Gerrit Mosebach discovers new recycling strategies in Stavanger: From petrochemical waste an urban theme park has been built in which the users are incidentally informed on the conditions of the current Norwegian wealth.

The first time I took notice of the “Geopark” has been in 2006 during an exhibition in the Norwegian Centre of Design and Architecture in Oslo. The contribution of the Norwegian architectural office Helen & Hard was eye-catching. Gigantic, gaudily orange-coloured buoys from the North Sea had been set up as a comfortable cushion landscape, rusty pipe systems and other elements from the petrochemical industry had been transformed into flower pots, pieces of furniture and other implements – the whole composition resulted in coherent “landscape.” The drawings showed how the processes of searching and drilling for oil could be transformed into a design and civic participation process for a new public park. They further showed in which way in this process methods and technologies used in the oil industry and in deep-sea geology could be taken apart and reread. But how would the population react on such an experiment?

40 years ago Norway had been one of the poorest countries in Europe, with shipping and the export of fish as the main sources of income. Today Norway, as measured by the per capita income, has become the planet’s richest country boasting the highest standard of life. After mineral oil was discovered in the North Sea in 1969 the nation has turned into one of the most advanced and technically innovative oil-producing countries. But the collective self-image of Norway as a country of fjords, mountains, and pristine nature is still deeply rooted in the minds of the Norwegian people. One generation that has grown up in the affluence generated by the oil is not enough to cause changes in this self-image. Although the growing wealth of the country is boosted by the petrochemical industry the latter is still a black spot in the collective identity of the nation. 

In the “Geopark” in Stavanger Helen & Hard have decided to address and conceptualize this black spot. During a broad civic participation process a complex world of experience and activities for children and teenagers has been developed.

This artificial landscape, a 1:500 scale model of the Troll Oil Field’s underwater topography, has been built up in layers with different textures and functions on which elements from landfills of the oil industry and parts of the dismantled “Frigg” platform have been placed. While normally these elements are disposed of they have here been recycled in an urban context and given an new programme by which they have gained a surprising urban presence and a new, aesthetic dimension -  vast buoys form the roof of the stage, recycled steel pipes represent the “Troll” oil and gas reserve and are used as a skating park. Great parts of a ventilation unit have been turned into an open air cinema while a protection cover once used to shelter high-cost equipment at the bottom of the sea has become a cafe.

The Geopark has attracted more public interest than expected. The strategy of the project that had been initiated by the architects themselves has proven a success: Waste products of the oil industry ha ve been turned into urban furniture that has a novel haptic presence while generating a public awareness of the petrochemical industry. Thanks to the processual approach and the purposeful civic participation the park has been very well accepted by the people. At present, politicians and users campaign for the park that had been planned as a temporary installation to become a permanent part of the cityscape.

Fakten
Architekten Helen & Hard, Stavanger

---

aus Bauwelt 43.2010
Artikel als pdf