Tornelandia

SPECIAL MENTION – TORNELANDIA

Matthew Ashton (SE), architect
Sofie Tolf (SE), architect
SP-ARC
www.sp-arc.se

JURY EVALUATION:

This entry is a delightful and thorough study on the myriad ways that the idea of a national border can be conceptualised, interpreted and applied in the historical context of the site. The proposed solutions are fresh, anarchic, funny and earthy – not exactly workable and mainly challenging in terms of functionality and aesthetics. However, the philosophy behind this entry might serve to shake up our thinking and help find new, creative ways of building the twin city and its future.

DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to Tornelandia, the new borderlands.

Today we live in a world that is more integrated, global and connected than ever before. We can travel to the ends of the earth in less than a day, transfer money across the globe in a matter of nano seconds and with the click of a button buy almost anything imaginable from the internet and have it delivered to our doors in a matter of days. The global network of infrastructure that makes all this possible is mind boggling and difficult to comprehend, relying on a vast decentralised system of logistics, workers, finance, transport, energy and computing. Our way of live has changed dramatically over the last few decades, let alone over the last few centuries, but one thing that has changed relatively little are our national borders that we still take as unchangeable facts. Lines that were drawn up on maps by long forgotten kings and princes, determined in a military tent between opposing generals after a crushing victory or humiliating defeat, or simply drawn on a map by a colonial surveyor in the service of the empire. These fictional lines still hold an enormous power over us. Isn’t it time we try to reimagine what a border can be and design boundaries which are more compatable (and compassionate) with our current global situation?