ATELJE PRELOVSEK

Project description: NO- MOTOWN is an attempt to reduce car traffic in the city of Turku by means of urban planning and design. It is the antithesis of Motown, the ultimate car-based city. Cars are not only causing pollution but also take enormously big amount of space and make public areas poor. The average garage for one car in a family house takes approx. 20sqm of space, which is in comparison to the size of Turku average apartment (68,2sqm) almost one third of the surface. But that is only enough if the family is having one car. Reality often shows that the amount of the cars grow with the growth of the family.

Location: Turku, Finland
Size: 133 apartments, 16.650 sqm (total gross building area), 49.209 sqm public spaces (village way, streets, park)
Project phase: competition
Year of the project: 2011
Authors: Aarne Niemelä, Eva Prelovšek Niemelä

AWARD
Project was shortlisted.

In NO-MOTOWN there is no need to buy new cars for the younger family members. The cars are shared in the district. Electric city car parking is placed close to every housing block and those cars can be shared by the inhabitants. They can consider if they need to own any car at all. Maybe sharing cars can fully satisfy their need for individual mobility and nevertheless it saves also money.

In NO-MOTOWN there is no need to worry about your children. District is designed as a car free zone with widely spread pedestrian paths and buildings placed along the main pedestrian “village way”. Children can come from bus stop without crossing any motorized road. Also if the houses are turned towards the motorized roads they all have double entrances, of which at least one is from the pedestrian “village way”. Public space along the “village way” is so attractive that it encourages to use public transportation. Pedestrian routes from the bus stops are very well connected to the apartments.

In NO-MOTOWN there is no need to worry about your parents and senior friends. They can fully participate in the village life and can gather around their meeting point in senior’s room. They can invite guests into guest house in the park or organize birthday parties there for themselves or for their grandchildren. They can improve their condition in fitness room, pool and sauna room or heat up smoke sauna in the park.

In NO-MOTOWN there is no need to worry about your health. District offers many public green areas with recreation facilities (sporting fields, jogging routes, ice-skating loop, cross-country skiing routes and other spaces for sports and wellness (fitness room, sauna, pool) that should motivate you to stay in good condition. The air pollution from the traffic is filtered by the green strip along the Uudenmaantie and noise of the traffic is reduced due to the built volumes. There are garages and few window openings in the ground floor of the buildings that are close to the heavy traffic. Garages can also be transformed into small office studios that are less vulnerable for noise. Courtyards and public spaces are completely protected from noise. Parking lots are closed towards the district with low storage buildings for bikes, skies and other sporting equipments.

In NO-MOTOWN you can keep your privacy. Apartments and adjoined gardens enable to find peace after arriving home. Gardens and ground floor areas are lifted by 30cm above the public outdoor spaces. Inhabitants arrive into their property over small ramps in the gardens. The structure of the built blocks is placed in the way that “private views” towards the central park are possible- especially from the roof terraces of the penthouse apartments.

In NO-MOTOWN surface of the apartments can be adjusted to the size of your family: when family is growing additional floor can be added inside the existing volume.
House is sold according to the volume instead of the pre-made floor area. Inclined roofs offer high spaces that can be used for gallery rooms.