Future North Svalbard

 Future North Svalbard

 FUTURE NORTH — SVALBARD ON THE PAMPHLET SERIES ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Publication details Future North — Kola The Research Council of Norway INTRODUCTION 10. PROJECT: 19. SVALBARD AS A Future North — Svalbard (RCN) and Vardø Restored. Janike Kampevold Larsen & AN (EXTRA)ORDINARY FLUID TERRITORY Edited by: Future North — Vardø Peter Hemmersam STREET Janike Kampevold Larsen & Peter Hemmersam Janike Kampevold Larsen This is one of three pamphlets that → 7 Alberto Ballesteros Barea and Eimear Tynan Andrew Morrison are outcomes of the Future­ North Nadine Schmauser → 95 project at AHO. They are designed 1. INVENTING AND → 64 Editorial assistance by: to complement more formal Vlad Lyakhov research outputs as well as present REINVENTING PLACE 20. ORDERING DISORDERED Eimear Tynan material from the territories and ter- IDENTITY IN 11. PROJECT: MEMORIES — SVALBARD AS rains the project team and adjunct LONGYEARBYEN: TOWARDS 78°13'13"N, 15°28'1"E A RUIN LANDSCAPE Cover photos by: members travelled and from where Eimear Tynan we were based. The pamphlets offer A POST-MINING CITY? — CENTRAL GROUND, Jérôme Codère Brona Keenan a mix of materialities and media, Aileen A. Espíritu LONGYEARBYEN → 100 Minh Tin Phan and Kari Tønseth showing experimental writing, → 9 Ka Yeung Chi Hans Eriksson ­student projects and reflections on research. → 68 21. VULNERABLE SVALBARD Pamphlet series design: THE ART OF SVALBARD, MAY 23– Hans Eriksson NODE Berlin Oslo On NODE Berlin Oslo: JUNE 1, 2015 12. PROJECT: → 102 NODE is a Berlin- and Oslo-based ISBN 978-82-547-0327-4 design studio founded in 2003 by Bill Fox BEYOND THE RIVER Anders Hofgaard and Serge Rompza. → 14 Berenice Rigal 22. RETRACING FAILURE Published by OCULS at AHO: The studio works collaboratively → 70 Brona Keenan www.oculs.no across various media for a diverse www.aho.no range of clients from individuals to 2. A FLUID LANDSCAPE → 104 institutions, focusing on print, Kathleen John-Alder 13. PROJECT: An outcome of Future North: ­identity, exhibition and interactive → 19 RIVERSCAPE BOULEVARD 23. SVALBARD SHORELINES www.futurenorth.no work. Besides studio projects, NODE gives lectures and holds workshops Alexandra Niedermayr and Charlie Laverty 2019 © Future North at art and design academies. NARRATA ­Martin Danais → 106 → 22 → 72 24. EVOLUTIONARY 3. PLACE-SPECIFIC ARCTIC 14. PROJECT: ACCUMULATION URBANISM THE CITY CENTRE AS Rasmus Pedersen Peter Hemmersam & MEMORY → 108 Lisbet Harboe Minh Tin Phan and Kari → 29 Tønseth 25. FROM PHYSICAL → 76 LANDSCAPES TO DIGITAL 4. SVALBARD TERRITORY — A FLUID TERRITORY 14. MAPPING: Matt Poot Janike Kampevold Larsen PROGRAMS AND → 110 → 36 FUNCTIONS Minh Tin Phan and 26. INVISIBLE BOUNDARIES: 5. ACTIVE LAYERS Eakapob Huangthanapan STAKING A CLAIM TO THE Eimear Tynan → 78 NORTH POLE → 47 Audrey Touchette 15. PROJECT: → 112 6. URBAN DESIGN — COASTAL EXPERIENCE ARCTIC CITY: Robert Blödorn and CONTRIBUTORS LONGYEARBYEN Veronica Gallina → 114 Peter Hemmersam & → 80 Lisbet Harboe → 54 16. MAPPING: TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE 7. MAPPING: Robert Blödorn and URBAN DEVELOPMENT Alberto Ballesteros­ Barea HISTORY → 84 Raphaël Fournier & Berenice Rigal 17. PROJECT: → 58 LONGYEARBYEN TOURISM RESTAGED 8. MAPPING: Wai Fung Chu and INFORMAL MATERIAL Eakapob Huangthanapan CULTURE → 86 Simon Heidenreich and ­Benjamin Astrup Velure 18. PROJECT: → 60 ARCTIC NEIGHBORHOOD Raphaël Fournier and 9. PROJECT: Benjamin Astrup Velure A DENSER WAY → 90 Simon Heidenreich → 62

Introduction

Introduction

Janike Kampevold Larsen & Peter Hemmersam

The Future North research project is study- changes that Svalbard and Longyearbyen is ing the relationship between social develop- facing. Working with students it has also ment and landscape change in the Arctic. mapped the forces at play in the territory, as Main regions for research are the Kola Pen- well as suggesting strategies for urban insula, The Norwegian Arctic town of Vardø, renewal and development in Longyearbyen. and Svalbard. This publication reflects two research The project is funded under Research trips to Svalbard in 2015. One was per- Council Norway’s SAMKUL program, one formed with a core group of researchers: that is particularly concerned with the pro- Peter Hemmersam (AHO), Andrew Morrison spective social impact of academic research. (AHO), William L. Fox (Center for Art + Envi- The project is placed at the Oslo School of ronment, Reno, Nevada), Kathleen John-­ Architecture and Design (AHO). Alder (Rutgers University), and Janike Central to the Future North project is to Kampevold Larsen (AHO). The second trip study places that are transforming as the was undertaken with two groups of students, Arctic region is under pressure from several one from AHO and one from Tromsø Acad- transformative forces, amongst them cli- emy of Landscape and Territorial Studies, a mate change with subsequent intensified joint master program between AHO and UiT, interest from the extraction and transporta- The Arctic University in Norway. Teachers tion industry as the significant drivers. As included Lisbet Harboe (AHO), Kathleen the polar ice cap is melting, and the summer John-­Alder, Eimear Tynan (Tromsø), Mats sea ice extension diminishes, new areas for Kemppe (Tromsø), and Riccardo Pravettoni oil exploration and new sea routes are being (cartographer), as well as Peter Hemmesam planned. Some of the changes underway and Janike Kampevold Larsen. would have happened independently of cli- The two courses worked in parallel. The mate change. As an example, tourism to the AHO course was called Arctic Urban Design: Norwegian Arctic region, such as the city of Longyearbyen and the Tromsø course was Tromsø, the county of Finnmark, and Sval- called Arctic Territories: Svalbard as a Fluid bard are just as connected to the Aurora Territory. Work from the two studio courses Borealis as to receding glaciers, and not all is presented in this booklet, along with an prospecting of minerals and carboniferous introductory text to each course and essays fuels can be ties to climate change. from senior researchers on the project. Yet, Svalbard is one such place, in the European Arctic, that is experiencing a set www.futurenorth.no of changes, and as a result everything appears to be in flux. None of the discrete material component of the territory seems to be unaffected by climate change: ice, snow, animal populations, salinity of the oceans, vegetation, and weather patterns and intensities. At the same time, one sees an increase in the number of tourists, and not least, the researchers such as ourselves. In Longyearbyen, the prospects of a larger permanent population, new harbor termi- nals, melting permafrost, and changing wind and weather conditions pose particular ← planning challenges for a small community. Photo still from drone video by Riccardo The Future North project seeks to Pravettoni, 2015 address the complex web of forces and

Janike Kampevold Larsen & Peter Hemmersam 7  6 1. Inventing and Reinventing Place Identity in Longyearbyen: Towards a Post-Mining City? Aileen A. Espíritu

In 2014, while visiting the research town of tries in 1925 was ratified, giving sovereignty Ny Ålesund on Svalbard, Christiana Figueres, of the archipelago to Norway within limits Executive Secretary of the United Nations prescribed by the Treaty. Of the stipulated Framework Convention on Climate Change regulations, what has given Norway most (UNFCCC), urged Norway to quit all coal power over Svalbard has been the strict mining on the Svalbard archipelago. She environmental regulations placed on any argued that there was a fundamental para- development activities on Svalbard with the dox between the climate change research exception of coal mining, which again points being conducted in Arctic Norway and the to the inherent contradictions between envi- mining of, arguably, the dirtiest of energy ronmental concerns and the global sale and sources on the planet, coal.1 It would not be the local use of coal. Figueres’ admonition that would lead to the Coal mining would form the backbone of decline and the temporary2 closing of Nor- industrialization on Svalbard, leading to the wegian3 coal mining on Svalbard, however, establishment of permanent mining settle- but rather world market forces. Decreased ments — two of which still exists today, the demand from China, and thus the low coal Norwegian town of Longyearbyen and the market prices, would lead to loss of jobs and Russian town of Barentsburg. Both of these Mining as public art an uncertain future for Longyearbyen. In the towns were built by revenues from and face of incontrovertible global forces and of employment in the coal mining industry. It is climate change, what are the strategies that this history and this deep-rooted mining local governments in the Arctic employ to identity of Longyearbyen, indeed of Sval- create sustainable communities able to bard, that has determined its path-depend- manage both boom and bust economies? ence on coal mining. And it would be this This short essay explores the possible identity that makes it difficult for the city futures of Longyearbyen as it redefines its and its mostly mining workforce from think- identity from a mining town to post-mining ing and planning beyond the pursuit of coal, urban place that foregrounds tourism and or another big resource industry. Hedging research as main drivers of its economy. its bets then that when coal prices rise in a few years, the mining operations would start HISTORY IN BRIEF again means that there is no planning for a post-mining future in Longyearbyen. Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago that 1 Elvind Molde, “FNs lies in the Arctic Ocean, just below the INVENTING AND REINVENTING PLACE klimasjef: — Steng North Pole, has captured the imagination of IDENTITY IN SECOND MODERNITY: A kullgruvene på Sval- self-professed explorers, scientists, adven- POST-MINING FUTURE? bard,” NRK 5 May 2014, accessed 26 Jan- turers, tourists, and the curious since the uary 2016, http://www. mid-sixteenth century. Economic activities Karl Benediktsson avers that the meaning of nrk.no/klima/_-steng- began with whaling in 1611 dominated by the “place” in the midst of transformation to kullgruvene-pa-sval- bard-1.11744050. English and the Dutch, and then by Norwe- “second modernity” is “renegotiated within a gians by the 19th century. Coal mining framework of fluidity and ongoing changes.”4 2 began on the archipelago in 1906 leading to Second modernity, simply put, means that Eirik Palm, “Krisen i Store Norske: Her er the establishment of Longyear City. Long- “society is …characterized rather by fluid planen,” Svalbardpos- year City and the mines were bought by the networking, mobility, and cosmopolitanism ten 11 September 2015, Norwegian company Store Norske and than by territorially bound and cohesive accessed 26 January 2016. would nominally own it to this day. The Sovi- identities.”5 Within this context, it is difficult ets/Russians would establish the coal mines to categorically characterize Longyearbyen 3 in Barentsburg and Pyramiden in the 1920s. as developing a post-mining identity. Never- Russian coal mining in Barentsburg Significantly, the Svalbard Treaty signed theless, stakeholders, residents, and poli- continues. in 1920 and expanded to include more coun- cy-makers have attempted to advance strat-

8 Introduction 9 Aileen A. Espíritu egies for sustaining the city as a viable and bring opportunities for social science schol- vibrant place. Besides mining (now severely ars to study Svalbard and Longyearbyen decreased), tourism and research activities from a social, economic, cultural, architec- are meant to drive Longyearbyen, and tural, and political perspective. In so doing, indeed Svalbard, forward in its plans for a multi-disciplinary research would have the sustainable community. While the coal min- potential to effect policies and to improve ing being done by Norwegians on Svalbard the quality of life of those who live in Lon- has been reduced only to providing coal for yearbyen and the entire Svalbard the power station in Longyearbyen — it is archipelago. still a questionable adherence to depend- ence on a dirty source of energy. CONCLUSIONS

