EUmies Awards 2015

The cathedral, an inventor's workshop for audiovisual design, forms a building that operates in the field of tension between two different landscapes, both as form and as idea.

The building is located on the boundary between technology and untouched reed land, Mjärdevi Science Park with its large-scale buildings, and the boundary area between infrastructure and buildings where grazing and reed land has been allowed to expand. The building's location and design is a consequence of this context, where the volume wedges itself into existing built environment and opens up onto the surrounding landscape, both in plan and section.

The building’s sculptural form in rough tar paper, concrete and spruce plywood defines the workshop, where its essence manifests itself in the volume's interior – the Cathedral. The sculptural gives clarity in relation to both the site and the program, it creates a space of concentration and provides focus within the workshop, while the inner room connects to the landscape and creates a place in close relationship to the expases of land.

The materials of the building allow themselves to be transformed during the workshop’s process of development, they are let to change through the reworking and adding of layers. Their aging enhances the experience of the inner and outer rooms over time. This capacity for transformation makes the building durable and lasting.

Art and cultural events take place here, as well as exhibitions, happenings and other encounters that allow visitors from all over the world to take part in the contemporary expression of design and technology.

Location – Mjärdevi Science Park, Linköping, Sweden

Year: 2012 - 2014

Collaborators: Petra Gipp, Maria Videgård, Malin Heyman, Solmaz Beik, Jasmien Wouters

Area: 1 500 m2