July 2012
A-Zero has been appointed shortlisted for competition to design a new city centre for Kiruna, Sweden, withTham & videgård arkitekter and Territorial Agency. Kiruna is a unique city which has evolved since the first iron ore deposits in the area began to be exploited a hundred years ago. The underground extraction of iron ore is causing movements and subsidence which, sooner or later, will render a large part of Kiruna’s existing urban settlement uninhabitable. This is a dramatic scenario, necessitating the relocalisation of many of the city’s functions over a period of twenty years. Parts of the city will be gradually phased out, and buildings demolished or moved elsewhere.