co-krøgenes
community is care
Arendal, Norway
2023
Since the beginning of time, people have come together, lived together, and taken care of themselves and their community. This is how our cities and societies came into being. In today‘s fast-paced world, these community ties are often diminishing and people are becoming more and more lonely, despite growing cities.
The concept of co-krøgenes sees the solution in an approach that focuses on the community, the immediate lived environment and all those involved in it. Community is care! In contrast to the classic profit-oriented or simply housing-focused approach, the concept of co-krøgenes stands for a holistic approach. A caring community focuses on the needs of the residents, the environment and the future. A community is a space where people live, love and work. Through the encounters in the community, connections can be made and people get to know each other and understand their needs and can thus take care of them. A mindfulness for the lived environment is created.
The dream of co-krøgenes is a possible scenario of the ideal state for the future area of Krøgenes. This is of course not a finished state or design, but rather an impulse to stimulate and imagine what Krøgenes could be one day. The overall goal is to create an optimal structure and conditions for a caring community that has established itself in the course of the transformation process at this location. Thus, the former gray monofunctional shopping and industrial park has become a lively and colorful sub centre in Arendal. Diverse and mixed spaces invite residents and users to linger and communicate. The newly created neighborhoods are subdivided into versatile residential typologies and thus make it possible for all people with different income structures and lifestyles to find a place here. At the same time, the three different neighborhoods stand out from one another and have developed an identity adapted to the location. These neighborhoods are connected by the high-quality and formative public space. This coherent element is subdivided into several small public spaces and offers the users a variety of possibilities to appropriate them. In addition to small recreational and meeting spaces distributed throughout the area, the focus is particularly on the defining places for the community.
