A Natural Future: Envisioning Finland in 2070

Entitled Emerald Envisioning for Luonnonmaa 2070, Emmi Keskisarja & Janne Teräsvirta Arkkitehtitoimisto & Company Architects’ concept project for a Finnish Island explores how architecture and technology can respond to a world transformed by climate change

Emerald Envisioning for Luonnonmaa 2070 is a concept scheme in response to a world where climate change has led to a significant drop in diversity, forcing a change in living that sees the natural world reintroduced to the built environment.

Set on Luonnonmaa island in south-western Finland, close to the city of Turku, the scheme envisions significant urban growth, but which has been managed in a manner that keeps nature at the heart of all activities.

Transport infrastructure and industry are all considered in the scheme, which sees technology supporting inhabitants’ access to nature.

The project also includes food and energy production. Farming is based on the island’s existing agricultural infrastructure, which has been densified to allow for space for the natural world to redevelop.

Despite providing support for a far greater population than the island currently hosts, the project makes considerable effort to provide spaces where biodiversity can once again flourish, while being enjoyed by the island’s inhabitants.

“Local inhabitants, politicians, and planners supported by consulting futurologists and architects committed to a co-creative process to suggest a vision of the future, asking: Can the future be both sustainable and desirable?” said Emmi Keskisarja & Janne Teräsvirta Arkkitehtitoimisto & Company Architects of the project. “Could we build more to accommodate human needs, while (counter-intuitively) producing more opportunities for nature around us?”

Looking Ahead