Cumulus, Grorud Centre

Oslo, Norway
Model
Photo © H. Moser
Ecologies
Drawing © SMAQ
Site plan
Drawing © SMAQ
Crowning existing programs
Drawing © SMAQ
Elevation and section
Drawing © SMAQ
Day of the waterfall
Visualization © SMAQ
Public groundfloor in summer
Drawing © SMAQ
Public groundfloor in winter
Drawing © SMAQ
Rainwater usage
Drawing © SMAQ
Inhabiting the sky
Drawing © SMAQ
Views
Drawing © SMAQ
Architects
SMAQ
Location
Oslo, Norway
Year
2007-2015
Client
Oslo kommune eiendoms- og byfornyelsesetaten
Team
Sabine Müller, Andreas Quednau, Robert Gorny, Felipe Flores, Silvia Izquierdo, Martino Sacchi

Cumulus is an urban strategy that conceptualizes public spaces as related to the environmental dynamics of northern living. The proposal focuses on a mixed-used development that (re)binds the different social spheres, programs, scales, and ecologies of the existing neighborhood. This manifests in a new urban center that is planned with an innovative rainwater management concept of seasonal expansion and contraction. The passage of water, in its different physical states and speeds, becomes the story of the neighborhood. As a new wintertime tradition, collected rainwater is released onto public spaces so that it can freeze into an open-air ice-skating surface. The “Day of the Waterfall” and the resulting dynamic public surface encourage interaction between existing and incoming communities, while putting the neglected area back onto Oslo’s map.

Program
195 apartments, 14,370 m2 retail and public program, 10,450 m2 offices, 8,500 m2 cultural and social facilities, 19,200 m2 underground parking

Site area
5.5 ha

Study area
15 ha

Award
Europan 9 Competition, 1st Prize

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