TOURISM The foregoing has outlined some of the chal- lenges for Lonyearbyen as it attempts to It is easy to see why tourism has the poten- change its identity from a mining to a tial to develop into one of the main indus- post-mining town. Very much defined by its tries on Svalbard. Endowed with natural history and the major industry that built it, beauty; the possibility of seeing Arctic flora Longyearbyen will be tied to the identity of and fauna: notably polar bears in their natu- coal mining for generations to come. But ral habitat; cruising towards the northern- signs in the crack may be appearing. It most reaches of Norway; the Northern seems that the big industry answer for res- Lights; glaciers; seeing the heritage of min- cuing the Longyearbyen economy and com- ing, trapping, and exploration are but some munity is to build a harbor that could of the tourist attractions on offer on Sval- accommodate the speculated transship- bard. In 2015, the number of overnight tour- ment of oil and gas from the Barents and ists to Svalbard rose by 11%,6 selling Sval- Arctic Seas to markets in Europe and Asia. bard tourism as an “authentic” experience. Although seeming to break from the path Touring the old Mine 3 and the Svea mining dependence on coal, the planned transship- Mining as public art community are also experiences unique to ment harbor would still depend on resource Svalbard and again shows the city’s depend- extraction —oil and gas, and therefore vul- ence on the infrastructures of mining. The nerable to the vicissitudes of boom and bust building that previously housed the funicular economics. bringing coal from the mine to the town is Building a sustainable community in being turned into a museum/gallery. Pres- Longyearbyen will take a long time and will sure on tourism to succeed as a major indus- involve significant capacity-building and the try on Svalbard is great. Lonyearbyen’s ability to attract people to live and work policy-­makers, stakeholders, and residents there. The caution is that Longyearbyen and believe that the success of tourism could Svalbard should be seen for what identity it provide jobs to those who lost their posi- can build outside of the framework of coal tions when the mine closed, and thus offset mining. In a global context, using coal for the loss caused by the layoffs. energy will become even less acceptable. And gradually, all coal mining on Svalbard 4 RESEARCH will have to stop. In the meantime, this is an Karl Benediktsson, “The Industrial Impera- opportune time for Svalbard and Norway to tive and Second Research as a driver of economic develop- find sustainable energy solutions for Long- (hand) Modernity,” in ment on Svalbard is also distinctive. yearbyen and to start building sustainable eds Torill Nyseth and Arvid Viken, Place Founded on the Svalbard Treaty, and signa- economies and communities. Reinvention: Northern tories’ right to establish activities on Sval- Perspectives (London: bard, many have established research sta- Ashgate, 2012). tions in Ny Ålesund and conduct research 5 throughout Svalbard, on land and on the sea. Ibid. Leading the way is UNIS, The University 6 Centre in Svalbard, which according to their Christine Karijord, webpages aims “to contribute to the devel- “Svalbard hadde 60 opment of Svalbard as an international 000 turister i 2015 — flest utlendinger,” research platform.”7 As of yet, research on High North News 15 Svalbard is dominated by the natural January 2016, sciences with very little to no focus on the accessed 22 January Beautiful Svalbard 2015, http://www.high- humanities and social sciences. Undoubt- northnews.com/ edly, the impact of research on the economy svalbard-hadde-60- of Svalbard will be limited, especially since 000-turister-i-2015- flest-utlendinger/. those who will be needing jobs may not be employable in fields of academic natural sci- 7 ence research. UNIS, “About UNIS,” Accessed 26 January Nevertheless, the proposed growth of 2013 research as a resource for Svalbard should

10 1. Inventing and Reinventing Place Identity in Longyearbyen: Towards a Post-Mining City? 11 Aileen A. Espíritu The future is in its past in Longyearbyen

12 1. Inventing and Reinventing Place Identity in Longyearbyen: Towards a Post-Mining City? 13 Aileen A. Espíritu The Art of Svalbard, May 23– June 1, 2015

Bill Fox The Art of Svalbard, Art of The 1, 2015 May 23–June 26, 2015 July Bill Fox, at public art to look specifically in Svalbard was I polar of the statues — Longyearbyen around deployed the Global Seed on works the light and and miners, bears a how of examination my — as part of example for Vault But I Arctic. the in being constructed was brandscape art making in of realm the larger in also interested was was toresearch the topics the first archipelago. One of which the earliest of postcards, tourism 19th century fjords, bears, polar from 1896 date feature to and tended sun. the midnight and glaciers, in 1899. forlag G. Hagens by printed Spitsbergen”) from (“Greetings Spitsbergen fra Hilsen polar of views touristic on promoting mostly focus postcards color glossy Modern-day remained the 20th century art during and most Svalbard borealis, the auroral and bears I expected, what with in line was This traditions. based on landscape painting the the the to Alps, the fjords, comparable Swiss branding Grand Norwegian of Canyon the sublime. of tradition the Euro-American in forth and so Buckland when David contemporary decidedly went Svalbard the art of But in 2003 and Rachel Gormley Antony artists, such as contemporary taking major began He change. with climate the public to engage in an effort the archipelago to Whiteread, Circle Arctic The popular the islands. to art & science expeditions has since led eight for the best option a price, although now for opportunities similar soon offered program the ice-strengthened uses, the ship everyone book passage on to be simply artists may in Longyearbyen. which is stationed Noorderlicht, schooner two-masted British by Nowhereisland voyages, those from arising on just one artwork focus to want I While circumnavigating with Buckland in 2004. who sailed Hartley, Alex artist recently had that field football a of the size an island about found Hartley Spitsbergen, tiny the on foot to set human being first the was He retreating. was as a glacier emerged named Nyskjæret. eventually was which land, revealed newly of patch More » More The Contorted Architecture of Geopolitics of Architecture The Contorted the Flower and Wall The forms and Fabulous design fictions 1, 2015 23–June May Arctic, The Svalbard, fluid the and Longyearbyen of The urbanity Svalbard of territory http://www.oculs.no/projects/future-north/news/?post_id=4093 About a North provides the Circumpolar present At landscapes future studying for unique laboratory and excavation, infrastructure, production, of change. environmental news: project Popular • • • • •

14 15 This post was also published at the Center for Art + Environment Blog. Art + Environment for the Center also published at was This post Cape Farewell. of 2004–2005. Image courtesy from Text” Buckland “Ice David A image: Feature Image of Nyskjæret when first discovered. Image courtesy of Alex Hartley. Alex of Image courtesy discovered. first when Nyskjæret Image of Once a barge. till onto its glacial some of the island in 2011 and moved to returned Hartley He nation. it an independent declared Hartley waters, in international was Nowhereisland the southeast then around England and Weymouth, to tugged it have to then proceeded was the island when ended that a 2000-mile-long journey end in Bristol, to coast in pieces. away and given dismantled Hartley. Alex of Image courtesy tow. under Nowhereisland national squabbles arise over territorial uncovered, lands are The ice goes out, new and land art performance, is a self-aware intervention maritime boundaries … Hartley’s Robert Smithson, by envisioned island barge floating the works, among other he cites, the Francis Mountains, Moves When Faith and 2007, from barge Meadow Kovats’ Tania global highlights that theatre 2002. But it is also political piece of performance Alÿs of fickle nature the and resources, natural for competition international warming, boundaries. national the is like sustainable habitability, the limits of at its location virtue of by Svalbard, the Unlike survival. for on outside resources its communities dependent Antarctic, host a to thus able and world the developed to close relatively it’s however, Antarctic, I use work. their for as an arena civilization the edge of engage to artists seeking of range of has an element in such difficult locations art committed as any arena, word the easel, much less moving a painting or camera view a just erecting it, even to performance is less about the archipelago art made in the contemporary of an island. Most part of are that mainland the Norwegian on works unlike very and, installations, permanent issues. at pointed is more tourism. attract to commissioned in order 135 countries from 23,003 people it had attracted dispersed, was Nowhereisland Before first which in its Nowhereisland, for the constitution wrote who sign up as citizens, to online, a principles and conditions. It remains one hundred of consisted iteration here island. Now and global change. Nowhere migration of the nature about provocation is land. where is land. No land halfway the star-shaped is 2013. Svalbard March vs. 1988 March thickness and extent, sea ice Arctic Map of based on team, Climate.gov the NOAA of Image courtesy and Greenland. right the upper in Norway the coast of between Colorado. of University Tschudi, Mark by provided data

16 17 2. A Fluid Landscape

Kathleen John-Alder

A fundamental requirement for individuals commonly noted that each landscape’s who study and design the land is a basic unique sights, sounds and smells serve as understanding of the term landscape — the physical reminders of a particular event medium of their endeavors. It is also a tru- or place. (Yi-Fu Tuan, 1974) These situated ism that the word landscape is the most dis- impressions, in turn, become intertwined cussed, dissected and defined word in their with, and inseparable from identity and lexicon. For example, in its broadest sense, memory, and the intergenerational trans- landscape refers to a physically distinct mission of knowledge. (Said, 1994) geographic area that includes both cultural Histories of landscape design further and natural features. (Sauer, 1925) Then complicate this already complex linguistic there is the fact that the structure, or physi- terrain. This discourse includes, but is not cal pattern, of the landscape that arises limited to perspectival space, taste, style, from the interaction of terrain and climate space, time, organic plasticity, the momen- with collective human activities is associ- tary glance, unconscious perception, psy- ated with the production and organization of chogeography, and cognitive maps. From agriculture, housing, resource extraction, the mid 17th century through the 18th and transportation infrastructures. (Jackson, ­century, enlightenment rationalism ruled 1984) These definitions have in turn sup- supreme until it was opposed in the 19th ported the notion that each landscape has a century by a romantic, picturesque rebellion. unique identity and history resulting from Early in the 20th century technology, speed, the interaction of multiple physical and cul- and mass-production presaged the rise of tural processes, which raises the issue of a stripped-down, functional modernity. documentation and how best to represent Moving forward into the mid 20th century, these processes as they adapt and evolve computerization and systems thinking over time. (Forman, 1995) No singular structured the debate, only to be super- method has been agreed upon in regard to seded by a vision of the earth from space this issue, but it is generally understood that and the defining power and synoptic scope the documentation of natural functions will of the aerial view and its controlling, glo- vary depending upon the phenomena under balized discourse. Post-modern critical consideration and the discipline undertaking theory did nothing to clarify this state of the study. (Harvey, 1996) Thus, a landscape, affairs when it deconstructed these both physically and conceptually, should over-arching metanarrative into an infinite never be considered hermetically sealed, or number of stories and indexes. static. Instead, consensus favors the opin- Perhaps the best way to summarize this ion that landscape is a territory best delim- brief discussion of landscape is to reference ited by porous boundaries that are defined the following statement made by the cul- as much by dynamic open-ended processes tural geographer J. B. Jackson in his study of as by location and material content, which, the term: ‘We think it refers to one thing as already indicated, includes physical, only to discover that it means something social and economic interactions that else’. Nevertheless, Jackson was not change over time. (Harvey, 1996) However, deterred by this state of confusion, and in the dominant position of the nation state, fact emphasized the combinatory potential which is obviously intent on maintaining ter- of multiple definitions. When he delved into ritorial imperatives and ideologies, upholds the etymological roots of the word he per- strict boundary limits, or at least territorial ceived a bundle of similar objects and ideas, change that is in its own best interest. exemplified by a collection of lands and (Scott, 1998) Yet if we drop down to the composition of spaces. Refraining from a scale of the individual, the conversation singular meaning, or an authoritative defini- turns to experience and feeling. Here it is tion, he urged his colleagues to focus their

