BO01 in Malmo Sweden

I didn't think I had much to write about until I started looking through my photos. I then realized how far behind I was in the telling of my experience here. 

This is my experience of BO01. A community built in Malmo, Sweden which lies just across the way from Copenhagen. Side note, the Danes and Swedes have a funny relationship. They like to make fun of each other, playfully of course, and talk about how the Swedes stole Danish land some 400 years ago. And people say I have a hard time letting things go.

This is the half-above ground, half-below the sea bridge.

Swedish Spring.

This the Turning Torso building by the Spanish "star-chitect" Santiago Calatrava. It has become the trend to create a landmark in a soon-to-be developed place in order to put said place on people's mental map. The Turning Torso office building was put up, and then the residential development followed.

Of course the friendly cats of BO01 put this place on me and Loren's mental maps.

About 20 different architects were given the opportunity to build here. This creates a diverse array of housing; some more successful than others.

This photo highlights a few things. First, notice the edging on the path. It is dark in color and high contrast. The dark paved edge is also a different texture and is absent in front of entry ways. This is very helpful for people with disabilities, as well as people like myself that tend to be looking at everything else besides where I am going.
This path also leads to a courtyard, with a small path at the far end leading to another portion of the neighborhood. BO01 was not built on a grid. They instead used a medieval style street structure. This allows for lots of courtyard spaces, visual interest, and it stops the 40 mph winds from whipping through the streets.
I think the flaw in this space is that there are a lot of hard edges, and little transition from public to private space.

Again, lots of things to point out in this photo. First off, the path narrows as you get closer to the end- that is not just perspective. There is tons of storm water management on site. These swales also have small bubblers in them which make for a great sound effect as you pass. Also notice the building height differences. Most are in a very human scale while others help to meet the density requirements.

This space, while dark and narrow, is very cool. You wind through these paths and see this bright light at the end with a fantastic view of the ocean. Well framed.

The boardwalk is wide with mixed use offering cafes, shops, and housing.

Green house and cafe space. We all agreed we would like a cup of coffee in there.

There was also a small pub on site. Smart cookies!

Diverse nature scaping and respect for sunny edges makes this place pretty great as well.

A little infrastructure for good measure. I think the low, round metal thing is actually an air vent for the underground parking which runs under most of the complex, and keeps it quite pedestrian and bike friendly.

This is one of the few streets that allows for cars. Because there is little separation between pedestrian and automobile, drivers tend to slow way down. This idea is used on a few streets in Copenhagen. A couple of streets are for cars, bikes, and pedestrians, and there are no real lines for any one mode of transport. It works though. Cars slow down and pedestrians look around. Just for the record, I am standing on the pedestrian side.

This is a fine example of two different edges. Both serve to create a transition from public to private, but do it in two distinct ways.

The southern edge of BO01. It was a pretty cold day and people were still soaking up the vitamin D. Again, notice the wide boardwalk, stairs for water/people watching, and cafe space. Good work Sweden.

Private courtyard on the way out of BO01. If the bus hadn't have been leaving, I would have snuck in for sure!

I am not sure where this photo fits into the whole thing but I really dig it.

The general consensus among students was that BO01 was pretty great. After talking with a few residents, I think they agreed. Lots to learn from it.

Cheers.