Living by the sea Dwellings along the coastal landscape in Skåne

Kajsa AlmskougLandscape, architecture and gardens LTH VT 2012

Table of contents

Introduction

1 Living by water 1.1 Symbolic values 1.2 Historic perspective

2 The fishing settlement in Råå 2.1 History and context 2.2 Experiencing the site 2.3 Adapting to the landscape 2.4 Diagrams and drawings 3 Modern dock living in the western harbour, Malmö 3.1 Background and context 3.2 Impressions of contrasts 3.3 Relating to the water 3.4 Architectural variety 3.5 Diagrams and drawings

Discussion and conclusions

Bibliography

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Introduction

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I decided to write my essay on dwellings along the coast in Skåne. The idea was to make a study of a couple of different built up places and on how they relate to the landscape. To add an extra dimension to my essay I decided to look at two places from different periods in the history. This was in order to make observations on how our perception and attitude towards living and dwelling close to water has changed and evolved over time. How could these changes be mirrored or visible in the architecture?

Wanting to incorporate buildings in my analysis of the landscape comes partly from my background as a student in architecture and also from growing up in this region. Interaction between and questions on how to relate what we build to what is already there is something an architect continually struggles or rejoices with. An essential question for me is how we, when designing, relate to the existing, its landscape and character.

My first choice for my study was Råå, a village just south of Helsingborg that has a an old fishing settlement that dates back to the 17th century, but flourished mainly during the late 19th and the early 20th century. Further on I studied parts of the western harbour in Malmö and mostly the part con-structed during the Bo01 housing exhibition in 2001.

My methods in studying have been visiting and experiencing the sites as well as researching them and their background. I decided on a few points to guide me through my analyses. These points were mostly to be looked at from a “proximity to water-perspective”. Impressions (experiencing the place) Placement (relation to landscape, topography, edges) Architectural expression (scale, openings, materials, exterior/interior connections)

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1 Living by water

1.1 Symbolic values

1.2 Historic perspective

The sea often represents a certain vision of freedom. This may be due to the horizon, the openness in the landscape. Even though it is also a barrier you cannot cross and somewhat a limitation within a landscape. But we can see for a very long way and maybe that is enough. We don’t necessary need to be able to go there, just knowing all that space exists in front of us adds an extra dimension to our perception of our surroundings. The horizon, the imagined line between sky and land, possesses a certain symbolic status. But it is rarely visible to us. Along the coast and close to open water we do have that element as a key part of the landscape. In the dense city it is not surprising that people value a beach, a harbour promenade or being able to have a view from a window that is not interrupted.

You could also talk about water in itself as a source of life. Everything is dependent on water and proximity to water. And even if it may not be for drinking it served and still serves other purposes for man.

Water has always been an important aspect of settlements. A living close to the waterfront has through time had different meanings and purposes. A century ago the main purpose was out of necessity. In smaller scale you built your home close to water to be near an important food source and being able to create an income. In a larger scale it determined where cities were built and nations formed.

The fishing villages along the coast and the small huts along the beach came to exist out of necessity. It was hardly a practical place for your house to be built. Climate conditions were harsh and being the last outpost on the front row also meant having the most exposed living areas. You are forced to adapt and to deal with certain aspects of nature. The houses are exposed to strong wind and rain. Acquiring comfortable and protected outdoor space in modern developments can be a struggle, especially since you still ache for an open view.

Today living close to water symbolizes wealth, it has become a status symbol. Hardly anything sells better and allows for a higher housing price than the promise of “a view over the sea”. Old industrial harbors all over the developed world have become attractive areas to turn into new modern dock de-velopments with mixed housing and commercial areas. We seem to have mastered the sea and taken

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control whereas we in the past had the inferior roll to nature. But more recently climate changes and the threat from rising sea levels has put into question the choice to live close to water. The struggle between the qualities and the disadvantages still seems to be favoring the qualities. Maybe we hope that in the future when the issue gets urgent we will have the technical know-how to deal with the problem efficiently.

