Category Urban - architectural

Location Kortepohja, Jyväskylä

Population 135,000 inhab.

Strategic site 37 ha - Project site 3.7 ha

Site proposed by City of Jyväskylä, The Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä JYY, NCC Rakennus Oy Jyväskylä

Owner(s) of the site City of Jyväskylä, The Student Union of the University of Jyväskylä JYY, NCC Rakennus Oy Jyväskylä

Commision after competition Commission at the level of urban planning and / or architectural design

Team representative architect

How can the site contribute to the adaptable city?

The northern part of Kortepohja has been listed by DOCOMOMO as one of the nationally significant modern architectural environments in Finland. The city plan from 1966 was designed by Bengt Lundsten based on a competition winning entry and the area has maintained its original characters until today. The project area to the south is not as coherent as the north, though it follows the same principles: white geometric buildings, large courtyards and green areas between the buildings, car free connections and long internal axis.
The objective of the competition is to study how to densify the southern part of Kortepohja by reducing the over sized parking areas without losing the original characteristics and values of the area. And how to develop Kortepohja to be a vital city district with a more diverse mix of uses.

City strategy

The city of Jyväskylä is located in the lake district of Central Finland. Jyväskylä´s population growth rate is one of the highest in Finland. With the population of 135 000, Jyväskylä is the seventh largest city in Finland.
Jyväskylä is a school and university city with 47 000 students during the academic year, providing a diversity of educational offerings for people of all ages. The multidisciplinary University of Jyväskylä and the JAMK University of Applied Sciences are among Finland’s leading research and educational institutions with an increasing number of international students.
The strategy of Jyväskylä is to be a versatile and livable city with a wide array of housing types and strong neighbourhood centers. Jyväskylä wants to emphasise rich and lively city life.

Site definition

Kortepohja is a city district with 10 000 inhabitants, only 2 km outside of the city center. There are several student housing buildings located in Kortepohja and over 2 000 students living there.
There is a dated shopping center in the middle of the project area and an over sized parking lot next to it. To the east of the center there are student housing buildings K, L and MNOP and Kortepohja church. The MNOP building is in a poor condition and the owner JYY would like to demolish it. The partition walls of the MNOP are also bearing walls which makes it very difficult to adapt it to today’s spatial requirements. The Museum of Central Finland, therefore, would like to study if the building should be restored.
There are no views to Tuomiojärvi lake from the project area but views to Kypärämäki hill in the west are important.

Future of the site in relation to the site family and to Adaptability

The contestants will be asked to design 23 000 m2 of new housing buildings for the area in addition to the current 20 000 m2. The existing shopping center will be demolished and replaced with 2 500 m2 of commercial space.

How to Create Positive Dynamics from a Difficult Situation?
The goal of the competition is to illustrate creative and innovative solutions to densify the Kortepohja area while addressing to the following questions:

- How to densify Kortepohja without losing the original characteristics and values of the area?
- How to strengthen the vitality of the area?
- How to incorporate commercial or communal spaces into the buildings?
- What kind of housing typologies?
- What to do with the MNOP building - renovate, restore or remove it?
- How to develop traffic and parking?