Amann Cánovas Maruri

central campus of Aalto University . Otaniemi

Amann Cánovas Maruri

The project aims to be the heart pump of the future university.

PTT
STRATEGY 1 THE HEART PUMP
The existing urban condition of the different universities of the campus is but a series of buildings or groups of buildings that have no apparent relation to one another. Generating an element that can read into the existing condition in order to generate a new and unitary urban condition is one of the key objectives of the project. The generation of new and better spaces for the campus has given shape to the new construction.
STRATEGY 2 THE SATELLITES
A different approach was understood to be needed for the 8000m2 of the VTT area. Modular buildings, very regular and flexible can allow for very different uses. The height, number, and use of these satellites can be decided upon later on by the university. Respect again for the alignments of the existing buildings has been key. This same strategy can then be used in different places of the competition if needed and can even be used later on in different areas of the campus in order for helping the campus have a unitary identity.
STRATEGY 3 THE CIRCULATROY SYSTEM
The heart pump gives way to a series of arteries and veins that connect the new with the existing buildings. These connections provide the university with the necessary flow of students and staff throughout the different buildings. This strategy can again be applied wherever is necessary so as to integrate the different universities and allow for a horizontal knowledge flow and a new learning concept where Permeability Transversality, Transparency are necessary



OPEN INTERNATIONAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN COMPETITION FOR
Otaniemi central campus of Aalto University


PTT SUMMARY REPORT

ALL- EMBRACING CENTRAL CAMPUS

IDENTITY - INNOVATIVE VALUES
PERMEABILITY - All connected, all levels, all directions
TRANSVERSAL - Different uses and scales connected
TRANSPARENT - Transparent walls and patios
CONNECTIVITY – Circulatory arteries and veins
SUSTAINABILITY – density and closeness

URBAN SPACES AS LANDMARK
MULTIPLE SQUARES
DIFFERENT SPACES INTERCONECTED

DENSITY AND CLOSENESS
Allows for pedestrian and bicycle traffic,
And easy connections to public transport.

PERIMETER BAND
The new construction is a perimeter band. Its form is the consequence of the connected surrounding geometry and the proposal to build around public spaces. New and contemporary building, their directions, volumes, masses and materials are weld together with a flexible geometry

BUILDING AROUND PUBLIC SPACES
Inside the courts the space is activated by restaurants and different commercial activities. The back of these commercial spaces is the service perimeter but within the court they can grow freely within a limit that allows for the normal flow of circulations.

THE STAR
This space, with the Aalto building icon always present is the most important open space provided by the new constructions. It is mean not only to host activities for members of the university but to provide the whole Aalto campus with a recognizable space. This central plaza is meant to be the background space for concerts, small and large gatherings, café terraces, collective sunbathing, open air expositions, graduations, welcoming,... and all other activities which can benefit from a large but warm space. The central plaza also thrives to be the place where people from different departments, ages and universities can interact with one another and therefore become in that sense a new pump for transversal knowledge flow.

NEW STREETS
A 15m WIDE separation from the existing buildings allows for a NEW street relationship between the new constructions and the existing buildings on its perimeter. The 15m separations appeared to be a common distance between buildings in the VTT area as well as in other areas in the existing campus. We therefore used that separation in order to allow for a natural integration of the new building with the GEOMETRY of the existing buildings.

NEW SQUARES
The new construction geometry is defined by the presence of new public spaces in-between old and new buildings. The largest INBETWEEN plaza is located in front of the main building; the Alto triangle required a more significant gesture and a more respectful separation. The new constructions act as a frame that recognises the significance of the Aalto building. This new PLAZA is expected to BE A PLACE FOR very important number of people in circulation or who are simply hanging out. The other surrounding plazas give access to and from the different buildings so that activity inside them is ensured.

EXTERIOR ACCESS
Direct access from the squares to the first level has been included. Duplicities in accesses are welcome whenever they are needed in order to allow for a very direct and diverse use of the building. This space also works as a thermic cushion that generates a greenhouse effect that can save energy consumption significantly

INTERIOR COURTS
Three interior courts provide the universities with large gathering spaces that can be used all year long as they are both covered and conditioned. They can be understood as large lobbies where different spaces look to one another. Different commercial activities take place on the ground floor so as to provide the courts with a more dynamic activity.