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HELSINGBORG

RYDEBÄCK

THE FISHING SETTLEMENTIN RÅÅ

RÅÅ

RÅÅÅN

4

500 m

2 The fishing settlement in Råå, Helsingborg

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2. 2 Experiencing the site

Råå 1917

You access the site either from the north, on the big road that runs along the seaside. Or you come from east, along the dock. My first time there I came from the other side of the harbour and had to cross a pedestrian bridge and walk along the quay to arrive to the site. This allowed me to view the settlement from a certain distance, across the harbour.

1 http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/skane/sv/samhallsplanering-och-kulturmiljo/landskapsvard/kulturmiljoprogram/sarskilt-vardefulla- kulturmiljoer-i-skane/helsingborg/Pages/Raans_dalgang.aspx2 Davidsson 1978, p. 7

I chose to look at and investigate the old fishing settlement in Råå because of its historic character. The settlement exemplifies a historic way of relating housing to the sea.

Råå is situated south of Helsingborg at the mouth of Råån. It has been known as a fishing settlement since the 17th century.1 In the late 19th and the beginning of the 20th century Råå was a village of a couple of thousand inhabitants where almost every family depended on the sea for their income. It was even the most important fishing village in the country at the time. The link to the sea could be in a direct way with fishermen but also indirectly by wood workers who built ships in the old shipyard or produced sails for the sailing boats. The fishing industry declined quickly during the 20th century. By 1956 the amount of active fisher men had dropped from approximately 200 (1907) to 26. Today only people fishing for their own consumption are to be found in Råå.2

2. 1 History and context

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Sequence of ground textures, reaching from the water into the land

When walking along the outer row of houses on the seaside the wind is strong, the presence of the sea is imposing. The landscape is barren, dry despite the presence of water. The buildings hide behind banks of sand or scattered bushes. It seems clear that nature is the master and we can do nothing more than obey to its power. Turning towards the inner streets you find yourself in a new situation. You are protected from the wind, you can no longer see the water. Even so, the presence is still strong, you can smell the sea and even more so hear it. The sound of water, of waves meeting land and rocks is something very particular and it reaches you wherever you find yourself within the settlement. Just as much as looking towards the horizon over open water, the turbulence and the sound of water repre-sents and makes the experience of the sea. It seems nearly impossible to imagine the seaside without that accompanying sound.

The promenade from the edge of the beach up to the group of houses is short, open, slightly uphill but ever changing in ground materials. The rocky beach meets the sandy one. The grass takes over and bigger rocks are scattered around. Suddenly a boat lying on its side or some pieces of wood. This you experience as much with your eyes as with your feet. Reaching the housing area you walk on cobblestone and observe the first signs of spring in the flower borders.

The picturesque small fishing village is ever present. Building materials and colours of all kind are represented. The details on the houses, the flowerbeds and some small, crooked trees create a rich, ever-changing environment, you feel close to a past that no longer exists. It’s a beautiful, calm and harmonious place.

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50 m

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ÖRESUND

Varvsgatan

Patrullgatan

LotsgatanPatrullgatan

Fiskaregatan

Kajg

atan

THE HARBOUR

The pier

Råån(Råå River)

Map over the old fishing settlement

section A

Råå inn

Section A

the sea

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2.3 Adapting to the landscape

Looking at the neighborhood in plan and section there are a couple of things that are noticable. The houses are grouped closely together in an effort to shield themselves from the climate of the sea. They form inner and outer rows. The old original houses along the sandy coast almost sink into the ground and seem to be hiding from the surroundings. The embankment protects the dwellings from the harshest, most direct weather. Thus the ground floor is rather shielded while the first floor has windows that stand out from the pitched roof in order to capture the view. In many ways they adapt and use landscape features in a clever way to maximize the qualities and minimize the disadvantages (see section A). When looking at the more recent houses they are on the other hand directly facing the sea and have their gardens and exterior seating places right in front of it.

Exterior spaces in connection to the housing are placed within the settlement and thus hidden from the outside. These small spaces seem to have appeared in leftover places, in between ranges, streets and paths and they come in every shape and layout.

