How do we create exciting meeting places in the innovation district?

Caroline Wendt

Communicator, content manager, storytelling

Published

August 7, 2024

Categories

Innovation district

Future Living & Spaces

Can we design places that are so exciting and inspiring that “everyone” wants to meet there? In the eighth talk about the Lund Innovation District, stakeholders gathered together to think about areas in the area that can increase creativity, well-being, collaboration and innovation ability. Maria Gimenez Grau is an urban strategist and architect and inspired the participants to think about what factors might be important when creating new spaces in Lund. A greenhouse and a car park in the area were taken as examples of surfaces with great potential.

Imagine a dynamic and exciting place filled with activity, positive energy and people talking and interacting. Engagement, community and diversity flourish here. It is a place where students, startups, companies of all sizes, first-class researchers, artists and creative groupings are welcomed. In such a place, people are more likely to thrive and get creative, but also to create new collaborations and lay the foundations for innovations. During the June meeting at SMiLE Venture Hub if Lund Innovation District Maria Gimenez Grau inspired actors to think about which gathering places in the area.

- When we think about which are the places with opportunities in the Lund Innovation District and how we can activate surfaces and buildings to respond to the needs of the area, I think it is good to have people as a starting point, says Maria Gimenez Grau. We are all creating these places together and it is important that many are involved as part of the process of designing the environments of the future.

Maria Gimenez Grau is an urban strategist and architect.

Around the world, there are examples of how exciting, educational, safe and inclusive meeting points are created. Based on this, Maria Gimenez Grau highlighted several factors that could be important to include in her work in Lund.

* Nature must be present because people thrive in contact with nature, both indoors and outdoors.

* When you see what's going on in a building, it's more enticing to walk in. Transparency is essential to provide an inviting, sincere and neutral character.

*It is important that buildings with unique character, historical significance or with aesthetic values are lifted or preserved.

* Environments that allow and encourage artists and creative processes often become extra attractive and this in turn inspires innovations and new ways of doing things.

* An important part in a future common place is good food and a long table where people can meet, engage and build networks.

* Spaces are often the places that are most successful in creating exciting encounters. Something is needed that gets people moving and meeting in these spaces, like a transition between public space and buildings and between indoors and outdoors.

* When workplaces close, areas can feel pretty dreary. Lighting can be a way to make such places feel alive and current even in the evenings and nights.

Within the Lund Innovation District, there are buildings and sites that are not used or are underused. During the meeting, he presented two different examples — partly the greenhouses located at Tornavägen in the area towards LTH, and a parking space in the Ideon area.

On the eve of the workshop, Maria Gimenez Grau presented some approaches and possibilities by starting from a greenhouse:

- It can be considered that a greenhouse can be a good test bed for innovations in food and be attached to a lab. If we can also create a relaxing environment and make people feel comfortable, it is a good starting point for cooperation. A greenhouse can be large and a solution with a “Box within a box” can make the surface more flexible and allow for a more varied program. I can also see that collaboration with Lund's creative communities has great potential.

The second example is a parking space in the Ideon area.

- Parking spaces can be transformed and reactivated to become places that inspire innovation, for example. Placemaking is a term used to describe how to bring places to life through much more than just urban planning, and it is a way to facilitate and inspire people to collectively rethink and reinvent public spaces. This strengthens the connection between people and the places they share.

In addition to the greenhouse and parking lot, there are many other places with hidden potential. For example, you can imagine something as simple as a walking/running trail that connects different places in the area. There, people can meet but also see other parts of the innovation district than their own workplace. Even places that don't seem to offer any opportunities at all can have it -- for example, the gloomy surface under a bridge can become an illuminated gathering place and gallery at night or a busy street is transformed into a place for socializing by painting the asphalt, patio furniture, and a few trees. One should also not forget temporary and modular solutions, such as a self-sufficient pavilion that unites first-class technology and material inventions from research, students and companies in the area. The area can also be a test bed for new and recycled materials, creative products and new energy solutions and can also be a place where solutions and innovations can be exhibited for both local and international exchanges.

The steering group for the Lund Innovation District consists of Kristina Eneroth, Vice President at Lund University, Pia Kinhult, ACES and Anders Almgren, Chairman of Lund Municipal Board.

- In the innovation district there are empty spaces that we can fill with something interesting - temporary or permanent, says Anders Almgren. Let us continue to focus on this area together, both the municipality, the university and the other actors.

During the subsequent workshop, the participants discussed suggestions on how a building such as a greenhouse can be used, how to exploit the potential of a parking space and finally also what is the next step in order for all of us in the district together to create more space spaces. The material will be compiled and when it is done we will of course tell you about it here on Futurebylund.se.