Knowledge village

Knowledge village is a project whose target is to bring people together through knowledge and skills sharing in order to improve their life and our society. The 0 waste by 2040 target that we set can be reachable by mobilizing people’s ability and inventiveness to find new usages to all our wastes. The area gives a lot of importance to crafts and urban agriculture as both are some powerful levers for our target.

The new Kaijonharju district is composed of two main axis: The green path, preserving most of the existing trees is a powerful link to the lakes and a start point of many hiking routes. The green bridge and the sports centre at the south and the new public sauna close to Pyykösjärvi are key elements to this axis. The new main street of the district goes all the way from the university entrance until Kaijonharjun library. The transportation centre facing the university will improve the connection with the rest of Oulu. The Main street will then follow a succession of squares allowing some city scale festivals, events and markets.

The district is divided in several big blocks which create their own communities and gather some similar functions such as community centres, shared facilities, recycling labs, fablabs and parking lots. Each block is composed of two type of builings: The community house in the centre, built around a square and the surrounding buildings, at the edges of the blocks. Large outsides spaces have been designed within the blocks: the community square at the junction of the community houses is intended as a place where the block inhabitants can gather for some events and activities. A green area is directly connected to this square and connected with the green line when possible. The backyards include allotment gardens and urban agriculture spaces.

All the building will be energy efficient with a good insulation and natural ventilation. The roofs will be used as glasshouses to grow vegetables and will be heated thanks to the remaining heat of the buildings
The area is designed with a lot of common and shared space as we believe a lively and helpful community will rise through them.