an international jury of architects, urban planners, and other experts, and are typically implemented as part of the city's long-term urban planning strategy. The competition has been responsible for many innovative and sustainable urban design projects across Europe, and has helped to shape the way that architects and urban planners think about the challenges facing modern cities.
