‘Slussen’, the transportation-laden lock between Gamla Stan and Södermalm that separates Lake Mäleran and the Baltic Sea, was recently the subject of a competition for a redesign. The masses of concrete that separate the many forms of transport (car, boat, metro, pedestrian, bicycle, and even a bus depot) are said to be crumbling, and the aging infrastructure is increasingly seen as an eyesore.

Five proposals are being considered in the competition for the ‘Slussen’ project, which aims to replace a tangle of traffic circles, bridges, underpasses and boat locks in the heart of Stockholm.

A winner in Stockholm‘s urban redesign competition has yet to be announced, but here are some images of the currently shortlisted five proposals by internationally acclaimed architects like Sir Norman Foster, Jean Nouvel, and BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), as well as Swedish firms Nyrens Architects and Gert Wingardh Architect.

From the organisators:

During 2008 ‘Slussen’s’ future design will be studied further and after that there will then be a local zoning (planning) procedure parallel to environmental testing related to water management activities. Considerable planning and reorganisation of cables and mains etc will be required before building operations can be started in 2012. Judging from the present time plan, inauguration of the new ‘Slussen’ will be in 2018.
Important issues to be addressed in the project are how ‘Slussen’ has to be designed as a traffic facility, the collective hub, ‘Slussen’ as a retail area, the need for increased discharge from Lake Mälaren and, last but not least, the architectural design.

From the New York Times article about the ‘Slussen’ project:

‘(…)The designs submitted reflect a range of urban planning philosophies.

In his review of the project, Nicolai Ouroussoff writes that Jean Nouvel and Habiter Autrement’s design ‘reflects a conviction that the collision of ideas, even more than architectural forms, gives cities their civilizing power.’

The design by Nyrens Architects ‘may bring to mind Eastern-bloc architecture of the 1960s and ’70s,’ writes Mr. Ouroussoff.

‘A design by the Swedish architect Gert Wingardh evokes Baron Haussmann’s grand arterial plan for Paris, substituting straight lines for the old curves of the 1930s project.’

Norman Foster’s ‘head-scratching’ proposal, writes Mr. Ouroussoff, ‘is reminiscent of his scheme for the site of Rossiya Hotel in central Moscow, and the two schemes make you wonder if Mr. Foster’s planning skills match his reputation as an architect.’

Read the whole article here.