18 The Art of Svalbard, May 23–June 1, 2015 19 Kathleen John-Alder gaze upon overlooked landscapes, and the to step back for a minute and present a brief to maintain the Norwegian population accumulated actions reflecting two differ- narratives that arise from everyday actions. history of Svalbard — an isolated, but stra- advantage and majority stake in the land. ent political regimes. The first regime This collective character, he further argued, tegically located, archipelago of rocks and The Norwegian government proposes a mix achieves legitimacy through convention and is ‘simply the by-product of people working glaciers located 78 degrees north of the of tourism, research and industry, abetted authority, while the second regime operates and living, sometimes coming together, equator just south of the Artic Ocean. by tax-free liquor, tobacco and vehicle sales. by informal rules, and often as an ingenious sometimes staying apart, but always recog- For hundreds of years the landscape of Each of these histories has marked the adaptation to an unlikely site. If we extend nizing their interdependence’. To fully com- Svalbard existed as an incompletely mapped land, and due to the extreme cold, each this analogy further what the production of prehend the meaning of this landscape, we terra incognito — a legendary land of fic- mark remains, piling up over time like the these maps and sections tells us, and what suggested we ask ‘who owns or uses the tional geography, cartographically popu- snow on the surrounding glaciers, covering Jackson presciently noted, is the fact that spaces, how they were created, and how lated by vast expanses of sea ice and sea but never fully erasing the past. This pal- landscape ‘is never simply a natural space they change’. (Jackson, 1984) monsters. It wasn’t until 1596 that Willem impsest is what the Svalbard studio docu- on the surface of the earth, a feature of the Thus, according to Jackson, landscape is Barentsz (William Barents) officially discov- mented, using an ingenious combination of natural environment — it is always artificial, not only the universal ground for narratives ered the archipelago, and called it “Spitsber- plan and section. The resulting projects always synthetic, always subject to sudden of habitation — its ground is littered with gen” in honor of the eastern shore’s jagged, delved deeply into the terrain of politics, or unpredictable change’. (Jackson, 1984) In overlapping layers of grammar and logic. In snow-covered mountains. (Polar Institute, architectural preservation, artic exploration, this sense, landscape is not only a place other words, we can describe the landscape 2011) A period of intense resource extraction whaling and hunting settlements, coal min- where we overlay social and cultural syntax in mundane terms, give it social order, aes- followed, beginning with an international ing, science and technology, and ecological upon a terrain governed by natural pro- thetically perceive it like a painting, and coterie of whalers who fought over, and ulti- material and energy flows. cesses of growth, maturity and decay — it is even take it for granted. But no matter how mately depleted the supply of whales and To begin their study of the Svalbard land- also a language layered with imaginative we perceive or treat the landscape, it will whale oil. Hunters were next in line, and they scape, students were asked to empirically possibility. And when these narratives inter- remain an essential component of our iden- derived their livelihood from the fur and explore the site through notes, sketches, twine and ripple across space and time, they tity. ‘It is’, he wrote, ‘the slow accretion of all ivory supplied by the land’s abundant popu- photographs, mapping surveys, literature foment unforeseen events and unantici- elements in society. It grows according to lations of walrus, polar bears and arctic fox. searches, and archives. This was followed by pated consequences that subvert any pre- its own laws, rejecting or accepting neolo- (Wallis, 2011) the selection of a topic uncovered during conceived formulation of the term gisms as it sees fit, clinging to obsolescent When coal was discovered in the late their research, which as noted previously landscape. forms, inventing new ones’. The result is a 19th century, mining supplanted hunting as was to be graphically document in plan and hybrid field of fluid chronologies marked by the archipelago’s biggest industry. The section. This, in turn, required the consider- territorial conflicts between what is estab- introduction of this land-based resource ation of scale, framing, and accuracy — both lished by tradition and authority, and by extraction, led to the demarcation of the compositionally and epistemologically. what arises in response to cultural change landscape into distinct territories, each with ­Critical here is the notion of choice, and what and the introduction of new knowledge. their exclusive ownership claim. Missing, information to include or exclude in their ‘Whatever definition of landscape we finally however, was an official means to oversee narrative portrayals. reach’, he continues, ‘to be serviceable it will and regulate these claims. Not surprisingly, the dialogue between have to take into account the ceaseless The Svalbard Act, negotiated in 1920 as the maps and the sections, and their differ- interaction between the ephemeral, the part of the Versailles Agreement of World ent modes of coding and representing infor- mobile, the vernacular on one hand, and the War I, installed a state authority with ‘the mation is one of the most intriguing aspects authority of legally established, premedi- complete and full sovereignty’ over the terri- of this work. The maps use cartographic tated permanent forms on the other’. tory and its water, as well as the power to conventions, defined measurements, and ­(Jackson, 1984) regulate territorial disputes arising from the succinct labels to organize and illustrate the All of these conceptions raise serious mining claims. (Wallis, 2011) With the enact- territorial dynamics of the landscape. Con- questions regarding the agency of land- ment of the Svalbard Treaty in 1925, the versely, the roughly chronological sections scape, and these questions become even Archipelago of Spitsbergen officially detail an imaginative terrain where it is pos- BIBLIOGRAPHY web/20110723003932/http:// more compelling when situated within the became known as Svalbard. (Polar Institute, sible to cut diachronically and synchroni- www.sysselmannen.no/­ Carl Sauer. 1925. The hovedEnkel.aspx?m=4530, current debates on climate change. For 2011) All parties to the Treaty have access to cally through layers of time and space and ­Morphology of Landscape accessed January 2015: See example, how are regional landscapes fishing and hunting grounds, however Nor- chart unexpected linkages between objects (Berkeley: University of also, The Svalbard Treaty, delimited and territory defined within a con- way has the authority to ensure their preser- and ideas. Although both the mapping and ­California Press) http://www.jus.uio.no/english/ services/library/treaties­ stantly changing global environment? How vation. Existing mining rights, as well as ter- sectional operations take into account loca- Central Intelligence Agency. ­/01/1-11/svalbard-treaty.xml,­ does climate change impact cultural preser- ritory occupied by other nations at the time tion, ownership, dimension, morphology and The World Factbook: accessed January 2016. vation efforts? How do strategic mining and of the treaty, were honored, but again Nor- time — the visual language of the maps ­Svalbard https://www.cia. gov/library/publications/the- Norwegian Polar Institute military interests motivate the stakeholders, way was given the right to regulate and levy tends toward grammatical convention and world-factbook/geos/sv.html, Place Names of Svalbard and particularly with newly exploitable taxes these operations. The Treaty forbids proper punctuation, while the visual lan- accessed January 2016. Jan Mayen, https://web. resources? How does memory come into preferential treatment by nationality, as well guage of the sections favors textual decon- archive.org/web/2011060611 Richard T. T. Forman. 1995. 3449/http://miljo.npolar.no/ play when the landscape is both a focus of, as a military presence on the archipelago. struction and exploratory editing. It is when Land Mosaics: The ecology of placenames/pages/detaile. and defined by mountains of surveillance (Sysselmannen Archive, 2011) these two methods are combined that syn- landscapes and regions asp?placeNameID=813614P, and monitoring data? A governor — Sysselmannen — ergistic narratives emerge. (Cambridge: Cambridge accessed January 2016. ­University Press) What territorial relationships exist appointed by the Polar Department of Nor- James C. Scott. 1998. Seeing between temperature, ocean currents, trade way’s Ministry of Justice officially adminis- Even more intriguing, however, are the in­ David Harvey. 1996. Justice, Like a State (New Haven: Yale routes, resource extraction, pollution, and ters the territory of Svalbard. The sights that surface when the two processes Nature & the Geography of University Press) Difference (Oxford: Blackwell migratory patterns? And how can these Sysselmannen resides in Longerbyen, Sval- driving the visual production of the maps Publishing) Yi-Fu Tuan. 1974. Topophilia: complex interactions be presented in a form bard’s main city, for the duration of their and sections are considered as analogies for A Study of Environmental easily grasped by the general public? term in office. The population demographics the two processes driving the social produc- John Brinckerhoff Jackson. Perception, Attitudes and 1984. Discovering the Vernac- Values (New York: Columbia It is exactly this agency and these ques- of Svalbard, as recorded by the CIA World tion of the Svalbard landscape. This com- ular Landscape (New Haven: University Press) tions that the studio component of Future Factbook in 1998, was 55.4% Norwegian, parison returns the discussion back to J. B. Yale University Press) North Svalbard addresses. But before we 44.3% Russian and Ukrainian, and 3% other. Jackson, who observed the landscape, as Diana Wallis. 2011. ‘The Office of the Governor of ­Spitsbergen Treaty: Multi­ describe how these particular answers were Of major concern here, at least to the both an imaginative construct and physical Svalbard lateral Governance in the researched and represented, it is necessary Norwegians and their strategic allies, is how actuality, is nothing more than a series of https://web.archive.org/ ­Arctic’ Arctic Papers Vol. 01

20 2. A Fluid Landscape 21 Kathleen John-Alder - - - NARRATA Researcher narwhal. I keep assisted I am a bio-enhanced, nuclear the changing observing and exploring by busy myself long My North. the Far of landscapes and discourses to sorts, able an aerial of It’s has special properties. tooth condi and sense climate and send information receive great deep and swim tions and change. I can dive special enhanced use my to distances. But I am also able the air. and into water the out of myself jettison to power sensory extra developed I have these properties Beyond the changing land look into to I use that sensitivities that today the future north scapes of and the forces of tomorrows. shared on our impact may a con device, I am a communicative say might You collaborative for a mobile apparatus persona, structed Read friction! Design fiction. design A communication. heed to all need we me and how know to get to here more are shaped they changes north in the far and the ways and with links you I’ll provide today. already discursively the a part of travel to and a unique opportunity feeds, findyourself. to visit hard globe you may Seamless 30, 2013 October Narratta, rise above The majestic mountains I am back in Svalbard. time I challenged each perspective sense of the sea, my land and as I approach taller climbing the glaciers return, untouched exquisitely snow thick curls of the ice cream as a distance. It appears can see at we anything by tail my as I punch change has little effect though climate own by powered water, the cool through up and down But I will reveal. this day what of unsure motivations, is a big There deceptive. are shots these surface know mid-century. melt coming by More » More The Contorted Architecture of Geopolitics of Architecture The Contorted the Flower and Wall The forms and Fabulous design fictions 1, 2015 23–June May Arctic, The Svalbard, fluid the and Longyearbyen of The urbanity Svalbard of territory http://www.oculs.no/people/narratta/ http://www.oculs.no/projects/future-north/news/?post_id=4118&doing_wp_cron=1573211491.441332 About a North provides the Circumpolar present At landscapes future studying for unique laboratory and excavation, infrastructure, production, of change. environmental news: project Popular • • • • •

22 2. A Fluid Landscape 23 Narrata - Last night I listened to a bunch of scientists. On a thought cruise I called it. Smart thought On a scientists. a bunch of to I listened Last night of the effects lichens, to the damage on in, empirically, closer gaze their people, bringing few relatively where a place on Svalbard, here change right the accelerated water, melt I’m is monitored. activity orbiting satellite low worlds the of third a where visit but people the local and and digital landscape, the material of these layers understand to trying still the gradual the global, up and downloaded hoovered data of volumes the species and other north of migration second. every is a there But ice. Placid. Primeval. still, like water the The sun is shining again and so cruise then some 16 or And too. work at machine intelligence massive deliberately seem like two or an hour for will bar the hamburger and Longyearbyen will sail into ships as forgotten beef imported grain-fed the long chain of and appetite of a public abattoir dotting hytte Norwegian the Not cabins! of a high rise suddenly town The flow. the juices floating these to kind. I’ll come back a different of views but sea you, mind the shore, nuclear own my not No, talk about power. to I need Today day. another hotels forms. energy but other restlessness, feeds the All word. think I made up another I territory’. ‘treaty is an international Svalbard tusk these produce to neologisms. my coming through side. Dug in Side by the global map. Russia and Norway. on location a strategic It’s like together fitting their actually Well, seams. Coal, I mean. their times. Following earlier remote this on geo-political purchase their of terms cuts, and also in different seams of still Baretensberg The coal mine at seamless here. nothing there’s But archipelago. the of The arcs Longyearbyen. at now museum sites chugging along, several The still. higher the satellites of The arc town. the high above reaching Taubanesentralen now. territory a future Blimp me 04, 2015 November Narratta, sensing, satellite seeing, remote of Technologies north town of the far thought have Who’d hoovering. techno-scape. become such a have would Svalbard overhead the elaborate Mines closed, hand drills and students scientists, by be replaced would shuttle system time to this frontier get it’s outta town, and tourists. Hey, those Future one of moon base sorta place I heard like on a landscape architec all off Students saying. Northers sections, task to draw ture see the town differently, eyes. with new scaled and spliced up More » More The Contorted Architecture of Geopolitics of Architecture The Contorted the Flower and Wall The forms and Fabulous design fictions 1, 2015 23–June May Arctic, The Svalbard, fluid the and Longyearbyen of The urbanity Svalbard of territory http://www.oculs.no/projects/future-north/news/?post_id=4196 About a North provides the Circumpolar present At landscapes future studying for unique laboratory and excavation, infrastructure, production, of change. environmental news: project Popular • • • • •

24 2. A Fluid Landscape 25 Narrata Reminds me of coming across those adverts for the Spitsbergen Airship Museum. Ha! I Airship the Spitsbergen for those adverts coming across Reminds me of year. skies all the inky through on fly I the dark months. for closed see it’s and currents pressure with low free, ice is largely the archipelago side of westerly The sun my the midnight with treat, a are And summers seas just crisp. my keeping pleasure their bob about who now tourists the gaggles of mention to companion. Not the to cub oblivious and her bear a polar of lens zoom see a murky to palaces happy change. on climate lecture onboard the in floating done see me they that the bears on so intent are They toursim. Ah, climate tail, gone, below my of flick with a then a moment, for blimp like vessel, the behind sky the depth. with zinging sensors my the surface, Embedded in the future 29, 2015 May Narratta, me makes empowerment nuclear all my Some days Arctic these I survey Shark-like, Anxious even. restless. the east to across Svalbard, Vardø, Murmansk, waters. bays, lie shallow to And I love Greenland. coast of the to reveal thoughts how of with my chortling to myself the assemblies of to change climate of mysteries to laid bare back, belly behind my tourists, and scientists reflective. well, a little find I become, sun, I the midnight researchers of traffic Wi-Fi the tune into alongside ships, swim When I lurk in harbours, think about to able really are they if wonder I often planners, strategic the gaggles of and least. It really at centuries two for no choice. I’m embedded in it I have future. the across self electronic shift my to so does being able well view, of point your changes not crossed up, a small glitch powered was happened as I must have time, something my but also and electrons, the neutrons flesh and the mammal of the materiality only trajectories. More » More The Contorted Architecture of Geopolitics of Architecture The Contorted the Flower and Wall The forms and Fabulous design fictions 1, 2015 23–June May Arctic, The Svalbard, fluid the and Longyearbyen of The urbanity Svalbard of territory http://www.oculs.no/projects/future-north/news/?post_id=4127&doing_wp_cron=1573211942.874363 About a North provides the Circumpolar present At landscapes future studying for unique laboratory and excavation, infrastructure, production, of change. environmental news: project Popular • • • • •

26 2. A Fluid Landscape 27 Narrata 3. Place-Specific Arctic Urbanism

Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe

within the modernist master-planning framework, which prescribes measures for the welfare of the inhabitants and the physi- cal layout. It is based on an idea of pre-set or standardised provision of services, dwell- ings, urban layouts, and social and educa- tional facilities. Characteristic of this model is functional zoning that separates living, working and free-time activities and indus- trially produced housing units. The modern- ist model prescribes a utopian but also highly rational and healthy, well-organised physical planning that eliminates practical and social problems. The New Towns of European satellite cit- ies but also Arctic city developments proved the modernist model to be highly questiona- ble. Social problems seemed just to explode in these ‘place-less’ and abstract housing complexes. Inhabitants’ lack of identifica- tion with their urban environment was the key theme in post-modern critique of this planning regime. The post-industrial, post-modern, urban

