MA Thesis Project
Ålesund 1
Husby, Stockholm, Sweden
Ålesund 1 is a housing block in Husby in Stockholm. As my master thesis I made a tranformation of the block aiming to improve the living conditions for residents of the building as well as people living in Husby. In my thesis I explored how we can develop the areas built during the million housing era in Sweden both on a housing scale as well as on an urban scale. In the project I transformed the apartments and introduced new apartment types and sizes to accomodate the different sizes of families which exist in Husby. I also transformed the areas around the center by opening up the structures to allow for passages and visibility, to increase safety. In addition to this I restored some of the communal facilities which existed in the block originally and developed the landscaping surrounding the buildings by adding vegetation and playgrounds.
Abstract
This thesis examines how architects can work with transformation in million-housing program areas. As many of these areas are facing extensive renovations this subject is of high importance. The dwellings of the million-housing program were constructed between 1965 and 1974. Today they make up a quarter of the Swedish housing stock, and half of them are in major need of renovation. As we are facing a higher demand on dwellings than ever before, and we need to be cautious with our usage of natural resources, it is important that we re-develop the dwellings which are already built. The areas built during the million-housing program have been facing problems regarding social vulnerability of the residents and the architecture has been criticized. Due to this it is important to examine which values should be preserved, and which values could be improved in a transformation project.