Walking around the inner side of the settlement facing the land, the facades are more open, the houses seems to stretch their backs and face the surroundings. At different points the row of houses is inter-rupted by smaller paths in-between them that creates views to the surroundings. A contact with the landscape is never far away. You can also easily at any point walk down to the edge where land meets water and be in direct contact with the water all along the settlement.

The inner streets, Patrullgatan and Fiskaregatan, present great irregularities in the placement of the houses. Winding streets with buildings visible from different angles and hidden spaces forms an in-teresting promenade in what seems like an organic neighbourhood, the growth and development is visible if you look for it. The perspective created by these facades and gables is intriguing and never predictable.

It is maybe significant that even the names of the streets relate to the sea and the industry connected

rocky and grassy sandbanks protected garden + housing

view

inner street

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to it: Fiskaregatan (Fisherman street), Lotsgatan (Pilot street), Varvsgatan (Ship yard street). The line created by the outer row of houses is continued by the rows of stones leading out along the coast towards the pier.

Historically this settlement housed simple fishermen as well as captains. This is visible in the mix of housing, small one-storey cottages are to be found next to larger brick two-storey-rows. The richness in details and craftsmanship are important qualities visible all over the area. The most common brick used is a richly coloured dark red, brown kind with elements of green and yellow. Low picturesque half-timbered houses with courtyards in front of them and plantations with gardens are scattered around the inner part of the settlement. The windowsills and doorframes are often brightly coloured. The houses are divided into different layers. A stone foundation, a brick main body, wooden details on the triangular part of the gable and colourful roof tiles. I experience the scale as human and natural. The totality is at its best if you just walk slowly along the streets and sometimes stop when you catch glimpses of the sea or of hidden inner gardens between the row of houses.

In the layout of the ground and the definition of private and public space the use of the ground textures and materials play an important role. Just by arranging cobblestones in a certain line, or changing from them to a gravel bedding, you easily understand the different properties.

What adds to the qualities is the notion of a past, you feel part of something that has existed for a long time. The walls look like they’ve seen things and the streets like they could tell you stories. The row of small red fishing huts behind the inn and the poles for placing the nets remind you why this place exists here.

The kind of brick commonly usedClassic half-timbered house with front courtyard Streetscape

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2.4 Diagrams and drawings

Roofscape, openings to the sea

An organic, irregular streetscape

Street layout, inner and outer rows

Defintion through ground materials

house

flow

erbe

d

towards an entrance

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500 m

THE WESTERN HARBOUR

CENTRAL MALMÖ

TRAIN STATIONUNIVERSITY AREA

MALMÖHUS CASTLE + PARKS

RIBERSBORG BEACH

3 Modern dock living in the western harbour, Malmö

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3.1 Background and context

I chose as my second example to analyse a modern type of dock living and planning, the western harbour Bo01 area in Malmö. The idea was to look at how we relate our life and our dwellings to the water today, the qualities and the challenges.

The area in itself is a man made land area that has developed and grown during different stages since the 18th century. Most of the filling procedures were done to deal with the industrial activities, above all for the Kockums shipyard activities.3

As the industrial activities died out or moved, the land was decided to be used for the housing exhibi-tion Bo01 (Living 01) that was open from May to September 2001. “Ecological and Human Sustain-ability” was decided as the theme for the fair. The exhibition architect, Klas Tham, had the ambition to create a rich, varied urban environment inspired by medieval towns and old fishing settlements. A system called “green surface factors” helped assuring a large ratio of greenery. Simplified it demands that every impenetrable surface created must be compensated by adding green surface on the plot in question. The ratio came to be 0,5 in green surface.

The area is situated in the northern parts of Malmö. At west you find the popular, recreational Ribers-borg area with beaches, sports fields and promenades. Malmöhus castle and museum with park areas are to be found south of Bo01. The rest of the harbour area has been under development since the Bo01 area was finished, partly in the same style. There are still large industrial buildings and facto-ries. Malmö central station and the university area are also close by, about 1500 m away.

