AVS. Arkitektúr verktækni skipulag - 01.04.2002, Qupperneq 22

Building Committee. At a committee meeting on Feb-
ruary 21,2001, a working group was established under
the chairmanship of councillor Steinunn Valdís Óskars-
dóttir. The goal of this working group was to obtain the
best in planning, altered to suit lcelandic conditions, the
goals of the Regional Plan and the Development Plan
for Reykjavík.
Key issues that the selection between the proposals
was based upon were the following: Environmental and
Living Quality, Overall General Idea, Clear Sight of the
Main Objective of a Structure Plan, Good Land Use,
Good Traffic Network and Good Phasing.
The work of the committee with the planning groups
took place in such a way that first the groups were
given a brief and planning documents. Then the groups
prepared sketch ideas, which were presented and dis-
cussed in the working group. Two meetings were held
with each group, where attempts were made to test the
strengths and weaknesses of each idea at the begin-
ning, discuss questions and lay the foundation for fur-
ther development. After these meetings, the partici-
pants finalised their proposals and presented them to
the comittee. This way, the groups managed to create
good, comprehensive proposals. Many and interesting
planning ideas were produced by the participants,
applicable to local area plans, as well as be an impor-
tant contribution to the development of planning in
lceland.
After a thorough evaluation and comparison of the
proposals, the working group decided to select the pro-
posal of Björn Ólafs and VA architects for the final
preparation of the structure plan. The committee felt
that their proposal, more than others, created a com-
prehensive development with good connections to the
nature of the area. The planning solution was consid-
ered to be original and genial. The main traffic route is
a district distributor winding around and above the
development, next to Úlfarsfell. Along the centre of the
area and through its length is a wide local distributor for
slow traffic and public transportation, the “Broadway”.
Along this street are district squares along certain inter-
vals, which would also be the greatest densities with
service, employment and shopping. In the westernmost
part of the area by “Leirtjörn,” the “Broadway” is intend-
ed to enclose a district centre where shops and service
buildings enclose a man-made lake.
In the lowest part of this development, in the bottom
of the valley, the third continuous road is planned,
which the authors call the “pleasure drive,” or “slow-
drive”. Along this road.schools and sport facilities are
situated, facing the recreation area along Úlfarsá. The
proposal’s idea proposal is to create ample access to
the recreation areas in the valley and connect districts
and schools with a slow but continuous road in the val-
ley bottom. Individual parts of this development are
formed with a road network with small squares at junc-
tions and more traditional cul-de-sacs towards the
edges. Densities would be considerably higher than in
present suburban districts of the city and similar to the
old part of Reykjavík.
After the decision of the working group, the authors of
this proposal, Björn Ólafs and VA architects, have fur-
ther developed their proposal. Special emphasis has
been put on creating better solutions for the main roads
and connections with adjoining development and the
road network. Their aim is to have the structure plan
completed by spring.
In addition, a local plan has been drafted for one area
to illustrate authors’ ideas so a real local plan can be
worked out, offering building sites as soon as possible.
The methodology used in the preparation of this plan
has been described here in some detail, as this is a
new method in the choice of a structure plan for a future
development.
This methodology should be developed along with
traditional competitions or a combination of the two.
Concurrent with this planning on both sides of Úlfarsá,
preparations are now taking place for further planning
of Gufunes, according to Development Plan policies.
Through the purchase of the “Áburðarverksmiöja” and
phasing out of that activity during the next few years,
the city can now decide the future of this interesting
development area. A preliminary proposal has been
prepared by the former owner of the factory.
„Bryggjuhverfi,” by Gullinbrú, is now being built and
will be completed during 2002-2003. The company
Björgun will relcocate their activity there, and also their
depot “Sementsverksmiðja,” enabling area develop-
ment towards the west at a short notice. This area is
already being considered for development, with the
view of developing a comprehensive district at the edge
of the central city when intended road construction in
this area is completed.
Many plans are in store for Reykjavík and its resi-
dents, as well as the people of lceland, find its devel-
opment an interesting and exciting undertaking. ■
Porvaldur S. Porvaldsson City Architect, Helga
Bragadóttir Planning Representative
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