And there half the time already powered ahead of the curve, the surge, the endless dirge the endless dirge the surge, the curve, ahead of powered time already the half there And gained never ever is a change isn’t the present change all about me in about climate out them last night, a bunch of to Listened and emissions policy. taxes carbon between Svalbard. of fiords the plows that the small icebreaker on seminar on an interdisciplinary and online-line partnering face-to-face a discussion of to in linked unthinkingly I rather smartphones their at tapping away the prow at glaciologists down a bunch of between moving slower to them, used most of for windy a bit was It shoulders. and one another’s But crowd. and dedicated An interesting valleys! the across wedged water of currents tourism. discussing arctic actually were They time. of understanding had a strange they the in glittering this long evening, the ocean arising out of an archipelago Svalbard, relish at me. I spliced back energy of arcs fiord, the sun bouncing across light, evening the clipping flippers then back up, metres, few a as I dip down water the the cool of in May. evening late another surface, discourse in Western Europe and elsewhere has broadened to include ‘Communicative Planning’ procedures1 as well processual dimensions and individual initiatives with regards to different aspects of cultural, social, physical and economic development. NEW PLANS 1950–51. Hugo Lund Andersen o.a., “Byplanforslag i Vestgrønland: Yet, modernist planning has largely perse- Narssaq, Sukkertoppen, Egedesminde, Godthåb”. Institutt for eskimologi, Københavns vered in Arctic communities. There might be universitet, 1950–51. many reasons for this. Debates on Arctic communities have We know that the Arctic is urbanising. This been dominated by anti-urban identity dis- urbanisation is not only an economic pro- courses based on the dichotomy between cess but also one that reflects cultural evo- colonial modernisation and indigenous ways lutions, changing values, and lifestyle of life. As a result, local and indigenous pop- 1 choices. However, for decades little atten- ulations have had little room for re-evaluat- See Healey 1992, 1996, tion has been paid to the actual urbanism ing the design of their cities as contempo- Innes 1995, Forester and design of cities in the region. The urban- rary urban environments.2 1994 ism and planning in today’s Artic have to The emphasis on a harsh climate is yet 2 capture contemporary cultures, values and another reason why modernistic planning is Dybbroe, ‘Is the Arctic lifestyles in each specific place. so persistently present in Arctic communi- really urbanizing?’. Arctic communities are considered to be ties. Planning here is still centred on Arctic 3 climatically marginal places and most of survival and the robustness of infrastruc- Provoost et al., WiMBY! them are also marginal in terms of social ture. Urban layouts tend to focus narrowly Hoogvliet: The Big Book: Future, Past and and economic development. The planning of on microclimates and urban ‘hardware’ such Present of a New Town. Arctic communities still largely happens as: roads, airports, pipes, functional build-

28 2. A Fluid Landscape 29 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe ings, and so on. However, looking outside uses, mental images of the city and ideas the Arctic, one finds other, contemporary about the future. forms of urbanism that increasingly In this approach, design proposals are acknowledges the complexities of this rela- simply extensions of what is already there, tionship as the basis for the design and and according to Crimson, “formulated from planning. Crimson Architectural Historians, the standpoint of the continuity of the city who prominently includes Wouter Van- as analysed” and “implemented as series of stiphout and Michelle Provoost, have called more or less mutually independent interven- this new planning regime ‘contextual urban- tions, of limited scale although with an ism’ in opposition to the old modernist, but impact on the whole”.4 The quality of these still evident ‘technocratic urbanism’, which, urban interventions will depend on how focuses on the ‘hardware’ of the city and the planners seize the physical, infrastructural, efficiency of a the masterplan.3 economic and cultural opportunities that are already present and how they are The story of Blok P in Nuuk, the capital of moulded together into something new. Greenland, provides an example. To modern- Again quoting Crimson, the “recipe for ize Greenland, parts of the indigenous popu- renewing an urban area must spring from an lation moved from smaller settlements to interpretation and amplification of its exist- brand new and efficient housing blocks in ing qualities.”5 town. Blok P was erected in 1965. It soon In order to capture the various aspects of acquired a reputation of social problems. the urban context, Crimson coined three In 2012 the housing block was demol- categories: ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘org- ished and all inhabitants were resettled. ware’. ‘Software’ refers to the ideas, images, Post-modern housing typologies replaced memories, opinions, and plans of residents, these homes, however, the paradigm and visitors and professionals while ‘orgware’ the logic of modernistic urbanism remain: describes the organisational complex of Inhabitants had again to leave their homes institutions, enterprises and civic society. and move — as part of a comprehensive, This framework helps the urban designer design- and hardware-based solution to a and planner to capture compound urban social problem. So while a modernist regime environments. The model goes way beyond is no longer evident in building forms, it per- addressing the climatic function of buildings sists as a conceptualisation of planning and the efficiency of infrastructure, to cap- practice. ture a complex of physical and non-physical Greenlandic Guide Training Centre, Tasiilaq, Greenland by Jack Hughes, AHO student, 2014. In contrast, Crimson’s ‘contextual urban- aspects — including the inhabitants’ desires ism’ values the existing, imperfect and even and their initiatives. The process enables a contradictory urban environment, including meaningful co-creation of place rather than the planned as well as the unplanned. The the reductive modernist fabrication of space, concept challenges the lingering notion of a while at the same time acknowledging the deterministic relationship between the socio-economic framing conditions of the physical environment and people. The con- (re-)design of cities. ceptualisation of a context includes not only the minimum, such as climate, landscape What does a contextual urbanism and the 4 and cultural heritage, but starts with the concepts of ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘org- Ibid. p23 mapping of the everyday city, making no ware’ contribute to the analyses of Arctic 5 distinction between physical and non-physi- cities — such as Longyearbyen or Tasiilaq Ibid p24 cal aspects: buildings, landscapes, but also on the east coast of Greenland? We have explored these questions at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, students and researchers together. Analyses are not lim- ited to the surveying of topography, built structures and cultural heritage artefacts, but cover every aspect of contemporary urban life. However, to cover every aspect is an impossible task. Yet, to reach wider and include a complexity of issues is feasible. In the on-site mapping, ‘hardware’, ‘soft- ware’ and ‘orgware’ are not separate analyti- cal categories. We do not map built struc- tures and infrastructure as simple hardware but rather as complex local material cul- tures — both the formal technical solutions and the informal, innovate solutions as cul- tural expressions of everyday life. Contemporary urban living in the Arctic areas includes in most places an intimate Town centre of Nuuk with Blok P, the largest apartment building in town (and in all of relationship with the surrounding landscape ‘An (Extra) Ordinary Street’, City Centre, Longyearbyen by Alberto Barea and Nadine Schmauser AHO students, 2015. Greenland). (photo: Vincent van Zeijst, CC 3.0)

30 3. Place-Specific Arctic Urbanism 31 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe — being it in the form of resource extraction, scape. The project demonstrates how this — hunting and fishing, or outdoor life. In a bit dull-looking — city centre can enrich Greenland, hunting still is the main occupa- the quality of urban living in this Arctic city: tion for many inhabitants in the villages. In how ordinary activities can become visible the cities, it is more often an integrated part for both locals and visitors, and the extraor- of the contemporary urban life as a leisure dinary local scene can enrich the experience occupation. So, as we map, we not only look of the central urban space. In the proposal, at formal systems of transportation, but shops were opened to the street, windows also the routes and locations of a variety of and entrances were added, and playful outdoors activities by inhabitants and tour- urban elements like climbing tower and fire- ists, by young and old. place were added. Also, a daylight space Seeking to move beyond notions of a was introduced in to the street, and the pas- rational and functional city in which urban sage through the existing shopping centre form ‘maps’ pre-identified ‘functions’, we was extended to create a public space. attempt to bring out a multitude of con- The utopian modernist logic is still found trasting or even conflicting views on the city in the planning of Arctic cities — even and the variety of practices taking place in though architectural forms have changed to and in relation to the city. This includes, for ‘mimic’ greater diversity of uses and modes instance, how youngsters, business owners of architectural production. In our contrast- or tourists regard and use the urban envi- ing approach, ‘hardware’, ‘software’ and ‘org- ronments. ware’, are not discreet categories, but they Present businesses, future plans and collectively indicate important dimensions of potential entrepreneurial resources have to a ‘contextual urbanism’ as a contrast to the be mapped — both as ‘hardware’ and ‘org- ‘technocratic urbanism’ of modernism. ware’. The latter also includes individual The contrasting perspectives illustrate human resources, entrepreneurs and mov- an important aspect related to the post-­ ers of the local communities. colonial discourse on the Arctic by highlight- Urban design proposals by our students ing the tensions between paternalistic result from this mapping of Arctic cities and ­narrations of urban life as constructed from are, in Vanstiphout and Provoost’s words, the outside and the perceptions based on “formulated from the standpoint of the conti- the use of the everyday urban environment.7 nuity of the city as analysed”. They are of Despite the good intentions of architects, “limited scale although with an impact on the planners and decision makers, the architec- whole.”6 So, these projects are multi-dimen- ture and urbanism of Arctic cities is still sional: They make use of, and reconceptual- largely the result of projections from afar — ise, existing physical and non-physical quali- either from southern capitals, or from the ties. They address conflicts and potentials utopian standpoint of modernist planning. revealed in the analyses. They bring into play The often-quoted ‘father’ of Arctic architec- a multitude of assets found in the city. ture and urban design with a human touch, Ralph Erskine, is yet another representative The project by Jack Hughes for a Greenlandic of this approach. guide-training centre in Tasiilaq demon- There is a need to move beyond the meta-­ strates the approach. In order for the project narratives of, for instance, industry versus to have a real impact in the city, the pro- environment or modernity versus aboriginal- posed educational programme was designed ity, in order to reveal the complexity of as an integrated, decentralised part of the urban life in the cities of the North. In devel- urban environment, including into the pro- oping an urbanism of the Arctic, one has ject: human assets, organisational struc- to move beyond notions that they are in need tures, buildings and spaces. Organisationally, of ‘development’ according to social narra- socially and physically, the training centre tives of idealised or abstract norms. Rather, will not be one singular, insular object, but we need to continue to explore ways to rather an organic part of Tasiilaq, bringing to­­ ­capture and express the contradictions and gether traditional indigenous skills and richness of urban life, and to evolve Arctic modern lifestyles. The project illustrates a cities as complex, diverse places in ways way of opening for local re-designs and that are relevant to their inhabitants. We do re-conceptualisations of Arctic urban living. of course see this already in the major cities The project for the Longyearbyen city of the Arctic, such as Tromsø or Murmansk, centre, by the students Alberto Ballersteros that are broadly considered ‘cultural’ urban and Nadine Schmauser, demonstrates con- spaces in their own right. cretely how to build on to an existing ordi- 6 nary urban fabric — making the ordinary — Ibid. p21 into something out of the ordinary. The city 7 centre, we found, is an active hub of people, Bravo, Michael T. ‘The services and activities. People meet here! Postcolonial Arctic’. Moving Worlds 15, no. Yet, the place only receives limited attention 2 (2015): 93–110. — compared to the surrounding natural land- City street in Tasiilaq, Greenland, 2014

32 33 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe Three Futures for for Three Futures Longyearbyen 30, 2015 August Hemmersam, Peter Spitsbergen (or Svalbard of the ‘capital’ Longyearbyen, is now that community is a lively some), as it is called by coal mining. its cornerstone-industry: of closure facing costs operating plummeted, prices have market World a much of too is perhaps high, and coal power are on priding itself government the Norwegian for paradox the of protection and environmental sustainable energy wilderness. archipelago’s FOOTPRINT TIGHT 1. Polar Norway’s of Director the General (currently Svalbard of Governor future the From preserving for the policies that we learned Askholt, Kjerstin Department) Affairs time, the same At considerations. trumps all other wilderness untouched Svalbard’s for is important society family and building a population a Norwegian maintaining involves conflict, this apparent overcoming for tool One important geopolitical reasons. inside, or to, close areas to tourists the 150,000 locals and both for access restricting support Norwegian to in order is necessary Longyearbyen words, In other Longyearbyen. the human where and should be the archipelago, over and governance sovereignty landscape the surrounding keep to words: In other is concentrated. on Svalbard footprint the shit. do all you where the place being continue to has Longyearbyen ‘untouched’; ARCTIC METROPOLE 2. developing the importance of on elaborated Brunvoll Ronny manager Tourism Too ‘Svalbard’/‘Spitsbergen’). to ‘sub-brand’ (a destination tourist as a Longyearbyen and while simpler expeditions, snowmobile hour ten organize operators tourism many of segments new could draw Longyearbyen in and around accessible activities more require would this Achieving year. the of the dark months beds in fill hotel and tourists, It should town. mining scruffy slightly this otherwise in an enhanced ‘arctic-ness’ the between the contrast highlighting by in itself become an urban destination metropolitan Arctic a new Perhaps environment. the extreme and life of ordinariness Longyearbyen? of the photogeneity increase to is necessary architecture SHOWCASE SUSTAINABILITY 3. as a Longyearbyen vision of us about his told LPO from Arvid Ruud Architect for showcase an international is already Svalbard Norway. for showcase sustaibability politicians Norwegian meet to come here and diplomats and prime ministers Norway, World’s the of and nature, untouched of as guardian profile ethical Norway’s promoting being an from Ruud argues, transition is in Norway Vault. the Global Seed genes in crop could that money It has also saved society. becoming a greener to oil and coal producer could become a kind of Longyearbyen that and he suggests transition, this on be spent city’ a ‘green make would location and isolated environment adverse as it’s laboratory, Abu Dhabi). in City (Think Masdar the government for achievement a high profile here More » More The Contorted Architecture of Geopolitics of Architecture The Contorted the Flower and Wall The forms and Fabulous design fictions 1, 2015 23–June May Arctic, The Svalbard, fluid the and Longyearbyen of The urbanity Svalbard of territory http://www.oculs.no/projects/future-north/news/?post_id=4145 About a North provides the Circumpolar present At landscapes future studying for unique laboratory and excavation, infrastructure, production, of change. environmental news: project Popular • • • • •