The western harbour with the Kockums crane

3 http://www.malmo.se/Medborgare/Miljo--hallbarhet/Miljoarbetet-i-Malmo-stad/Miljoprojekt/Hallbar-stadsutveckling/Vastra-Ham-nen---Bo01/Historia.html

Salongsgatan

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100 m

ÖRESUND

Sundspromenaden

Ankarparken

Daniaparken

Sundspromenaden

Rodergatan

Barom

etergatan

Kom

passgatan

Lilla varvsgatan

Map over the western harbour Bo01 area

Section B

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Ground materials, variety in materials, colours and textures

3.2 Impression of contrasts

I have visited Bo01 several times, in cold weather with strong winds and in warm spring days when the water was calm. One day in February the weather was particularly bad. Still, I think there can be a certain value in actually being torn and whipped by the wind and the rain. Nature is suddenly so close, so powerful and so present even in the middle of an otherwise typical urban setting. But you tend to keep close to the buildings and I preferred walking along the inner streets that were calm. The contrast to the sunny day is big, I wanted to get as close as possible to the sea, walk along the edge and lay down on the wooden decks. Even just walking on the wooden parts, where you almost level with the ocean is a special experience. The sound of your step on that material is completely different from the hard surface further up. It’s like being on a boat.

You experience the area as of high density but in a scale that is comfortable and the open space of the sea is never far away. The relative absence of cars also creates a calm environment where natural sounds are allowed to take more place. Birds singing or the waves against the rocks are parts of the experience.

The layout of streets reminds me somewhat of maze, it’s easy to get lost but also easy to be intrigued and to explore. The variety of spaces, of materials, of glimpses and heights create an ever-changing inner landscape. Small ponds with rocks and reed acts as reminders of where we are, always close to the sea. This is the true identity of the place.

Dock living, a new way of living and dwelling in old harbour areas are seen more and more as old industrial harbours lose their original purpose. The phenomenon is to be seen all over the world for example in the Docklands in London and in Hammarby Sjöstad in Stockholm.

Section B

3.3 Relating to the water

The ever-present feature in the Bo01 area is the water. The sea and the seaside is obviously the main part but the development also includes inner canals, ponds and day water management systems. The canals as well as the inner parks are designed to create biotopes for habitats and possibilities for a range of species.4 Water is regarded as a material as important as any in the making of a neighbour-hood. It appears in a variety of forms and scales at different places and mirrors the development on its surfaces.

The different layers in the area create the qualities. Walking along the small inner dense streets the contrast is enormous when you step out onto the harbour promenade and you are suddenly completely out in the open landscape, you’ve penetrated the last built wall between the living and the sea. Still the wooden seatings and levelled stairs create a space for walking close to the buildings. On the other side of this seating element you are more exposed, you see the rocks leading down and you can actually see where water meets land. Nevertheless you are higher up and there is a distance. The last outpost is where you go down and level with the sea. There is a possibility to touch the surface, to climb into it and leave the solid ground. This sequence is important for how you experience the site. The areas where you can go down to the water are important for the connection to the landscape. The line of the harbour is a hard and controled edge; having these “breaking points”are essential for creating con-nections instead of barriers. The difference in how you experience these spaces gives a lot of spacious quality to the area.

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4 Malmö Stad Faktablad om miljösatsningar för Bo01 i Malmö

the sea

contact with water

rocks

outer promenad

inner promenad

Point where you level with the sea, creating a direct relation to the surface of the water. The soft, winding edge in Ankarparken

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Another special attention given to the harbour promenade is the work of art (“Diamonds are every-where”) by Icelandic artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson who sent certain rocks to China to have them polished.5 Today they lay shining at random places among the “regular” rocks. This rather small detail catches your attention and raise our awareness towards the landscape and its different features.

Ankarparken, the inner park, does something similar by the way it meets the canal. It is no longer that unbroken, long straight line but a curved, playful winding with small bridges that reach into to water. The somewhat wild plantations along the shore enhance the impression of a softer edge.

To cope with the wind some housing blocks along the harbour are placed slightly angled in order to break the wind speeds. That and efforts in microclimate management within the development has made it a liveable place in spite of the challenges from the location. The outer higher frame of build-ings protects the inner streets with its lower dwellings.

