Trappudden Vindbåk
Trappudden Vindbåk is a student design-built project, made within the 2024 summer course From Concept to Construction. The course explored the island of Holmön in the Baltic Sea which offers an opportunity to explore the questions of self-sufficiency, resilience and community engagement. Vindbåken stands adjacent to a scenic hiking trail on Trappudden in a coastal nature reserve.
From Concept to Structure is a hands-on summer course offering students an intense design-build collaborative learning process imbedded in a local social context. This year we set out to explore the island of Holmön in the Baltic Sea which offers an opportunity to explore the questions of self-sufficiency, resilience and community engagement.
Vindbåken stands adjacent to a scenic hiking trail on Trappudden in a coastal nature reserve. The land uplift is evident here with the wave-washed boulder fields covered in beautiful ancient lichens. The structure is inspired by an old sea mark – a beacon. The top of the building is at the same level as the sea was when the first people started to inhabit Holmön. Each division of the facade represents 100 years of land uplift.
This is a look-out structure and a shelter for an overnight stay giving the travellers a cosy retreat with framed views towards the island Fjäderägg. The stone counterweights assist the users in interacting with the large opening hatch. To resist the harsh winds the structure reuses old metal hooks drilled in the stones that once supported a sea sign.
The structure is built by students using locally sourced and sawn timber under supervision of local carpenter and teachers from Umeå School of Architecture.
Students: Oscar Bergsten, Jonas Eltes, Alva Lind, Gustav Marklund, Saga Montell, Elin Werme Oscarsson, Lisa Woods, Alva Westlund, Axel Gillblad, Cornelia Kalle.
Tutors: Maja Hallén, Joar Sandström, Joël Jouannet, Toms Kokins
Course responsible: Sara Thor
The project is realized with the support of Länsstyrelsen Västerbotten and Umeå Municipality.
UMA is happy to continue working with the island community as part of the Interreg NPAB project Bauhaus goes North. In collaboration with Umeå University Building Physics and Electronics, Umeå municipality and in exchange with partner islands in Cork County, Ireland we are testing transdisciplinary formats in education and research and planning a demonstrator project with the continuous aim to see how academia can contribute to sustainable development on the ground.