34 3. Place-Specific Arctic Urbanism 35 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory Janike Kampevold Larsen

36 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory 37 Janike Kampevold Larsen 38 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory 39 Janike Kampevold Larsen 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory

Janike Kampevold Larsen

The geology of Svalbard leaves an impres- of these explorers is signified by an experi- sion both of stability and flux. Enormous ence of extreme coldness, bad weather, the talus fans of rushing sand and water shape solitude and isolating felt as the travelers the mountain slopes and arrange striking ventured close to the archipelago, or into patterns along the beachfront. This particu- the ice, or into the land. This is a sublime lar fluidity of masses contribut to create a that is more in line with Edmund Burke’s general pattern of modules and pyramidal sublime — the experience of awe or fear is shapes wherever one turns one’s eyes. related to the quality of the objects encountered: To a contemporary landscape gaze, Svalbard presents itself as mass — masses of rock, Whatever is fitted in any sort to excite masses of ice, masses of coal. And it has the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to received attention for all of these — from say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is geologists, glaciologists, and mining com- conversant about terrible objects, or panies. It does however also present itself as operates in a manner analogous to terror, the very opposite — as ephemeral qualities is a source of the sublime; that is, it is of light and expanse — an expanse of pris- productive of the strongest emotion tine wilderness, glaciers and teaming wild- which the mind is capable of feeling.4 life. It receives attention for these as well, from the at least 50.000 tourists that arrive There seems then to be roughly two ver- 1 with air-planes and cruise ships every year. sions of the sublime — that of the awe Cian Duffy, Land- inspired by the vastness and harshness of scapes of the Sublime SVALBARD AS BORDER the territory and the perils it represents, and 1700–1830: Classic Ground (London: that which is connected to the impossibility ­Palgrave Macmillan Eighteenth century travelers related to the of even imagining the degree of emptiness 2013), p. 104 Arctic (and the Antarctic) as an indescriba- and inhumanness of the territory. The first 2 ble emptiness. Literary scholar Cian Duffy is based on a conceptual distance between Balthazar Mathias claims that the discovery of the polar human cognition and natural force, (Kant), Keilhau, Reise i Öst- regions was “the discovery of absence, the the second on the actual distance between og Vest-Finmarken: samt til Beeren-Eiland discovery of the inhumane. […] silent, frigid one’s body and the witnessed event (Burke). og Spitsbergen: i emptiness”1. The regions were hostile, not Both are based on a distance to the territory. Aarene 1827 og 1828 only to human life, he argues, but to imagi- (Christiania: Johan Krohn, 1831), p. 136. nation itself. This aligns with Kant’s defini- Present day encounters with Svalbard as tion of the mathematical sublime — an territory are quite different — whether they 3 experience of complete perceptual short- are by researchers, tourists, or coal miners. George Shelvocke, A Voyage round the coming in the face of magnificent phenom- Tourists may have an impression of Svalbard World by Way of the ena and events. Other representations of as untamed wilderness harboring imminent Great South Sea the Svalbard landscape reveal what might danger still, but we all arrive by plane, tour ­(London, 1723), pp. 72–73. Quoted by be called an object-related sublime. One of the fjords on cruise boats, and may tour the Duffy, ibid., p. 108. the first Norwegian geologists, Balthazar inner territory safely on skis, provided good Mathias Keilhau describes Spitsbergen’s planning and the correct equipment. The 4 Edmund Burke, Burke, glaciers in 1827 as holding a “rædsom køn- compellingly beautiful beaches are strewn Edmund. On the Sub- hed” — a terrible beauty.2 Early travelers like with remnants from old mining and hunting lime and Beautiful. George Shelvocke, describe their journey activities dating back about 400 years, to Vol. XXIV, Part 2. The Harvard Classics. around the coast of Svalbard as being terri- the early whaling and blubber industry that New York: P.F. Collier fying because they were: “[s]eparated from commenced in 1611. & Son, 1909–14; the rest of mankind” — they would have no Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/24/ chance of receiving help or assistance if What we see are landscapes of use. We pay 2/. [June 12, 2019]. anything went wrong.3 The ‘polar sublime’ attention to how mining has changed the

40 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory 41 Janike Kampevold Larsen landscape — and created new ones. We doc- geology, its shapes and materialities; at the implies that man, by moving into large-scale and freezing in the winter, which affects the ument the tailing mounds at Hotellneset, layers of industrial residue on the ground, at agriculture, would take control of the culti- grazing conditions for rein deer, glaciers white mountains converted to black hills of the prolific mining infrastructure, at the gla- vated environment and make it manageable, are retreating, the composition of species in coal waiting to be consumed in the district ciers — their blues and volumes of ice. Yet, which again implied turning the earth into polar waters are changing, the winter sea ice heating plant. Student Rasmus Weitze doc- we are caught in a weird imaginary loop an object that could be controlled. Humans is diminishing posing problems for nesting uments how new micro landscapes are knowing that what we look at is changing became un-intimate with the Earth, distant seals as well as diminishing the salinity of 5 emerging from the coal beds that have due to us and our kind, and that even flying to it by way of a need to maximize consump- the ocean. Not the least: the melting glaciers For a more extensive come to make out the ground at Hotellneset there to see it we have contributed further tion and profit. Extraction of carboniferous that are veritable archives of atmospheric account of this scene, since coal mining commenced in Longyear- to its change. We may be distanced from fuels like oil and coal is a continuation of this transport and global pollution since thou- see my article ‘Land- scape in the new byen in 1907. The area also stores consider- Svalbard’s shores to a certain extent, but logics of controlling and objectifying the sand of years ago, are melting. Volcano ashes North’, in Future North, able amounts of arsenic, chromium, sele- they are not sublime. They are cultural land- world and its resources. dating back thousands of years, byproduct the Changing Arctic nium, lead, mercury and cadmium that seep scapes. Yet, the old-fashioned distance of Svalbard has been a purveyor of this one from carbon resources, soot from burning Landscape, J.K. Larsen and P. Hemmersam into the vulnerable fjord at a steady flow. the tourist gaze, the joy of landscape splen- other thing besides agriculture that is still forests, radioactive fallout, and pollen: (eds) (London: Rout- dor, collapses into a deep intimacy. contributing to changing the atmosphere, These are a few of the archived residues that ledge, 2018). From a boat deep in the Billefjord, we have and along with it the ecology of the Svalbard allow researcher to project from past cli- 6 an infatuating view to the Nordenskiöld gla- THE INTIMATE SUBLIME archipelago. At the same time, Svalbard is mate change to present and future climate We could maybe bet- cier from the boat. Our drone however the place where the most rapid temperature change, and which will get lost. ter refer to it as the reveals the extent to which that too, is a It has become a well-accepted fact that we changes are being recorded and monitored, Chthulucene, embrac- ing Donna Harraway’s nature affected by culture. What looks like a are living in the era of the Anthropocene, an where the content of methane in the atmos- Today, if we can at all speak of a sublime definition of an era couple of hundred meters of melting is in era where humans’ influence of the globe is phere is increasing most rapidly, where the in relation to Svalbard, it is produced by where human and the fact more than a kilometer our drone reveals. so extensive that it is significantly altering effect of sea ice on animal populations may that which we cannot yet perceive in its full non-human are inex- tricable linked. See On the other side of our boat sits Pyramiden, its systems and chemical compositions, be most easily observed. Svalbard now is a effect, and especially not visually: climate Donna Harraway, the Soviet mining town that was abandoned from the atmosphere and all the way down territory subjected to human forces that we change. The sublime is not an effect of the Staying with the trou- in 1992. Between 1956 and 1992 coal was to the bottom of its acidifying oceans.6 long since have lost control over — and as talus fans, nor the beach lines, nor the great ble, Making Kin in the Chthulucene (Duke extracted at three different levels of the Philosopher Timothy Morton associates the it is melting, we make it still contribute to its white beyond. The one thing that is incom- University Press, 2016). mountain. Our tourist view to the glaciers is Anthropocene with what he calls agrilogis- 8 own change as we extract coal from its prehensible is the speed and degree of disrupted both by the aerial view that tics7 — a certain logics of agriculture that The Fertile Crescent is ground. The sand and pebble material shap- the changes that are working on all the 7 an area of fertile land Timothy Morton, reveals the degree of its melting, and by the occurred in the Fertile Crescent some thou- in the Middle East, ing into fantastic pyramidal forms along the atoms of the territory. The idea that nature “How I Learned to stop coal production landscape of Pyramiden. sands of years ago.8 The development of an extending around the beaches have been affected by global is larger than us, superior to us, a vast Worrying and Love the efficient agriculture depended on a number Rivers Tigris and warming already, and will be even more so: expanse beyond comprehension, has long term Anthropocene”, Euphrates in a semi- Cambridge Journal of It requires a degree of imagination to realize of subroutines: the elimination of contradic- circle from Israel to the Erosion will increase following increased been super­seded by an acknowledgement Postcolonial Literary that is it the coal and our dependencies on it tion and anomaly in the cultivated land, an Persian Gulf, where precipitation, which means not only will of the fact that nature is not separate from Inquiry, Cambridge that by analogy has looped from Pyramiden establishment of boundaries between the the Sumerian, Babylo- geohazards increase, but the territory will us, it is an intimate mesh of human and University Press, 2014 5 nian, Assyrian, Phoeni- doi:10.1017/pli.2014.15, on our left and onto the glacier on our right. human and the non-human, and an effort to cian, and Hebrew civi- lose much of its topographical characteris- nonhuman factors. p 1. We are certainly amazed at Spitsbergen’s maximize man’s existence. This basically lizations flourished. tics. A warming climate leads to thawing

42 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory 43 Janike Kampevold Larsen We can put the paradox differently, as does work than it used to do. In the context of literary scholar Benjamin Morgan: this text it means that the Svalbard territory no longer poses as an imaginary of oblitera- Among the many ironies of the present tion, terror, or as individual subconscious era of climate change is the fact that anxieties, as Katherine Bowers suggests is regions that had for centuries drama- active in the polar sublime.10 It provides an tized the fragility of human life have, in a abysmal experience of melting and becom- few short decades, been refigured as ing fluid of that which we thought was solid; representing the earth’s profound vul- a whole territory assumes the character of a nerability to collective human agency.9 slowly moving geologic force of change, and it literally changes as we watch. The ‘sub- In short: territories that used to inspire ter- limity’ of climate change is a sublimity of ror in travelers, are now demonstrating that intimacy. We are still, ontologically, at a dis- it is we who are the terror. It is we who oblit- tance from what we look at and admire, but erate them. This entails that the Arctic now as a species we have marked it profoundly is doing a very different kind of cultural in and by our consumption.

9 Benjamin Morgan, ‘After the Arctic Sub- lime’, in New Literary History, Volume 47, Nr 1, Winter 2016, pp 1–26, p. 3.

10 Katherine Bowers, ‘Haunted Ide; Fearful Sounds, and the Arctic Sublime: Exploring Nineteenth-Century Polar Gothic Space’, in Gothic Studies, Vol 19, no 2, 2017, pp. 71–84. DOI: https://doi.org/­ 10.7227/GS.0030 Photo still from drone video by Riccardo Pravettoni, 2015

44 4. Svalbard — A Fluid Territory 45 Janike Kampevold Larsen 5. Active Layers

Eimear Tynan

Environmental change is occurring at the changes occurring in Arctic landscapes unprecedented rates in the Arctic. One of today. A Masters research project, under- the key concerns is the warming of the taken by the author in 2014–2015, investi- ­Arctic and its repercussions. Thousands of gated ways in which engagement with research projects are being conducted by ­science and scientific methodologies could scientists in this region to record and moni- be explored in order to bring about an tor these changes. Arguably, it is a scientific awareness and understanding of a warming vantage point that has framed how we Arctic. The main subject of the project was anticipate our future. It seems timely then on permafrost. Global warming has trig- that landscape architects engage with sci- gered a thawing of this vulnerable physical entific research to understand the extent of layer, resulting in changes to ecosystems, these changes. Scientific research is often hydro­logies and carbon release, in addition removed from the social and cultural dimen- to increased phenomena of geo-hazards. sions of the Arctic with a lot of findings Perma­frost is ground that is frozen for two ­ending up exclusively in scientific papers. or more years. It includes all types of soil, There are gaps existing in this intermediate rock or organic material that is part of the layer between science and society that ground. Increasing global temperatures are, landscape architects can connect. By deci- however, causing a thawing of permafrost. phering complex scientific information an The intense scientific research on the sub- awareness and a framing of pertinent issues ject of permafrost has affirmed that far can be brought about to highlight some of from the ground being frozen and static, it

Continuous (dark grey) and discontinuous (light grey) permafrost in arctic and sub-arctic regions with dots indicating permafrost research locations

