Skeppsbrokajen
The very unique and exciting site in Karlskrona has called attention from a great number of competitors. The historic background of the city plan, the absolute proximity to the Baltic Sea and, not least, the fact that Karlskrona belongs to the World Heritage List, make the task both demanding and delicate.
The object has obviously inspired the competitors to an inexhaustible creativity and the width of ideas is enormous.
It is amazing though, that so many entries just seem to focus on creating new building structures, often in a very big scale, more than finding something that would heal and complete the north-east waterfront of Trossö. The thoughts behind how existing townscape and proposed complementary buildings are connected are very often hard to discover and to understand. The jury is convinced that a respect for the historic city character doesn't necessarily lead to a pastiche. It could easily, and by preference, be combined with a most modern architecture. Still one has to find the suitable scale and pattern that would work together with the existing building mass.
The assumption of keeping the quay accessible for boats is clearly mentioned in the competition programme, and must not be ignored. This makes several proposals impossible to be carried out, while they are showing new buildings to close to the sea, or even reaching out over the water.
The most successful proposals take under consideration, and try to solve the waterfront, as well as the border line between the site and the city behind. They don't just handle the site itself, but they also pay regard to the blocks in the existing, second row, understanding that this is essential in order to make things possible to build. The wish of keeping existing sight lines from streets and buildings behind should not be underestimated. The best schemes in the competition add something new to Karlskrona without corrupting the scale, nor the soul of a magnificent city.
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