Connecting the area to the surroundings the harbour promenade in Bo01 pick up where the Ribers-borg beach promenade ends. The continuous public path binds these areas together even though they in character differ a lot. The Bo01 area is much more of an urban neighbourhood than Ribersborg with its large green fields andy sandy beaches.

5 Grahn, Zimmer 2008, p. 48

3.4 Architectural variety

One of the great qualities in the area is the architectural and typological variety. You find individual houses, row houses, larger housing complexes and even a skyscraper. Though it at first seems like a complete mix of styles and heights you can find that certain ideas and schemes are followed. The housing along the harbour promenade is higher with about four to six stories. They meet most of the wind and have large sheets of glass, balconies and terraces. They form a strict frame to the slightly chaotic interior. The experience is thus very different walking along the outer row to walking along the inner streets.

In the planning of the inner part with it’s angular and somewhat illogic layout the inspiration from medieval towns and fishing settlements is visible. The facades and gables are placed in relation to the street in ways that create a changing streetscape. Some elements are visible from far away as they stand out, others aren’t visible until you stand right next by them. The overall impression is an organic growth, although this we know is not the case. All kind of materials are used, the totality is a rather colourful blend within a rather white or pale frame. The winding streets open up to views to the water or create small public places, water ponds or play areas. A special attention seems to have been put on outdoor spaces such as terraces, gardens, courtyards and balconies. They all relate to water in one way or another, they often manage to create smaller protected private spaces within a larger public realm. The roofs have been turned into much more than simple house protecting elements. They house gar-dens, greenery or terraces and create yet another world on top of the one you walk on at ground level, although a world reserved for the inhabitants.

The richness in facades and materials is also mirrored in the treatment of the ground. All kinds of ma-terials are used to differentiate spaces and places. I realised how important this is for the total experi-ence of the place. The colour and details add a lot to the overall impression. In the planning of the area public places play an important role and appear in different scales from parks to small inner squares. It is not only in expensive houses with private gardens and terraces you can have a high spacial qual-ity. A reason for why you experience the place as highly pedestrian friendly is the lack in change of levels between lanes for cars or pedestrians. If anybody has the priority it is the pedestrian who walk freely all over the lanes. You actually tend to walk in the middle of the street and not to bother about potential cars. An example of how design can change the way you think or move through space.

Many different architects worked with the buildings. The plots are often small which ensures a larger variety in architectural expression. The turning torso, by Spanish architects Santiago Calatrava is maybe the most noticeable and spectacular building. Mostly because it is the only really high one with its 190 m.

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The scale in the area, except maybe for the Turning Torso, is pleasant. As in Råå it is a scale that seems adapted and designed for the walking person. Along the sea the buildings are higher but this seems appropriate since they relate to that big open space in front of them. It’s interesting having vis-ited Råå before how you can find almost replicas of the traditional houses in the heart of the western harbour. But these are new constructions! The difference is that they here interact not just with similar typologies but also with skyscrapers and large apartment complexes.

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3.5 Diagrams and drawings

Roofscape, openings to the sea Hard and soft edges towards the water

Street layout, inner and outer rows

Irregularity and surprise in the streetscape

Ankarparken

Housing area

canal

Discussion and conclusions

As Klas Tham decided to design the Bo01 inspired by medieval towns and old fishing settlements, a question that arises is whether it is possible to recreate the past? What I find striking with the Bo01 area is actually the absence of a past.

The layout, the street and the way you experience the Bo01 area are truly similar to Råå. Irregulari-ties, an organic feeling and something a bit playful and spontaneous are qualities to be found in both places. But in the case of Bo01 this “seeming spontaneity” is not actually a truth. It is something designed and thought through. Then you could ask if this is a problem? I don’t think so, looking back and trying to capture qualities in how cities where built is essential. Many of the mistakes in newer city developments during the second part of the 20th century were due to the wish to completely break off with the past. When walking along the winding streets in Råå it seems stupid not to learn from them and to appreciate their qualities. This said I don’t think copying the past is something we should do. Instead we should continue to learn, analyse and try to understand how and why they function. Then interpret our findings but also adding our modern perspective when we design. In the case of Bo01 I think the interpretation of history is rather successful. Comparing diagrams, photos and drawings there are a great amount of similarities between the two places. But you don’t feel it is a forced similarity, what you may feel is, like me, a lack of a past, of some kind of heritage. But it is a difficult issue when a completely new area like this is built during a short amount of time.