46 47 Eimear Tynan is dynamic and in constant flux. The monitoring area. The data from this area is a changes that occur underground influence valuable resource providing information the landscape above. Just above the perma- relating to local ground conditions. frost layer is the active layer which is sea- sonally frozen ground. It freezes in winter The proposed line was composed of 5 m and thaws in summer. As the climate warms high poles with ground sensors that would the active layer increases in depth while the trigger a light to illuminate when tempera- permafrost layer thins. It is this layer that tures would rise above 0 °C. This would became the focus of the research. reveal a spatial, performative outcome by combining landscape with scientific sensory Following a trip to Longyearbyen, in Sval- tools. The behaviour and verticality of the bard, it became apparent, that the dominant poles located along different material condi- infrastructures remaining from the mining tions would also indicate the stability/insta- industry were vulnerable to the conditions bility of the ground below. Scientific data UNIS both above and below the ground. These produced on site could be transferred to an modern ruins from the coal industry create offsite centre to archive the collected data. strong trajectories across Longyearbyen. This would allow for possibilities of compar- Inspired by these infrastructures, it seemed ing locally collected material to other sites appropriate to adopt a new line of infra- in the Arctic and highlight the importance of structure in the form of a scientific line of the local landscape in a global context. research and monitoring. Scientists in Sval- bard have, up to now, created lines of per- The proposed line of lighting poles would mafrost monitoring sites but on a relatively respond to different conditions along its small scale and generally on flat areas of route. These conditions would affect 1) the ground. With a longer line of research verticality of the poles and 2) the lighting traversing different ground conditions and being triggered by temperature change. at different elevations a very rich and The conditions below the surface would informative research could be derived from make invisible phenomena (temperature the landscape and shared and compared change)more visible for both short and long with other research sites in the arctic. term time scales. The conditions along the The line followed a previously con- line are determined by many factors structed cable line (taubane). It was used to such as: carry coal between Mine 2A and Taubane- sentralen. Although very little infrastructure • Elevation from the line remains, it is a protected sight • Land form/sediment type line across the town. In addition, the line is • Distance from the sea very close to an existing UNIS permafrost • Ice and water content

Mine 2A Taubanesentralen Vinkelstasjon: Angle station Design intervention Designated protection area

Original map source: Kartdata © Norsk Polarinstitutt, Longyearbyen lokalstyre, Store Norske, Sysselmannen og Telenor

48 5. Active Layers 49 Eimear Tynan Lighting poles In a line To the archive Share and compare (object) (research field) (recording) (open source)

* These are estimated depths based on a 3D modelling carried out UNIS. Source: http://www.unis.no/35_staff/staff_ webpages/geology/ole_humlum/Modelling.htm

50 5. Active Layers 51 Eimear Tynan LED Light

Cable (red line) Linking sensor to LED

Light post

Door with access to logger

Steel plate

Concrete foundation

Bore hole

Probe with sensor to measure temperature

52 5. Active Layers 53 Eimear Tynan 6. Urban Design —

Peter HemmersamArctic City: & Lisbet Harboe Longyearbyen

6. Urban Design — Arctic City: Longyearbyen

Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe

The Arctic is changing, not only in terms of We have mapped the urban and landscape climate and environment, but also in terms characteristics of Longyearbyen, a mapping of demography and urbanism. These of potentials and resources but also of chal- changes have lead to intense debates and lenges and needs. This mapping along with extensive research. Through the research insights provided by key actors in the com- project Future North and in a series of edu- munity, has provided us with a place-spe- cational master level studios, the Institute of cific basis of knowledge. Based on this, we Urbanism and Landscape with partners has collaboratively formulated positions on the investigated the urban landscapes and their future of the local society and teams of stu- relation to future imaginaries in a variety of dents have proposed projects, strategic Arctic cities, demonstrating that there is not urban designs, and landscape interventions one, but many different Arctic Urbanisms. in and around the city. The themes of the In our research, we have stressed the projects include: a new harbour, seafront fact that contemporary changes in Arctic development, retail and tourism infrastruc- cities are not necessarily connected to ture, new housing, and social facilities. resource exploration and exploitation, but The student projects have collectively indi- also to a general societal change. We have cated themes and strategies for long-term challenged both conceptions of Arctic com- sustainable urban development. It is the munities as non-urban and concepts of complementarity of these themes, based on urbanity in the Arctic as largely imported wide scope knowledge collection and col- from other regions. In general we find that laborative approaches, that first and fore- most recent attempts to develop specific most promises sustainability in the future approaches to Arctic urban design have thinking of cities in the Arctic. focussed narrowly on the design of land- scape relations and on mitigation of local Teachers: climate, fundamentally reducing urbanism Peter Hemmersam and Lisbet Harboe to an issue of engineering. Students: The Autumn 2015 Urban Design studio at Alberto Ballesteros Barea, Robert Blödorn, AHO explored the specific urban landscapes Ka Yeung Chi, Wai Fung Chu, ­Martin Danais, of Longyearbyen in the archipelago of Sval- Raphaël Fournier, Veronica Gallina, Simon bard. This community has undergone rapid Heidenreich, Eakapob Huangthanapan, development, possibly facing even more Alexandra Niedermayr, Minh Tin Phan, dramatic changes in the years ahead. A main Berenice Rigal, Nadine Schmauser, Kari issue for many Arctic communities, as else- ­Tønseth and Benjamin Astrup Velure where in the world, is the development of social, economic and environmental sustain- ability, something that is also highly relevant in Longyearbyen. This studio has focussed on a wide range of issues, not in order to separate them, but rather to capture the complexity of the everyday and site-specific, treating these issues as complementary, entangled and place-related. In our study, we have asked: what kind of urban design strategies, projects and landscape interven- tions will benefit Longyearbyen in order for it to become a more liveable, sustainable Students investigating Longyearbyen`s shoreline. Photo:Eimear Tynan and enjoyable Artic city?

54 6. Urban Design — Arctic City: Longyearbyen 55 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe A colour-coded plan showing the location of the students’ projects Students visiting Taubanesentralen in Longyearbyen. Photo:Eimear Tynan

56 6. Urban Design — Arctic City: Longyearbyen 57 Peter Hemmersam & Lisbet Harboe 7. MAPPING: Urban development history Raphaël Fournier & Berenice Rigal

MENTAL MAP OF LONGYEARBYEN everyday. It serves every district and link them to the city center. The mental map of Longyearbyen is pro- • City Centre duced by asking locals to draw their own Parallel to the main street we find the city, to describe it, name places in it or give main District: the linear pedestrianized «city directions. The approach is based on the center». In the middle of it we find the main method developed by Kevin Lynch in the node of the city: the shopping centre Lom- 1960s, and is usefull to get an understanding pen. It contains many public facilities (shops, of how a population percieve a city — includ- hairdresser, library, café, etc.) ing its most prominent places, but also the • River, Mountain, Sea spaces that are not seen as important. The The natural environment around the city mapping uses four categories: Nodes, Edges, seems to be forgotten by the inhabitants. It Paths and Districts. is so ordinary that it is no longer a boundary. The mapping revealed three important The edges of the city are blurred. Nature and issues in Longyearbyen: city interpenetrate. Notably the river does • Main Road not feature on the inhabitants’ mental map, This is the main path in the city. The road neither does the area between the coastal is 3 km long and mostly linear. It is the most road and the sea. commonly used road. All age groups use it

1906–1920 1921–1936 1937–1950 1951–1974 1975–2013

58 7. Mapping: Urban development history 59 Raphaël Fournier & Berenice Rigal 8. MAPPING: Informal Material Culture Simon Heidenreich and ­Benjamin Astrup Velure

The urban landscape of Longyearbyen requiremnts of everyday life. This includes reveals its specific conditions in the techni- covering bedroom windows with tin foil, and cal and engineering solutions of the site. adding homemade, improvised outdoor This includes measures to isolate structures porches to their dwellings, and bridges that from the dynamics of permafrost. In addi- enables pedestrians and snowmobiles to tion, the local inhabitants have adapted the cross the overground heating and water buildings and urban spaces to meet the pipes.

60 8. Mapping: Informal Material Culture 61 Simon Heidenreich and ­Benjamin Astrup Velure 9. PROJECT: A Denser Way Simon Heidenreich

This design is a proposal for densifying the residential area directly south of the town centre and closing the gap in the pedestrian walkway from the university centre to the school and towards Nybyen.” It consists of 73 new single family row houses, six two-storey apartment buildings with four units each and two long rows of seven three-storey apartment buildings with six units each, located at the south-eastern rim of the plot to create a barrier against the harsh winds blowing from south-eastern directions in the winter. The resulting 181 new dwellings eventu- ally replace the existing 15 single-family row houses on the plot that are nearing the end of their life span in the next years, thus increasing the population density sixfold. The second goal of the design is to com- plete the pedestrian walkway from the uni- versity centre towards the school and Nybyen. The proposal is a neighbourhood that incorporates a covered street for parking of cars and snowmobile storage below the buildings. This design suggests »growing inwards«. The reasons for densifying the residential area are manifold: The number of inhabit- ants that reside in Longyearbyen perma- nently as well as the average time of stay is increasign. This means that there is a need for rethinking residential space: Currently most new buildings are situated on the edge of the town, spreading the settlement even more into the surrounding landscape. This results in longer distances and more car and snowmobile traffic.

62 9. project: A Denser Way 63 Simon Heidenreich The project comprises the creation of social 10. PROJECT: spaces within Longyearbyen city centre, places where both locals and tourists can meet and gather. An (Extra)Ordinary Street Longyearbyen has been dependent on coal mining industry throughout its history. However, in the last years the mining sector has been decreasing and tourism has emerged as another pillar in the archipela- go’s economy. Currently, the city plays a Alberto Ballesteros Barea and role of a “basecamp” in which tourists only stay before and after taking part in tours and activities in the surrounding areas. Nadine Schmauser Longyearbyen is not the destination of the visit itself. The tourism masterplan emphasises lim- ited self-organised activities and a lack of “photo opportunities” within the city centre. Despite a seemingly dysfunctional arrange- ment of the built environment, public amen- ities are condensed and people make use of the city centre. Therefore, there is no need of a large scale urban intervention, only improving spaces in order to adapt them to the current situation. Small changes are suf- ficient to reach the desired effects. The project involves two fields of action addressed by small interventions in existing buildings and spaces. By using the concept of “extraordinary ordinary”, we are creating photo opportunities for tourists as well as showing the daily life in the unique context. Also, these interventions are used to gener- ate interaction among the different groups of inhabitants by creating places to meet and gather. This way we are enhancing the pedestrian street that is currently providing few common spaces.

64 10. project: An (Extra)Ordinary Street 65 Alberto Ballesteros Barea and Nadine Schmauser 1

4

2

3

1 Activity centre 2 Post Office 5 3 Gratisbutikken 4 Library 5 Shopping centre

Model showing view over main pedestrian street

66 10. project: An (Extra)Ordinary Street 67 Alberto Ballesteros Barea and Nadine Schmauser 11. PROJECT: 78°13'13"N, 15°28'1"E — Central Ground, Longyearbyen Ka Yeung Chi

The project transforms the riverbed into a the river space into a “park” where people landscaped space for the locals and tourists. can enjoy the landscape just a few steps By having a public ground at the central away from the shopping street. location of the city, the eastern and the But what is an arctic park? This design western parts can be physically and concep- tries to develop the “ground” itself as the tually reconnected. landscape. It is not about rebuilding nature, The commercial city centre, as well as but about creating new experiences and most of the residential developments are even an identity to the city by revealing the found on the east side of the river, while the character of the ground, which is the result old administrative centre and the historic of human intervention in the natural land- industrial cluster is located on the west side scape, framing the listed industrial monu- of town. There is a potential to improve the ments that tell the history of the town, and connection across, especially as there are showing the river itself, which has been plans to redevelop the industrial harbour excavated over the years. zone in the future. Stairs and ramps lead people to the The space between the districts has ground, and there are platforms that sur- great potential to be developed as a unique round and frame landscape and historical place. However, the river tends to disappear elements. Stairs lead up the hill and a view- in the locals’ understanding of the town. ing platform with a restaurant protrudes People come to Svalbard for its wilderness, from the terrain, providing a view back to and they ignore the outdoor experiences the city centre and the river. within the town itself. The project convert

68 11. project: 78°13'13"N, 15°28'1"E — Central Ground, Longyearbyen 69 Ka Yeung Chi 12. PROJECT: Beyond the river Berenice Rigal DIAGRAMS 1–2 The broad view and spectacular surrounding landscape attract the attention and few people approach the river in the midst of their everyday environment. The pipes that surround much of the area makes it difficult to access. Moreover, the soil is muddy in some places and do not incite people to venture onto the site.

This project consists of a series of landscape and information centre, which provides new interventions framing a river landscape views. The second intervention is an espla- within the centre of Longyearbyen. The pro- nade along the main street and the city cen- DIAGRAM 3 ject reveals the riverscape and makes it tre. A staircase runs all along it and provides A car road serves this space connecting the accessible. seating as well as access to the riverscape, city centre and the administrative area. Only Originally, the river formed many mean- encouraging tourists and citizens to dis- a small pathway along the pipelines bridging ders and spread throughout the valley. Now, cover this area. the river connects the city centre to the it is concentrated in a channel to facilitate The topography of the river space is other part of the city. It is hardly accessible the city construction by protecting against modified to create paths and make experi- and frequented, even by locals. During the flooding. This also reduces physical and ences of this landscape possible. Small winter, this situation changes as snowmo- visual access to the river. The river divides modifications of the stony topography add biles circulate in the river landscape. the city in two, the city centre and residen- to the experience of walking through the tial areas in the east, and the industrial and landscape. administrative areas in the west. The first intervention is a new pathway connecting to the existing bridge on the western side of the river. The pathway leads from the river to a new observation deck DIAGRAM 4 The administrative area overlooks the town. We have a large panorama before us. One can perceive the riverbank area as a whole with the city center in the background. I use this view to create a visual connection to the city centre.

DIAGRAM 5 Different structures Different structures are present on the site (towers, pipes, bridges). They are included in the design of the project.

