Inhabiting the Boundary

Descargar fichero

The project is situated within a context of strong urban rupture, where Malmö Central Station, the railway tracks and the hydraulic system constitute a major physical boundary. This linear infrastructure separates the city’s residential fabric from the industrial area located beyond the tracks, generating a spatial, functional and landscape fracture. The proposed building responds to this condition by transforming the boundary into an inhabited, traversable and connected space. The project takes the form of a building-bridge spanning both the railway lines and the water, extending the axis of an existing main street to ensure a clear urban continuity. Unlike other crossings, which are distant and poorly accessible, this new covered public passage shortens daily journeys, particularly for workers commuting from the industrial area toward the city center. The ground floor is fully open and functions as a public bridge, accessible to all, encouraging soft mobility.Above this traversable base, the building accommodates mixed programs—offices, co-working spaces and housing—activating the site throughout the day and reinforcing its role as an interface between two urban fragments. Fully glazed, the architecture is transparent and visually permeable; it does not create a new barrier, but rather acts as a filter connecting the two sides of the city. The roof is designed as a shared, vegetated space hosting communal gardens and urban agriculture. This landscaped layer is part of the overall strategy to reintroduce vegetation and reconnect green spaces. On the industrial side, the building is anchored in a newly created vegetated square, structured by a system of steps responding to the change in level. This volumetric choice preserves the views of the existing buildings while creating an open, bright and calm public space. Thus, the project does not merely cross an infrastructure: it transforms a boundary into a green corridor, a place of passage, encounter and continuity, where architecture, landscape and mobility come together to reshape the city.