Malmö is in need of an identity. The city’s progress over the last few decades has greatly changed its diversity, leaving it with the challenge of rediscovering its roots. For this task, Malmö has understood the potential of architecture, aiming to update its image by realizing ambitious high-rise buildings. However, designing high rise in an urban environment is a risky task. Without respect to its environment, planting a building of such a scale can have serious urban and social consequences. Therefore it is necessary to take a critical position towards high rise and pay close attention to the influence it has on its context. Malmö’s Roof is an effort to answer Malmö’s search for identity while questioning the role of high rise in the urban environment. Introducing a strict grid in the area unites all differences of the city and brings it together underneath an urban roof.
With the design of a elongated triangular roof structure, the entire area is transformed into a unified space. This gives a new foundation to build upon, extending a vertical grid into a centralised high rise. The created public space stimulates an exchange of culture, knowledge and arts while contributing to its growth and densification goals. This translated to the integration of a public library / exhibition hall and private dwellings. The public functions provide the city with a cultural meeting point, offering local people a place to study, relax, create and exhibit while the private residents offer housing to the growing number of inhabitants.
The open-minded approach to the urban environment is also found in the structure of the dwellings. While living in an urban high rise is usually a puzzle of efficiency, Malmö’s new high rise should keep high living quality in vain. This project achieves this by translating the streetgrid into an organic internal wall structure and extending a green bufferzone along the outside of all apartments. The result is a vivid living environment that extends into a natural meeting point for all residents. Together with easy accessibility of the library space and public roof park for the residents, a healthy relationship is established between all building users.