Nevertheless the industrial heritage in the western harbour of Malmö is not to be found in Bo01. You could argue that the area indeed needed a complete makeover and a new identity. But I can’t help feeling a bit sorry about this. Where the pride of Malmö once was the enormous Kockum’s crane where ships were built and where a great amount of people worked, a 55-stories luxurious skyscraper designed by a Spanish star architect has now replaced it. Maybe this is how the city wants to be pro-moted. Not to forget that Turning torso has actually become the new landmark in Malmö.

I personally appreciate the qualities of the wild in the seaside. This side is highly present in Råå where an untouched nature is visible. At any point you can reach the water. You feel close to the landscape and nature in way that is very hard to reproduce within a modern dock living. Hard and soft edges are essential for these experiences. The soft edge of the beach in Råå contrasts with the constructed hard edge in Bo01. In Bo01 that edge is somewhat softened at certain places where you can actually reach down and touch the water. The distance is broken which is very important for the connection to the landscape.

Visiting Råå it was striking to see the amount of luxurious sailing- and motorboats that dock in the

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harbour. It became clear how our perception of the sea as a recreational asset has overtaken the tra-ditional view of the sea as a source of income. The landscape has changed from a landscape of pro-duction to a landscape of consumption. In Bo01 on sunny summer days when people from all over Malmö spread out to tan on the wooden decks, and you see windsurfers and small sailing boats all around the harbour, its hard to think about a past filled with shipyard industries and fishing boats. We definitely have new attitudes towards living at the seaside compared to a century ago. Today we agree to cope with the difficulties (and find creative solutions) since the reward from the qualities is so high. The old fishing settlements were forced to develop at certain places. The way in which the houses in Råå are placed according to the landscape contrasts with the way the western harbour in Malmö was developed. Here we have conquered the sea, we control it and we build houses that stand tall and proudly against it. The caution in the protective row of houses in Råå is replaced by another type of row, even something more of a wall.

Both Råå and Bo01 are in their layout primarily suitable and pleasant for pedestrians. The qualities in details and the layout of the streets suggest that a walking person is in focus (contrary to a lot of mod-ern development where the car is the most important actor). In Bo01 you walk easily in the middle of streets and the layout is not optimized for cars, they have to travel at very low speed through winding streets.

The dock living and developments of today are even more valuable as they provide public space and meeting points of for every inhabitant of the city, not only the ones living nearby. The Bo01 area in Malmö is a great example where people from all over town and from all backgrounds meet and in-teract. This is even more remarkable in the context of Malmö as a highly segregated and divided city. The harbour promenade has become a common pride. Maybe this is the identity and what adds an extra dimension to the area, the fact that it has become a common ground in Malmö, a well needed welcoming meeting place. Maybe this is not a place of pasts but of futures.

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Bibliography

Davidsson, Jan (1978) Det gamla fiskeläget, Lund: Bokförlaget Signum

Eskeröd, Albert (1960) Skånes kust, Stockholm: LTs förlag

Grahn, Ossian; Zimmer, Leif (2008) Dock Living - Västra hamnen, Malmö: Arena

Malmö Stad Faktablad om miljösatsningar för Bo01 i Malmö, hämtat på www.malmo.se/miljo

Länsstyrelsen i Skåne län, URL: http://www.lansstyrelsen.se/skane/sv/samhallsplanering-och-kul-turmiljo/landskapsvard/kulturmiljoprogram/sarskilt-vardefulla-kulturmiljoer-i-skane/helsingborg/Pages/Raans_dalgang.aspx, Collected 27-02-2012

Malmö Stad, URL: http://www.malmo.se/Medborgare/Miljo--hallbarhet/Miljoarbetet-i-Malmo-stad/Miljoprojekt/Hallbar-stadsutveckling/Vastra-Hamnen---Bo01/Historia.html, Collected 02-03-2012

(My own photos and illustrations)