Student Competition NEB Design Challenge resulting in creative designs

In 2023, RISE was entrusted by the Nordic Council of Ministers to coordinate a student competition to inspire, educate, and allow transdisciplinary student teams in the Nordic countries. The competition task was to co-create design ideas based on the overall vision of the New European Bauhaus and its three core values: Beautiful, Inclusive, and Sustainable.

The competition 2024 - solutions for the reuse of four sites

In the spring of 2024, student teams took on the challenge of designing innovative and creative solutions for the adaptive reuse of four sites: Kvarteret Hammaren in Umeå (Sweden), Verksgata 54 in Stavanger (Norway), a military area in Kuopio (Finland), and Gadehavegaard in Høje-Taastrup (Denmark). A common goal for the property owners of these sites was to investigate the possibilities of transformation instead of demolition and redevelopment.

The competition was divided into two phases. The first phase was open for all student teams to present design ideas for one of the competition’s four sites. Almost a hundred students from Nordic universities submitted 29 design proposals, and 12 proposals were selected to be further developed and refined in phase two according to the jury’s instructions. During the award ceremony in Umeå on May 30th at Umeå School of Architecture, a team was crowned the winner for each site.

• Kvarteret Hammaren in Umeå, Sweden 
• Winner: Intertwining narratives by Malin Dybeck, Molly Myrsten, and Sophie Sjöberg, Lund University, Sweden. 
• Military Area in Kuopio, Finland
• Winner: Resilience of togetherness by Veera Annala and Annika Annala, Aalto University, Finland. 
• Verksgata 54 in Stavanger, Norway
• Winner: Fjordnest by Albina Lampa and Isabelle Olsson, Chalmers Institute of Technology, Sweden.
• Gadehavegaard in Høje Taastrup, Denmark
• Winner: Again and Again by Nils Österberg and Adam Sävhage, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden.e.

The NEB Design Challenge serves as one example of RISE's involvement in the New European Bauhaus initiative. Find out more projects and initiatives about it:

•    New European Bauhaus - En grön samhällsutveckling byggd på mångfald och inkludering (in Swedish)
•    Stor satsning på Sveriges kompetens inom träbyggande och cirkulärt byggande (in Swedish)

The Design Challenge was organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers, Nordic Carbon Neutral Bauhaus, Finnish Ministry of Environment, and the Research Institute of Sweden in collaboration with Architects Sweden.

Jury assessment

The jury, consisting of Camilla Berggren-Tarrodi (RISE), Marlene Johansson (RISE), Ambra Trotto (EIT Culture & Creativity), Maja Westman (Kvarteret Konstruktörer), and Patrik Karlsson Ryberg (RISE), appreciated that the students’ proposals spanned the full spectrum of architectural intervention, from new imaginative functions within existing buildings, through careful readaptations, to large-scale transformations.
 

Among the many competition entries, the winning teams’ creative and empathetic design proposals serve as models for more sites with similar prerequisites than those in the competition, and as inspiration with great relevance for the entire construction industry. Also, in times of great uncertainties in the world, the competition's design proposals convincingly demonstrate how communities can strengthen society through architecture.

To enable positive societal transformation and achieve the goals of the Green Deal, all the core values of the New European Bauhaus remain central, and continued efforts are required from students, professionals, and policymakers.