In the beginning there was snow

“Snow as a raw material.” That could have been the subtitle of the conference Designed living environment in snowy communities, which has been going on for two days in Kiruna.

When Yngve Bergkvist came up with the idea in 1989 that snow and ice could be a big attraction for international visitors, many people laughed at the idea. Today we know that Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi, outside Kiruna, is one of the country's biggest tourist attractions. 

This week we have gathered in Kiruna to talk about the opportunities and challenges that come from snow. We are 130 people from national and regional authorities, municipalities and entrepreneurs who have gathered for the conference Designed Living Environments in Snow-Rich Communities. The participants have grappled with the concept of designed living environments and learned about one hundred uses of snow.

People at the center

Designed living environment is the name of a fairly new policy area. It is based on the idea that architecture, design and culture should take on a completely different weight when we in Sweden develop and design places and cities. People and their living conditions are put at the center.

Nina Eliasson, urban planning strategist, Kiruna Municipality, highlighted the love-hate relationship between snow when you have it ten months of the year. Sometimes you have snow eleven months of the year, Nina noted and showed a newspaper headline from July 2, 2019: “Snowstorm interrupted summer in Kiruna”. She discussed the specific experience, expertise and planning required to deal with climate challenges. One example is the small new malls in the new Kiruna city centre to minimise the number of store entrances directly onto the streets.

Mats Bigert is one of the artists behind the portable sauna Solar Egg. Photo: Riksbyggen

Light for greater well-being

How can we create greater well-being during the darkest months of the year with the help of light and participation? That was the challenge that Pia Sundvall, leisure developer, and Hanna Andersson, business developer from Gällivare municipality took on last winter. The result was impressive with electric loops with thousands of small lamps, fireplaces, AI trees and much more.

Mats Bigert, artist, talked about art as a strategy for activating public space and our shared landscape based on climate and weather. Mats is one of the artists who created Solar Egg, an egg-shaped portable sauna, which has been on tour around the world. Now it is on its way home to Kiruna and Loussavarabacken again.

Need for manual

Day two was a workshop. We had to twist and turn the concept of designed living environments and attraction. One result is that we need to produce a handbook for designing the county's living environments through art, architecture and community planning. The importance of talking about the subject from a concrete and local perspective was highlighted, as was the need for resources.

Björn Ekelund is a planner, architect and lecturer at Luleå University of Technology. He described their work on snow and climate. He highlighted how the colleague from Holland works with the relationship to water, how the colleague from Austria works with our relationship to trees and forests and the colleague from Uruguay in his work reflects on the Swedish identity and our relationship to nature.

In addition to this, there were interesting panel discussions about opportunities and challenges regarding the use of snow, as well as presentations by ArkDE and the County Administrative Board about their missions, funds and resources.

Panel discussion: Snow as an asset. Arne Bergh, artist and former Art Director for Icehotel, Viktor Wäppling, landscape architect Luleå Municipality, Jessica Segerlund, head of Think Tank, ArkDes, Annika Fredriksson, CEO Swedish Lapland Visitors Board.

With a deepened feeling for snow, we pass Jukkasjärvi on the way home. We hear visitors from all over the world among kicks and snowmobile overalls. This is where it started with seeing snow and ice as a possibility - but this is not where it ends. It is clear after two days with the snow in the center.

Text: Stina Almkvist

The conference was arranged by the Resource Center for Art – Region Norrbotten and Kiruna Municipality. In collaboration with the Art Consultant Region Norrbotten, Art Promotion Norrbotten & the Swedish Art Associations District Norrbotten.