ELEVATED PLATFORMS
Floating platforms appear across the courts making a more powerful space and allowing for a more direct communication across the court. Informal learning spaces have been proposed for these platforms so that again they can become whatever is needed, a classroom, a working area, a conference room, an exposition area.

SERVICE STRIP
This band is divided by a thinner strip, 3m wide service line, which can hold the different necessities for a variety of commercial spaces. The service perimeter allows for the installation of kitchens, bathrooms, storage rooms.
The service perimeter also allows for a gentle level change to allow the commercial spaces to grow terraces if they are necessary for the plazas.

FORMAL LEARNING SPACE
Formal learning spaces allow for more classic areas. Regular classrooms and offices can help create a circulation which is easier to control especially along the interior streets.
HELATHY AND FLEXIBLE FACILITIES

INTERIOR STREETS
On the first floor is located the main artery of the university in connection with the existing buildings. The student and staff flow is expected to be relax and easy, and at the same time very intensive, so we propose a width of 6m. As many other concepts that have been implemented in the proposal, we understand that connections of this kind could very well work in other areas of the campus

INFORMAL LEARNING SPACE
HELATHY AND FLEXIBLE FACILITIES
Informal learning spaces are dynamic open learning areas where interaction between the different university areas can occur. These spaces can change and transform over time so that they can hold different activities depending on the different needs of the university. The informal learning areas appear surrounding the interior courts in order to create a warmer and more active space in these areas.

FLYNG CONNECTIONS
Floating connections between the new and the existing buildings help generate a unitary campus. One can move from one university to the next while stepping on the same floor. The new buildings then become, trough this means by which different flows between universities happened, a more transversal learning environment.

MODULAR SATELLITES
In contrast to the new main building where a more organic answer is given in order to respond to the concepts that were underlined in the competition brief, here we propose a very direct answer where freedom of use is the primary goal.

These new modular buildings are respectful with the geometry that surrounds them and can hold any activity. How tall, what use, how many of these new buildings are required to satisfy
THE demand are questions that can be answered later on. Here we propose a system of growth rather than a closed system. These new buildings are actually located only within the campus area but they could very well grow in other areas of the campus.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEM
Communications between and within the different parts of the university are key to create both a fluent and a comfortable campus. Long arms protected from the snow and the rain connects the new building to different parts of the campus. THE SNAKE allows for a comfortable transition from the new building to the metro, the library, the bus stop, possible new buildings and existing buildings.
These connections are at the moment restricted to the competition area but could very well be a way to connect buildings elsewhere in the campus providing the whole university with a covered infrastructure and allowing the campus to be understood as a whole and not like an addition of autonomous buildings unlinked with one another. The goal for these connections is therefore to create a unitary and transversal campus where fluent circulations are important key elements.

ONE STRATEGY - DIFFERENT SPACES
Laces that surround interior and exterior spaces,
Spaces that form squares and plazas,
Spaces form patios and open voids.
Square interconnected in different levels, with interior or exterior connection depending on the weather.

SUSTANAIBLE DESIGN
Density as a contemporaneous necessity to reduce consumption of energy.
Compact architecture bodies consume less energy
Walking distances between buildings
LOWER ENVIROMENT IMPACT
Less use of land

PARALLEL – CIRCULAR
The existing buildings work on a regular parallel geometry
the new proposal wants to be a multiple directions geometry
TRANSVERSAL MESH
A grid, interconnected,
IMPRESSIVE CONNECTION OF SQUARES AND PLAZAS
CONNECTED SQUARES TROUGH INTERIOR AN EXTERIOR
Weld, tie, new and modern

THE LACES
NON-HIERARCHICAL ENVIROMENT
ORGANIC – LINEAR
EASY TO UNDERSTAND,
OPEN GEOMETRY, OPEN ANGLES, CONNECT SPACES
USABILITY OF THE SPACES
CLOSE SPACE – NEAR –HUMAN – COUSY – DIMENSION –OCCUPIED BY ACTIVITIES

RESPECTFUL WITH THE SURROUNDING ARCHITECTURE
respectful with SCALE not going over the regular heights
respectful with the GEOMETRY reading the position of the previous architecture and using it as generator of the new architecture..