Europan 15 – Norway

Europan 15 – Norway

The 15th edition of the now 30-year-old Europan competition addresses the theme of productivity and ecological transition in cities. With a rising awareness of climate change and its global consequences, the competition is now more topical than ever. Europe is witness to a new wave of extremist movement, while differences between urban and rural areas keep growing. Europan asks the new generation of architects and urban planners the heated questions of our time: how will we maintain equality and openness in our society, how do we cut our consumption levels while staying productive, how can we bring back balance with our environment? As future architects and urban planners, the competitors are in a position to define how these challenges will be met. Europan Norway believes that Europan is a tool to engage with these issues – and an arena to speak up.

The three sites of Europan Norway focus particularly on the interaction between the rural and urban, the local and global. Each town inhabits a unique position in a network of relationships within collective knowledge, industries and ecosystems.

Guovdageaidnu, a stronghold for Sámi tradition, looks for alternative approaches to planning with a need to include Sámi values in the planning practise. The competition task is to visualise ideas for a series of interventions and projects that can renew the economical and social productiveness in Guovdageaidnu.

Hydropower production, farming, and a growing number of second-home dwellers dominate the local economy of Rødberg. The town, where the rural and urban overlap, needs clever advertising of its hidden potential and unique resources. A renewal of the town centre should frame a forerunner in the movement towards a sustainable future in rapid change.

Raufoss, a small town with global connections, is home to Raufoss Industrial Park, a hub of competence in robotics and automation with 60.000 yearly visitors. In the midst of agricultural landscape, the municipality calls for a densified town with a mixture of programmes and typologies, integrating the synergetic flux of the industrial park.