Skavsta Forest City

Nyköping Skavsta (SE) - Winner

TEAM DATA

Associates: Dzenis Dzihic (SE), Staffan Svensson (SE), Vlad Capitanu (RO), Jon Bossuyt (SE) – architects

dzenis.dzihic@reflexark.sea

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TEAM PORTRAIT

VIDEO (by the team)

INTERVIEW
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1. How do you define the main issue of your project in relation with the theme “Living Cities Imagining architecture taking care of the milieus”? And in which way do you think your project can contribute to an ecological and/or social evolution?
Skavsta Forest City is a living and innovative city, thoughtfully designed to accommodate everyone, including workers, visitors, locals, children, commuters, travelers, tourists and wildlife. The existing natural environment on the site exhibits a range of diverse qualities. Preserving and promoting the high-quality forest land that currently exists in the area is a priority. The city, with all its buildings made of wood, is designed to be a resilient and partially self-sufficient city with a positive impact with regard to ecology, energy and social sustainability.

2. How did the issues of your design and the questions raised by the site mutation meet?
The proposal aims to create a living city district with an integrated green and blue structure where workers, commuters, travelers and visitors co-exist with nature. Considerable parts of the natural landscape will be preserved and developed. The new structure will be planned and designed, with nature as a key element, to obtain as high values as possible regarding ecological, social and economic sustainability.

PROJECT:

Commuters, travelers and visitors can co-exist with nature.
Planned and designed with nature as a key element.
Preserved and developed natural landscape.
3. Have you treated these issues previously? What were the reference projects that inspired yours?
We work with these questions on a daily basis, but within Skavsta Forest city they have been designed specifically for the site's conditions and our visions. The forest on the site was our biggest source of inspiration. Ormen Långe (1978), office building in Kista, Sweden by Bengt Lindroos and Carl Nyrén was one source of inspiration. How to let the forest meet the building in a close and interesting way.

SITE:

Fully grown pine trees by the airport.
Rocky hill – one of the most important parts to preserve.
Existing forested areas with high natural value.
4. How can your project be implemented together with the actors through a negotiated process and in time. How did you consider this issue in your project?
Ensuring that the proposal has high feasibility has been central to our work. We have early identified an idea that coincides with our forest concept on how the new district can be built in stages. Additionally, in our proposals for the square, the boulevard, and the office and industrial quarters, we have conducted in-depth studies of various aspects in detail to lay a good foundation for the upcoming implementation process. Moreover, we have always had the intention to find a clear and strong identity for the future city - something that we believe benefits large and long-term projects like this.

REFERENCES:

Office building side by side with preserved forest. Ormen Långe (1978), office building in Kista, Sweden by Bengt Lindroos and Carl Nyrén.
A boulevard in the forest. Photo from the competition site visit.
5. How did you form the team for the competition and if so what are the skills you associated?
Dženis Džihić and Staffan Svensson, who won Europan 15 Enköping (SE) with the proposal Root City, met early in the spring of 2023 to go through the competition sites for Europan 17. Skavsta immediately felt like a given and exciting area with great potential. Submitting a competition entry requires effort and we chose to strengthen our team this time with Vlad Capitanu and Jon Bossuyt two very skilled architects and close friends. Everyone contributed in their own special way and together we created a skilled and creative team.

6. How could this prize help you in your professional career?
We are very grateful for this award and look forward to a rewarding and long collaboration both with Nyköping Municipality and Explore Skavsta, which are both part of this competition and the continued work in the area. We hope to develop our visions for Skavsta Forest City together with these main actors and also other stakeholders in the area.

TEAM IDENTITY
Legal status: 
Team name: 
Average age of the associates: 32 years old

Has your team, together or separately, already conceived or implemented some projects and/or won any competition? if so, which ones?
Dženis Džihić and Staffan Svensson won Europan 15 Enköping (SE) with the proposal Root City. All members are current or earlier empolyees at Reflex Arkitekter where they’ve worked on several projects together.

WORKS:

A new connecting path bridging over the railway. Root City by Dženis Džihić and Staffan Svensson, winning proposal in Europan 15 Enköping (SE).
Resilience, recreation and ecology are central in Root City. Root City by Dženis Džihić and Staffan Svensson, winning proposal in Europan 15 Enköping (SE).