Nature and the City
I have kept the green idea from Kulturholmen, but I have also brought the city to the island. From the west, when you come from Silkeborg along Gudenåen the first thing you see is on the island a green park at the tip, which tells about the landscape, the island is surrounded by. In the middle of the island there is a continuous green belt that winds its way through and goes out through the openings in the building mass and finally dissolves in small islets. The islets are purely natural, no settlement. The Islets serve as nature experience, a place kayakers and sailers can stay at. It can operate for tourists and the locals who may have their own excursion place. Surrounding the green landscape are buildings that have their backs against the water, where they also form the streets and boardwalk for pedestrians and cyclists.

Building Structure
The buildings are inspired by existing buildings in the city of Randers. I decided not to work with a new structure in the area, because the new structure easily could alienate itself from the existing structure. The building typology is very lively and creates interesting spaces where it embraces the green belt in different ways. Facades have different nature to give them an identity. I have been inspired by the exsisting building in the medieval part of Randers City, and I took swatches of old buildings to make a color chart. This connects the old Randers, together with the new structure on the island. Randers also gets a new, exciting and vibrant skyline. Buildings are mixed residential, commercial (shops, café), and various cultural institutions (galleries, museums, workshops)

Infrastructure
In order to give the island a different expression than the busy mainland, it is limited to a one-way conveyor belt, where the bridges connects. You can see it as one big roundabout or rotary motion. This creates a quieter and greener environment. The interior is car-free, in part, except for crossings. There are parking garages to the east and you can park under some of the houses.

Sleth modernism group workshop in the beginning of 2009. We had a week to come up with a suggestion how to build in the area around the harbour in Randers. We made a lot of analysis of the area and went there several times. Our idea is a concept called “Kulturholmen”.

Randers needs Kulturholmen, because it contributes to the city with a centralization of the cultural offerings, the city has, while it draws nature into the urban space and makes it useful in urban life. The berth sides become densely developed to provide a strong image as an urban space, like for example Central Park. This is to prepare Randers to the future so the city does not spread into the countryside and eventually form small satellite cities, but instead rises in height and density, with respect for the existing skyline in Randers. We call it Slow living and we’re looking car traffic around the city, so pedestrians and cyclists occupy the space. Kulturholmen becomes a garden in the urban space.

A committee selected three winner projects, and they were the base for our further work. Each had to select a concept to refine individually. I will upload my individual project later on.

We won 2nd prize