Kirunascape, 2019.
Kiruna Paradox – Inhabiting Latitudes: an Architectural Atlas
The city, however, does not tell its past, but contains it like the lines of a hand. (Calvino, 1972). Studio 3 explores the contemporary city and its changes to question the present and imagine future architectural scenarios. This year the studio will focus on Kiruna, the mining town currently undergoing a transformation that will impact forever the life of its inhabitants. In the context of transformation of the cities of the North of Sweden, in which the urban development is associated to growth and densification, the studio focuses the attention on how to intervene on the existing, experiment and activate new relationships in the present condition. Studio 3 investigates the city in relation to its constructed ecologies, exploring the interactions between the urban environment, architecture, and its human and non-human inhabitants across diverse Latitudes. To do so, we will address the notion of architecture as a performative practice, understanding how the quality of space is determined by actions and relations rather than a superimposed function.
Context of Investigation
Kiruna is a town of layered traces, cultures, and contrasts. Founded in 1900 within a landscape of forests, rivers, and streams, it was planned by Per Olof Hallman and Gustaf Wickman for the state-owned mining company LKAB. Its establishment radically transformed the lives of the Sámi, who had inhabited the area for centuries. In 2004, LKAB announced that ground instability and expanded mining required the town’s gradual relocation. Since then, Kiruna exists in an “in between” state, suspended between demolition and construction, offering a unique lens on urban transformation processes and giving us the chance to reflect, react and rethink the role of architecture. Studio 3 will explore inhabitation through material experiments, social interaction, and tectonic devices, observing how life adapts to the changing city and extreme conditions.
Studio Agenda and Methodology
Studio 3 is a a research-based design studio that continues the evolution of previous studios and builds on collective investigations: Unlayering Umeå, The City as a Laboratory, and A Laboratory in the City. It explores the existing context to identify potentials for future speculative scenarios at different scales.
The studio will be organized in three moments: Reading the city / Composition and conceptualization / Exploring in detail.
Studio 3 follows a methodology based on iterative and explorative model making and production of drawing, documents, and curated installations. The studio is part of the UOU University of Universities project involving 48 international schools of architecture and collaborates with local and international invited artists and architectural practices.
Teaching team: Maria Luna Nobile (studio responsible), Maxine Lundström + Invited guests
Latest update: 2025-09-02