A PALLIATIVE DESIGN FOR THE AFTERLIFE OF MINE#7

WINNER OF TERRA NODA AWARD

ARCTIC FIELD GRANT RECIPIENT

WINNER OF J.B.C WATKINS AWARD: ARCHITECTURE

With the forthcoming closure of Mine #7 (the last operational coal mine in Longyearbyen), coinciding with climate change and increased glacial melt, Svalbard’s relationship to its cryogenic landscape is increasingly uncertain. To ease this relationship from one state to another, this project proposes a palliative design strategy for the decommissioning of Mine #7.

The design builds on the theory of “palliative curation” by the cultural geographer Caitlin DeSilvey which applies the practice of palliative care towards the management of structures or landscapes as they decay or are at risk of destruction due to climate change.

This is done in three parts; reprogramming the site’s facilities to accommodate the storage, study, and display of geological samples by the University Center of Svalbard, a land art intervention which integrates existing materials into the axis and contours of the site, and a series of events designed to manipulate the landscape and draw the community to the site to witness the agency of the landscapes cryogenic processes.

Through this incremental design intervention, residents and
visitors to Longyearbyen may develop a new relationship and
understanding of this site which moves beyond grief for the
loss of its cultural landscapes or the preservation of its coal mining ‘heritage’. Instead with this palliative approach to the decommissioning of Mine #7, one may be able to cometo terms with the impact of extractive industries, how these practices are remembered through the landscape and the future narrative of its fluid ground.

To compliment the design proposal a soundscape was made to represent the different cryogenic processes created through the design. This was created out of soundrecordings collected in Longyearbyen and Tromsø.