The project was executed under the nation programme "Art is happening”, conducted by the Statens Konstråd.

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In a first step, a national call was made to the Swedish citizens to propose aspects of their everyday lives that could be improved through art. Then, the Statens Konstråd invited teams of artists to collaborate with the promotors of the ideas in their realization of the selected art projects.

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Map13bcn was invited to collaborate with a self-organized group of Portalen, in Hageby, Norrkoping. Portalen is an organization working on the welcoming and integration of migrants in the city, based in the neighbourhood of Hageby. The neighbourhood is at the outskirts of Norrkoping and is rarely visited by the residents of the city. Their proposal was to build an iconic meeting point aimed at giving more visibility to Portalen, which would host activities attractive for citizens from other areas of the town. Debates, recitals, courses, open air theatre… where some of the activities proposed.

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We organised two sets of intensive participative workshops in order to define the needs and desire, refine the proposal and translate it into an architectural element, and to familiarize the group with the constructive technique of the Catalan vault.

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The designed pavilion is the result of this work and the joint effort of the Public Agency of Sweden, Norrköpings Konstmuseum, and Portalen. We designed a double-layered wooden active bending grid structure covered by polycarbonate sheets. The structure will be built in 2D on the floor and later lift to conform a 3D vaulted volume that will work in compression. This will allow for the group in Portalen to take part of the construction process.

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The polycarbonate enclosure will allow the light to pass through, transforming the perception of the interior and the exterior space.