Power of places: two teams selected to explore Rosengård and Nyhamnen

Two multidisciplinary teams have been chosen for ArkDes’ practice-oriented research initiative, Power of Places, in Malmö. The teams Layered and Konstkollektiv för Rumsliga praktiker (KoRP) have been tasked with exploring and developing methods for urban development in the districts of Rosengård and Nyhamnen. The central question is: How can we harness what already exists when creating new spaces? 

Power of Places is a collaboration between ArkDes and Malmö stad, conducted as part of Malmö in the making, with support from The Society for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Green Parks in Malmö.

Photo in header: Björn Olin. 

Team Layered

The multidisciplinary team Layered includes the award-winning South African architect and founder of the architectural and research practice “Counterspace,” Sumayya Vally; construction consultant and curator, Ana Sokoloff; performance artists, María José Arjona; and architect, Daniel Feldman. The team will work in Nyhamnen.

– Through a combination of dialogue, research, experimentation, multimedia production, and performative action, the team will establish a democratic platform for discussions about urban development in Nyhamnen, says Daniel Feldman, team Layered. 

Motivation:

The composition of the team, their practical approach, and the process outlined in the application show a strong potential to involve local actors and translate existing values into relational spaces. Their respective practices are deeply rooted in place and demonstrate a breadth of perspectives and experiences. They possess the ability to challenge the urban development process both at a detailed level and on a larger scale.

In Nyhamnen, the team has the capacity to initiate a narrative for the emergence of a public gathering space around the harbor basin and its cultural environment. The team’s keen design skills and critical perspective can begin to materialize the movements, stories, and spaces of the location, connected to the diverse multicultural tapestry of Malmö.

Team Konstkollektiv för Rumsliga Praktiker (KoRP)

Team Konstkollektiv för Rumsliga Praktiker (KoRP) is represented by Malmö-based artist Hanni Kamaly. With the project Close Your Eyes, the team will work in Rosengård, an area with a developed community life and a young population. The team will explore how resources and local knowledge can be harnessed in ongoing development processes. If we focus on what already exists, what aesthetic and methods can we then develop?

– Rosengård is undergoing significant changes in its architectural structure, characterized by an architecture ideal with car-free green spaces between buildings. By inventorying and delving into rich archives of art, documentary storytelling, poetry, music, news journalism, planning and building documents, and research about and from Rosengård, we’re developing ways to listen, map, and portray, says Hanni Kamaly, team Konstkollektiv för Rumsliga Praktiker (KoRP). 

Motivation:

The team’s application displays sensitivity and receptiveness to processes already undertaken in Rosengård. Their process seeks connection with the existing, both in material, architectural ideals, and the people shaping the place. The team’s composition brings a breadth of competence and methodological foundation that enables questioning prevailing methods for dialogue and place development.

In Rosengård, the team has the capacity to challenge conventional approaches and create valuable methods to bridge existing structures with planned development in a way that respects the place’s history and identity.