70 12. project: Beyond the river 71 Berenice Rigal 13. PROJECT: Riverscape Boulevard Alexandra Niedermayr and ­Martin Danais

This project explores the valley landscape in We suggest a boardwalk for bicycles and the city of Longyearbyen to redevelop the pedestrians alongside the riverscape, and old riverscape and connect separated parts furthermore a hiking path going through the of the city. landscape. Our proposal offers an opportu- This area in the middle of the valley is a nity for both, tourists and inhabitants to no-man’s land. It is a huge space sur- experience the nature of Svalbard by stay- rounded by barriers such as pipelines, the ing in the protected area of the city. While river and the road. In the past it was a wide this aspect of the proposal mostly concerns riverscape where the river could run freely, summer activities, the new winter connec- but more recently, the river shrunk into one tion between the ski slope (next to the single channel with high stone banks on school), Huset (one of the main bar-restau- each side in order to protect the surround- rants of Longyearbyen) and the crosscoun- ing buildings against floods. try ski trail, facilitates for the winter sports. We suggest to recreate the former river This path works not only as a better connec- arms and create a new path for pedestrians tion between the two river parts, but also as and cyclists between Nybyen and the city- a connecting tool between the different win- center. Our purpose is to reopen the former ter sports. streams of the old river in order to recreate In the meeting of these two “seasonal” a new landscape for the city. Extending the pathways, we suggest a building serving riverbed will allow the biomass to arrange winter sport facilities and a bus stop next to itself and it will at the same time allow the the schoo. A building serving the new camp- arctic river plants to grow again in the valley, site in particular will connect the city and following the new streams. Additionally, the landscape where both inhabitants and modeling the topography of the space will tourists can observe and enjoy the sur- open unknown views onto the city and the rounding nature. landscape and create a new experience of the ground.

72 13. project: Riverscape Boulevard 73 Alexandra Niedermayr and ­Martin Danais The following diagrams outline the historic and present day river situation. They proceed to illustrate how the river could partially return to its historic network by opening up channels and adding boardwalks.

Historic river situation Todays situation where the river has artificial Proposal to open up former river channels embankments

Modelling the ground Creation of primary and secondary connections Addition of crossing points and places to stay

74 13. project: Riverscape Boulevard 75 Alexandra Niedermayr and ­Martin Danais 14. PROJECT: The City Centre as Memory Minh Tin Phan and Kari Tønseth

Moving to Longyearbyen can be a harsh transition if you are not prepared. From dressing appropriately for the local climate to getting your gun license in order to travel on your own in Svalbard. The Welcome scenario provides for the newly arrived inhabitants easy access to city life and functions. The city centre can tem- porarily be transformed into a strip, gather- ing all the important services one has to go through as a new inhabitant. The ‘Gratisbu- tikken’, or ‘Bruktikken’ provides free kitchen utensils, clothes, books and outdoor gar- ment. With a more open pavilion and a big- ger space, this service becomes more apparent. An extension of this service, is a reuse station, where one can pick up free furniture or just tinker your own stuff from scraps in the workshop. By the end of the strip you will have all you need, from signing up your kid for day care, registering your mail address to picking up today’s dinner.

76 14. project: The City Centre as Memory 77 Minh Tin Phan and Kari Tønseth 14. MAPPING: Programs and Functions Minh Tin Phan and Eakapob Huangthanapan

It is easy to generalize the programmatic There is currently a trend of combating areas of Longyearbyen. Due to the lack of these homogenous areas. The industrial area mixed-use development in earlier stages, is currently the subject of mixed-use devel- the walking distances between different opment. Here we find not only commercial sectors can be between 200 m and 2,7 km, services settling in, but also hybrid buildings which is a long stretch for a city of 2000+ that serve more than one intended purpose. residents. This development has generated Examples include LPO’s project for Maler four homogenous areas: Hansen and the Arctic Explorer building. The plan for the harbor also signals a more • Industrial area. up-to-date mixed/use harbor development • Research/educational area. and proposes relocating heavy industry and • Administration area. establishing a new city center. The urban • Residential areas. qualities of the area, however, do not agree with this trend. Visitors have to walk past warehouses and industry to get to the hotel or the boathouses, and guardrails block commercial programs. Even in the administration area, there are many housing units — many of them linked to government jobs — with one nota- ble exception: the home of Jason Roberts, a producer of wildlife documentaries on Svalbard. The community center/commer- cial area is a mixed-use zone with all the necessary amenities within a 150 m range.

Administration Administration Area

Community/Education Community Service / Education Area Commercial Community / Commercial Area

Industrial Industrial Area

Residential Residential Area

Heritage Commercial Area

78 14. Mapping: Programs and Functions 79 Minh Tin Phan and Eakapob Huangthanapan Our proposal consists of a new path along operators for trips in the fjord. The bus 15. PROJECT: the coastline of Longyearbyen, connecting ­shelter, by the road, creates a waiting place the city centre and existing traffic infra- but also a meeting and relaxing area. The structure. The city is currently separated most attractive place is the national park Coastal Experience from the sea by a linear industrial area, and centre, which is part of the actual future our design target has been to develop this plan for Longyearbyen. area and to improve them with new func- The third terminal is the WINTER TERMI- tions in order to really experience the sea- NAL, which is already working quite well side landscape and its sceneries. today. We have added some activities to A new regular bus network is a key ele- make the place a more attractive hub for Robert Blödorn and ment, which connects all the areas within both inhabitants and tourists. Another the city center and the airport, serving both national park centre is situated here, in­clud- inhabitants and tourists. Three important ing an exhibition on artic expeditions. The Veronica Gallina places along the coastline are improved and snowmobile rental, the workshops and tech- developed; each of them with a bus stop. nical stores are preserved. At the cruise terminal people arrive and The new path for pedestrians connects leave by cruise ships, expedition boats and the terminals, and the bridge is an important by bus directly to and from the airport or link between the areas divided by the river the city center. that will enable people to experience the The summer terminal includes a new ­different tides of the river in the different marina for small private boats, the regular seasons, thus enhancing the presence of the catamaran service to Barentsburg and river in the city today. ­Pyramiden, and the rubber boats of tour

9. BARBECUE AREA 2. CRUISE TERMINAL

10. BRIDGE 15. WINTER TERMINAL

6. SUMMER TERMINAL

GARBAGE TOWER SERVICES SNOWMOBILE RENTAL BRIDGE TOUR OPERATOR SHOPS NATIONAL PARK CENTRE OFFICE STORE / WORKSHOP SHOPS

BUS SHELTER SHOPS BUS BARBECUE SHELTER PLATFORMS BUS CROSSING BOAT SHELTER NATIONAL PARK SHELTER CENTRE

2 — CRUISE TERMINAL 6 — SUMMER TERMINAL 9 — GARBAGE TOWER 10 — BRIDGE 15 — WINTER TERMINAL

80 15. Project: Coastal Experience 81 Robert Blödorn and Veronica Gallina BUS SHELTER NATIONAL PARK CENTRE

NATIONAL PARK CENTRE MARINA

82 15. Project: Coastal Experience 83 Robert Blödorn and Veronica Gallina 16. MAPPING: Tourism Infrastructure Robert Blödorn and Alberto ­Ballesteros Barea

84 16. MAPPING: Tourism Infrastructure 85 Robert Blödorn and Alberto ­Ballesteros Barea The project reconsiders the tourism infra- 17. PROJECT: structure of Longyearbyen by utilizing the cultural heritage as a tool. There is not currently any strong Longyearbyen Tourism infrastructure for cruise tourists in Long- yearbyen. Thousands of tourists of diverse nationalities stream out from the cruise Restaged ships for very short and temporary visit, dur- ing which, they may miss out on opportuni- ties to understand the town, its history, and the essences of the land they’re stepping on. We are proposing a new tourist route and infrastructure concept that would support Wai Fung Chu and large number of tourists for brief periods of time. It would prepare and inform them about the town and Svalbard as a whole, and Eakapob Huangthanapan also circulate and spread them through the uses of the existing cultural heritage. We propose using the existing cultural heritage of the mining infrastructure as the new tourist infrastructure. A central hub would be the ropeway station that extrudes in the directions of the ropeways that lead into different parts of the city towards the old mine heads. In the past the ropeway station served as the central station to collect coals from all the four routes and send it directly to the power station and to the pier for further logistics.

86 17. Project: Longyearbyen Tourism Restaged 87 Wai Fung Chu and Eakapob Huangthanapan After passing through this building, the tour- ists are guided to the old power station through the outdoor exhibition of the histor- ical mining elements. The existing interior of the old power station and the facilities are reserved as a exhibition on the mining his- tory. The tourists then will be led by the stair­­ ways that built upon the dents of the past mining infrastructure towards the ropeway station. This route towards the ropeway sta- tion also acts as the lookout points where the remains of the different mines are visible within the landscape. The ropeway station at the end of the stairway acts as the distri- bution point where they can choose to spread and explore Longyearbyen in different directions following the ropeway towers.

In the proposed project, the movement would be reversed. The tourists arrive at the pier, are led through the Store Norske office building which is repurposed into a tourist information center, a outdoor equipment rental and tourists preparation center, a national park information center, an educa- tional space for environmental issues, and an extended campus of UNIS and the museum exhibiting the recently found plesi- osaurs fossil.

88 17. Project: Longyearbyen Tourism Restaged 89 Wai Fung Chu and Eakapob Huangthanapan Longyearbyen’s population is stable despite 18. PROJECT: the downsizing of the mining industry. As the number of people working in the coal mines is decreasing, more people are Arctic Neighborhood employed in research, education and tour- ism. Single-family homes are becoming more popular while many of the cramped miners barracks are ready to be replaced. This housing project intends to introduce a denser residential area that creates urban Raphaël Fournier and spaces that are sheltered, diverse and liva- ble even in the cold winters. It includes many of the functions of the Benjamin Astrup Velure existing neighborhoods, but in a denser framework.

90 18. Project: Arctic Neighborhood 91 Raphaël Fournier and Benjamin Astrup Velure 92 18. Project: Arctic Neighborhood 93 Raphaël Fournier and Benjamin Astrup Velure 19. Svalbard as a Fluid Territory

Janike Kampevold Larsen & Eimear Tynan

Through a series of studies, the Tromsø Academy of Land- scape and Territorial Studies have investigated landscapes and their development in a variety of Arctic Territories, demonstrating that there is a major global influence on local communities, and territories. This studio course, in conjunction with the Future North research project, has examined ­Svalbard as a fluid territory. The studio explored different methods to map a territory. The mapping, conceived as a series of layered, interlinked chronologies, has explored quantitative (data-driven), historiographic (archive research) and qualitative (memory and oral histo- ries) aspect of this territory.

A study trip in August allowed the group to explore the territory by foot, car and boat. This allowed the group to engage with the landscape in different ways and at different speeds. Each place offered very different perspec- tives of Svalbard as a territory. The settlements, for example, uncovered very different cultural layers but all contained industrial pasts that contrasted strongly to the outside environs that gave a sense of wildness and purity. Each student undertook a series of assignments to develop a specific narrative attuned to a theme or subject of influ- ence. Using a section line as the main research tool allowed for new and unforeseen readings of the territory. In addi- tion, time was introduced to further enhance and inform the section. The superimposition of time and space revealed new logics, information and insights into Sval- bard. The time frames varied enormously — from tracing Svalbard’s geologic time-frame to mapping satellite trajec- tories over Svalbard in a 24 hour period.

94 95 Janike Kampevold Larsen & Eimear Tynan The product of the studio is an archive of material rather than an atlas of territorial information. It extends beyond the fixed data that we can easily access to examine the conditions that determine why a place is the way it is. It echoes philosopher Jacques Derrida’s reference to the archive as both place and process. The studio can conclude that Svalbard is a territory in constant flux, where processes from the local to the global level, influence its being. It questions how landscape architects can develop an integral role in the Arctic in a territory of uncertainty.

This studio work received the Reward of Excellence in Research from The American Society of Landscape ­Architecture (ASLA), 2017.

Teachers: Janike Kampevold Larsen, Students: Jérôme Codère, Hans Eriksson, Eimear Tynan, ­Kathleen John-Alder Brona Keenan, Charlie Laverty, Rasmus (­Rutgers ­University) and Mats Kemppe Pedersen, Matt Poot, Audrey Touchette Cartographer: Riccardo Pravettoni GIS specialist: Ellen Oettinger (Rutgers University)

Back: Charlie Laverty, Jérôme Codère, Mats Kemppe, Riccardo Pravettoni, Rasmus Pedersen, Hans Eriksson, Matt Poot and Kathleen John-Alder; Front: Eimear Tynan, Audrey Touchette, Hsiang Hsiang Wang (guest student), Janike Kampevold Larsen (course leader), Brona Keenan and Ellen Oettinger

96 19. Svalbard as a Fluid Territory 97 Janike Kampevold Larsen & Eimear Tynan Brona Keenan

Audrey Touchette

Rasmus Pedersen Hans Eriksson Matt Poot

Jerome Codere Charlie Laverty Charlie

Site visit to the Kjell Henriksen Observatory

98 19. Svalbard as a Fluid Territory 99 Janike Kampevold Larsen & Eimear Tynan 20. Ordering Disordered Memories — Svalbard as a Ruin Landscape Jérôme Codère

Svalbard is often imagined as a pristine landscape, an untouched territory. However, while experiencing this landscape, one would quickly realise that is not the case. Remains of human presence and occupation are easily perceivable throughout the terri- tory, in the form of tiny fragments and empty settlements and every scale in between. The poetics and sublimity of such a process and landscape are however qua- si-unmappable and hardly quantifiable. The aim of this work was to, at first, try to understand this entropic process of decay and ruination and summarize the forces at work, from landscape, to infrastructure, to ruin and to rubble that are embedded again at some point in the landscape, adding through time layers over layers of memories from what was previously present. Mapping and categorizing these remains from different pasts allows us to have a better reading of the value of these ruins, distinguishing waste from cultural heritage, and incidently to decide whether or not to influence the ongoing decay and dissolution of these sites.

