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Øvre Årdal Flower and Vegetable Industry:
 Project by Katja Buen
The reason for the settlement of Øvre Årdal is the flat landscape.
The road system as a premiss for the housing and public space

A lot of energy is used for melting and making a range of different aluminium products in the aluminium factory in Årdal. The heat created by the factory has the possibility of being reused in a heating system. The water is warmed up to 120 degrees and then transported in pipes.
To establish a direct heating system, you need a short distance and level between the producer and the receiver.
This is the advantage of using a direct heating system in Øvre Årdal.

The establishment of these kind of energy systems has decreased in Norway the past years, mainly because of lacking support from the government. Our neighboring countries have in comparison increased the use of waste energy systems.
With too much oil and no actual incentives created by the government, the energy consumption is reaching new alarming levels.
 
  Hydro uses the same amount of energy as a middle sized city in Norway. This energy can be reused in a direct heat system.  
HYDRO
ALUMINIUM
INDUSTRY

The public space in Øvre Årdal is mainly consisting as an extended sidewalk in the main street. Close by there is a quite big green park surrounded by both public and private housing. Currently the park functions as a roundabout. I have connected the public and the private surrounding the park and extended the existing public space.

This is done by creating greenhouses based on a direct heating system. The construction is based on flexipipes. The flexipipe is a pipe with a plastic core, witch makes it bendable. The flexipipes is put into shaped aluminium pipes, generating heat through the construction.

 
Jotunparken is surrounded by roads. To be able to discuss the spacing of the area, I redirected the roads. The park is now partly being used for growing vegetables, and partly for roses. The direction of the vegetable- and flower beds are to the southwest as to gain as much warmth and sunlight as possible. This also is the direction of my constructions.
During the spring summer and autumn, the pedestrians passing the area will have to use the paths for crossing the area as not to destroy the plants, this is not however necessary during wintertime.
 
 
The transparency in the construction increase on the top to be able to use as much as possible of the sunlight.
The result of my greenhouses is that there will be locally grown vegetables and flowers accessible the year around. Årdal used to be a place of massive pollution from the factory. By reusing the energy of the factory, it will have the possibility of mending some of the damage done during the 70´ and 80´.
 

 
 
Årdal experience a growth in inhabitants at the moment. However the young people of Årdal is not choosing Årdal as the place for setteling down. Because of this, the municipality has initiated projects for young people of Årdal to move back. Examples of this is the web page www.heimat.no, encouraging young people from Årdal to move back home.
 
To meet the demands of a different group of inhabitants, my greenhouses will be used as a cheap way for staying over night in Årdal during the summer season. A base camp. This season-based program will give Årdal a younger image, and it will be a natural stop on the way to the mountains for the younger tourists. As well as an event in itself.