2013, plans were unveiled that would see a town in the far north of sweden relocated building by building. kiruna, home to the world’s largest iron ore mine, had become a victim of its own success. while it’s estimated that an equivalent of six eiffel towers worth of ore is extracted from the mine each day, consequential land deformation on the town’s western border had begun to subsume it, putting residents at risk. as a result, an international competition was launched to relocate kiruna in phases over a 20-year period. the winning entry, drawn up by white arkitekter working with ghilardi + hellsten, looked a century into the future to envision a sustainable city with a diverse economy.


The difficult part in moving a city is to preserve its sense of belonging, the history and the soul of the community,’ alexandra hagen, white arkitekter’s CEO, tells designboom. ‘it is easy to build a space or a building, but the real challenge is to preserve the thriving soul that makes a community.’ although two thirds of kiruna’s population depends on the mine for employment, the city has recently experienced population growth alongside an increase in tourism.

To develop the project, the architects involved kiruna’s 20,000 citizens — allowing them to take a prominent role in the masterplan. ‘our approach to put the citizens of kiruna first in this project is important,’ hagen continues. ‘we’ve spent a lot of time interviewing and listening to them. the city of kiruna exists because of the mine and the mining cannot continue if the city is not moved. the citizens of kiruna understand this but at the same time it’s still difficult for them as homes and spaces where memories have been made are being demolished to keep kiruna alive for the future.’