Ruins

Landscape Infrastructure Ruination Ruin landscape

Entropic process

“Ruin is both the claim about the state of a thing and the process affecting it.” “‘The Rot Remains’: From Ruins to Ruination”, Svalbard cultural heritage remains location and categories Ann Laura Stoler

100 20. Ordering Disordered Memories — Svalbard as a Ruin Landscape 101 Jérôme Codère 21. Vulnerable Svalbard Hans Eriksson

The first coal miners in Svalbard used a Birds in Svalbard are important for the canary in a cage as an alarm system. If dan- Svalbard ecosystem. They fertilize the land gerous gases were leaking, the canary would through energy transportation from the die before the miner and the miners could marine to the terrestrial system. The save themselves. Today, Svalbard’s migrat- research carried out during this studio ing birds also work as an alarm system due examined the vulnerabilities of the Kittiwake to climate change and pollution. The in Svalbard’s environment with particular researchers study the birds to understand emphasis on temperature change and how individual species and populations increased exposure to pollutants. It was evi- respond to climate change, trophic transfer dent that changes on a global scale are and accumulation of pollutants. impacting on a local scale. It is predicted The focus of this investigation lies at the that these changes will be even stronger in intersection between the human and the future, creating a cocktail of stress fac- non-human forces through one specific bird, tors mostly created by humans far away the Kittiwake. As a migrator that connects from Svalbard. Therefore, it is possible to Svalbard to a wider territory, it was interest- conclude that the birds again are in a cage ing to understand which external forces and giving signals that something is not The global map contextualises Svalbard as a haven for several bird species, many of whom, travel long distances to breed here. affect their Svalbard habitat. right. The question now is: what will our response be?

Base plan showing the line of investigation: The section line cuts through Pyramiden and Kongsfjørd and follows through to the deep ocean ridge off Svalbard’s western coast where birds feed.

102 21. Vulnerable Svalbard 103 Hans Eriksson 22. Retracing Failure Brona Keenan

Virgohamna was a hub for early aerial The Andrée expedition was planned for attempts to the North Pole. The Andrée 1896 but never happened. In 1897 prepara- expedition was the first attempt to fly there tions were in place to proceed as early as and required innovations including aerial possible in the season. Boats brought media photography and gas manufacturing in the and tourists, supplies and mail. Emergency Arctic. Technological developments evolve bases were stocked. The expedition was in conjunction with our desire and ability to into unknown territory and they anticipated explore the world. Expeditions demand to land in Siberia, Alaska or Canada. Andrée instrumentation and provide ideal testing indicated that the expedition might not be ground for equipment. Individuals involved heard of for over a year. in the design of these technologies are often Predicted weather patterns for July were keen advocates for exploration, including utilised as these would effect the balloon in Alfred Noble and Alexander Graham Bell. flight. After jettisoning so much ballast early This project contextualises the history, in the flight, the balloon was out of equilib- geography and technology of the 1897 rium resulting in an ineffective steering Andrée Expedition in a hot air balloon. It is mechanism. This resulted in the balloon informed by archival material from Andrée, going off course in addition to the adverse Frænkel and Strindberg found 33 years later. effects of the unfavourable wind and pres- Earlier expeditions by sea were subject sure patterns. to many forces including politics, media and The subsequent journey on foot over the technology but also ocean currents, weather ice was subject to strong sea and wind cur- conditions, and sea ice. The idea of taking to rents, occasionally forcing them in the the air would reduce exposure to natural ele- opposite direction of the intended travel. ments, but only if the technologies could be Numerous search parties were sent out to relied upon. The balloon should also be find the expedition. In 1930 the Bratvaag steerable, remain aloft for 30 days carrying Expedition came across the remains of the 3 men and supplies for 3 months. Andree expedition.

“If Andree reaches his goal, if only he gets half way, the very feat itself will result in new ideas and new reform. In this too I want to serve the idea of peace, for each new discov- ery leaves traces behind it in the human brain which makes it possible to hand on to future generations more brains which will be capable of arousing new thoughts of culture.” Expedition innovations required for the balloon — Alfred Nobel Andree Expedition 1897, with projected and actual route

104 22. Retracing Failure 105 Brona Keenan 23. Svalbard Shorelines Charlie Laverty

This project is a study of some of the forces Most human activity at Svalbard has which act upon Svalbard’s shorelines; been located along its west coast. The west uncovering the relationship those who coast is exposed to warmer sea currents, inhabited them had with their characteris- particularly towards the north, that make up tics and materiality. The vast majority of part of the Gulf Stream which keeps it rela- human traces at Svalbard can be found tively free of sea ice in comparison to other along its coasts, dating all the way back to parts of the archipelago. This allows ships its discovery. Norwegians, Russians, Brits, better access to these areas. Also, glacial the Dutch and many more have all trod the terrain is more prominent in the east of sandy, rocky, icy and windy beaches for a Svalbard. In some areas, such as at Nor- range of different purposes. daustlandet, massive glaciers extend into By mapping the forces that are impacting the sea and become the coastline, making upon these shorelines, this project aims to these areas inaccessible. An abundance of understand why some shoreline landscapes natural coves and harbours complement have been so favourable, and others not so. this, giving the vessels a place to dock and Furthermore, mapping the extensive settle- providing shelter. Therefore, in some places, ments, activities and nationalities reveals ter- it is no coincidence that different genera- ritories that have been located at Svalbard tions of inhabitants have ended up in the throughout time, challenging the view of same areas, even if for different purposes. Svalbard as a remote and untouched territory. ‘Svalbard Shorelines’ aims to find out what it was like for the early settlers to inhabit these areas, and how they utilised the land- scapes differently or similarly to each other.

Photo by Louise Roberts : https://louiseroberts.exposure.co/sailing-the-noorderlicht Base map, including glacial terrain, provided by the School of Environmental and Biological Science, Rutgers University.

106 23. Svalbard Shorelines 107 Charlie Laverty Where the coal layers represent a deep time 24. Evolutionary Accumulation nature we can only try to imagine, a more recent accumulation of time and space is found in the immense expanse of glaciers on Svalbard. The glaciers cover 60% of the archipelago and represent an archive that enables us to recall global trajectories of Rasmus Pedersen natural and cultural processes effecting the environment. Those two time/space accumulations have become interrelated as scientific and cultural objects. By the ongoing release of energy from the deep time geologic space we both accumulate and deplete the archive, which contain these actions of our own time and space — the Anthropocene. The investigation of an East/West sec- Materials are moving and changing, at tion, from the Greenlandic Sea throuvvgh ­different speeds and different size, from one the former mining town Ny Ålesund, the gla- substance and volume to another. This ciers Holtedahlfonna and Lomonosovfonna material fluctuation can be traced through out in the Barents Sea, suggest looking at the present coal-landscapes of Svalbard, and Svalbard as a territory where geologic the systems and processes they belong too. timescales and geographies of deep time, The coal in Svalbard represents an accu- within and beyond the archipelago itself, are mulated vacuum of time and space, which re-articulated as by-product landscapes. has manifested itself in the landscape as a New typologies and topographies appear contemporary geological layer. Coal seams while other dissolve. from different geologic periods of time and geographic origin have been, and still are, excavated and exploited for similar purpose Water erosion and vegetation create new by-product landscapes and as a part of a production process. As a Coal Carboniferous: 359MYR topographies in abandoned coalfields from the mining practice. by-product of this process, different land- scapes have emerged on Svalbard. As signif- icant topographies on the ground and ephemeral, yet persistent, particles in the atmosphere.

Coal Tertiary: 66MYR

Section

Svalbard’s movement over time — tracing the origins of Svalbard’s coal layers from 10N to 79N Coallayers, glacier expand with mining- and ice-core sites “New”, undiscovered topographies appear as the glacier’s front retreats and adjusts their mass to the present climate conditions

108 24. Evolutionary Accumulation 109 Rasmus Pedersen 25. From Physical Landscapes to Digital Territory

following the trajectory of a helicopter for 60 minutes scanning glaciers with radar Matt Poot 09:58–10:58 — 07.05.15

tracking only scientific satellites which passed over Svalbard in 24 hours 17.06.15

This poster works to show the history of sci- The practice of science and its steady

entific activity in Svalbard while providing a progress has had a large impact on how 7 days aboard the research narrative for a shift in the relationship people can interact with Svalbard on both vessel Helmer Hanssen as it collects samples between people and landscape. What was an emotional and intellectual level. The 10.09.15–16.09.15 once a world observed and collected, where large natural parks and ecological reserves observer was separated from the observed, rely fundamentally on the practice of sci- has transformed into a world where there is ence for their very existence, both in defin- the trajectory of glaciologist no separation between what is being ing their modus operandi and determining Jack Kohler over 30 days of data collection observed, and that which is doing the their boundaries. The deliberate process of 10.04.15–10.05.15 observing. Sporadic expeditions of great research and understanding of the pieces cost and little depth have given way to a and processes of these areas shapes how total saturation of activity and understand- they are understood by the general public as ing across even the most remote of Sval- places of special worth, and worthy of atten- bard’s environments. Science plays an tion for their unique qualities. The knowl- important role in how we see, understand, edge passed on to the public in the form of and interact with the landscape. simple and informative brochures or via the In many examples of contemporary sci- dialogue of tour guides and presenters ence in Svalbard, the means of interacting reveals Svalbard as a territory which is iso- with the territory have grown increasingly lated and extreme, yet beautiful and amena- abstract and removed, while the relationship ble to the everyday person. between the scientist and their object of study becomes simultaneously more com- plex and intertwined. Early scientific endeavors were characterized by the collec- tion and description of easy to observe

specimens and associated processes. These Discovery - 1596 Coast - 1641 were generally carried out by generalist individuals or small groups of people. This has progressed into large, collaborative research programs where individual scien- tists are extremely specialized, and focus on understanding underlying processes which remain invisible to the untrained eye, yet which are fundamental in their shaping of the natural world.

Geodesy, 1902 Geology - 1912

Aerial - 1936 Space - 2015

110 25. From Physical Landscapes to Digital Territory 111 Matt Poot 26. Invisible Boundaries: Staking a Claim to the North Pole Audrey Touchette

Under the sea ice resources are hidden. As political, environmental and economical climate change has speeded up in the recent structures. Each states try to get a ‘‘piece of decades, the Arctic 5 territorial claims grids sea’’ by creating and adding new divisions/ have spread toward the North Pole overtime boundaries. accordingly to the availability of the Svalbard’s key location is defined as one resource resulting in a discontinuous terri- of the most accessible area in the Arctic tory of research and extraction, defined in with well-developed research infrastruc- itself as an unique ‘‘moving’’ and ongoing tures and at the very intersection of new topography. shipping routes. Not to mention that on The Arctic geopolitical debate uncover another perspective it’s deep value can also the true state of relations between the coun- be synonym of vulnerability. tries in the High North. Ironically, forces are Are these extensive grid networks made working together toward an Arctic coopera- up by political, energy, environmental and tion but at the same time against each other, research claims the new strategy for the acting upon the territory, revealing research, conquest of the North?

POLITICAL CLAIMS ENERGY CLAIMS ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS RESEARCH CLAIMS

112 26. Invisible Boundaries: Staking a Claim to the North Pole 113 Audrey Touchette Contributors

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Kathleen John-Alder STUDENTS FROM THE OSLO SCHOOL Assistant Professor in the Department of OF ­ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN Landscape Architecture at ­Rutgers University. Alberto ­Ballesteros Barea Robert Blödorn Aileen A. Espíritu Ka Yeung Chi Researcher at the ­Barents Institute, UiT The Wai Fung Chu Arctic University of Norway. Martin Danais Raphaël Fournier William L. Fox Veronica Gallina Director of the Center for Art + Environment Simon Heidenreich at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. Eakapob Huangthanapan Alexandra Niedermayr Lisbet Harboe Minh Tin Phan Assistant Professor at the Institute of Berenice Rigal Urbanism and Landscape, AHO. Nadine Schmauser Kari Tønseth Peter Hemmersam Benjamin Alstrup Velure Professor at the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape, AHO. STUDENTS FROM TROMSØ ACADEMY FOR Janike Kampevold Larsen LANDSCAPE AND TERRITORIAL STUDIES Associate Professor in the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape and former Hans ­Stefan Eriksson ­coordinator of the Tromsø Academy of Jérôme Codère Landscape and Territorial Studies. Brona Keenan Charles Laverty Andrew Morrison Rasmus Weitze Pedersen Director of the Centre for Design Research Matthew Poot at the Oslo School of Architecture and Audrey Touchette Design (AHO) in Norway and Professor of Interdisciplinary Design at the Institute of Design (IDE).

Eimear Tynan Landscape architect, former tutor at the Tromsø Academy of Territorial Studies and PhD fellow at the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape, AHO.

Narratta Co-created persona of the researchers in the Future North project.

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