It’s a rather mild June afternoon in Vardø. This once Arctic city is at the northeast of Norway. I am resting right underneath the boardwalks in Vestervågen, among poles that were for a large part put down after WWII. You’ll recall that the German Nazis blew up most of the facilities on this side of the harbourfront. It looked quite different back in even 2014.
What are the potentials in shopping centre construction in small and medium sized Norwegian towns, and in particular, how do new shopping centres influence the development of public urban space and the perception, liveliness and attractiveness of city centres? The text sums up findings from an Urban Design studio, which was a collaboration between The Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway and the Institute of Urbanism and Landscape at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.
The wall of Fermont protects the town from the climate and is an icon of civic pride.
In January 2014 the Future North team and guest researcher Bill Fox (from the Center for Art + Environment at the Nevada Museum of Art) visited Vardø on the Barents Coast.
