Connecting Marieholm
Academic Work
Project Credit: Collaboration w/ Leen Bellens, Chi Zhang, and Peter Gabert
Year: 2015
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden
Program: M.S. Architecture and Urban Design—Exchange Program
School: Chalmers University of Technology
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This project proposes a rewilding approach to tackle urban tensions and latch back to natural cycles.
Marieholm is a heavily industrialized and comercial area, separated from the city center by the Säveån river. As part of the RiverCity Gothenburg 2050 vision, the city plans on rethinking the program along the river shore to improve accessibility and embrace the water.
Connecting Marieholm proposes to heal at a local scale the environmental and social dynamics that were disrupted by the Partihallsförbindelsen connection. The project links urban centralities through non motorized methods of transportation. It generates public spaces that buffer and protect local ecosystems.
Car oriented infrastructureIn 2011 the Partihallsförbindelsen connection was completed as a response to heavy traffic overload of two national roads. This hefty national infrastructure disregarded the hyperlocal conditions of its context, disrupting the vulnerable ecosystems and fracturing the urban fabric.
How can we restore the fractured grounds and ecosystems the Partihallsförbindelsen connection left behind?
Industrialized EcologiesThe Säveån river is a crucial ecology that is tributary of the Göta älv, the largest drainage basin in Scandinavia. Säveån is protected by the Natura 2000, a robust network of preserved sites in Europe, mainly due to species such as the Säveån salmon, the Common Kingfisher, and the White-throated Dipper.
Examining the Partihallsförbindelsen connectionUnderstanding the interdependence of local species and their habitatsSite articulationStrategic planPublic spaces that buffer and protect local ecosystems
Mölndal river Section
Säveån river Section
Partihallsförbindelsen bridge Section