Transformer

Fra «Guitar Machine». Foto: Stian Schioldborg.

Fra «Stasjon 75». Foto: Morten Bendiksen.

«Transformer» er et utviklingsprosjekt som gjør krav på urbane arr og tiloversblevne plasser.

Publisert 17.05.2014

Sist endret 24.05.2018

Transformer is a development project for reclaim of urban scars and leftover sites. The urban growth in Oslo has for many decades been governed by real estate developers, whose final goal is seemingly little else than investment revenues. With rising prices for real estate in central Oslo, this has led to an ever more aggressive approach to development of available building sites and existing building-mass. Over the years we are seeing more and more scars in the urban fabric; derelict sites where buildings used to stand due to the rising level of conflict between developers and the public planning authorities. The consequences are obvious.

The aesthetic deterioration is an issue which arises when beautiful old buildings are replaced by cars and parking spaces.

Loss of city functions and the consequent dysfunctionality is another grave side effect. Urban dwellings are important for the human bio-diversity in a city and commercial space on street level is generating life, human interactions and safety.

Social degeneration is one of the most serious consequences of this situation. The cities have throughout our history been our meeting places, where everything from informal gatherings to political riots take place and shape our cultural and democratic development.

The transformer project aims to reverse these negative processes by educating and raising awareness of the ongoing situations, and implement a process where some of these sites can be liberated for public use. This process will take place on three levels: a) identifying urban scars and leftover sites by engaging in a dialogue with real estate owners, b) free the sites for temporary public use by establishing a dialogue between land owners and art producers and c) building arenas where children can experience art in public space.

Our target group is children and teenagers, the next generation of city dwellers. This group of individuals is equipped with a strong interest in social interaction and curiosity towards art and cultural activities. This is very often neglected by art institutions which offer most of their resources to the educated art lover, resulting in a boundary between generations and social strata. Transformer wants to break this artificial boundary and cater art to everyone.

urbantransformer.com