Unifying Landscape and Architecture

Added : 12 Aug 2010 | Visits : 2694 | Average votes : %

Images
Videos

The architecture firm, Snøhetta has a reputation for maintaining a strong relationship between landscape and architecture in all of its projects. Continuing with the same concept, they slice through the rocky landscape to create a new site for the Petter Dass Museum at Alstahaug in Norway.

“Museums enable people to explore collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment. They are institutions that collect, safeguard and make accessible artifacts and specimens, which they hold in trust for society.” --The UK Museums Association

It only follows that a museum be designed sensitively with respect to the site and the landscape. The architecture firm Snohetta has designed the new museum in Alstahaug Norway, with the same belief. The firm has, over the years, developed a reputation for maintaining a strong relationship between landscape and architecture in all of its projects. It believes that the site and the context of each project is unique and provides a strong point of departure for the design. This is something that identifies many of Snøhetta´s buildings.

Based on the archaeological evidence, Alstahaug was chosen to be developed as a millennium site – a symbol of Norwegian cultural and spiritual identity. Central to this was the construction of a new museum building - the Petter Dass Museum, dedicated to its namesake who was a poet, a hymn writer, and a theologian. The site is near the Alstahaug Church where Dass worked as a Vicar.

The project involved designing a 1350sqm museum building, a landscape plan for the surrounding site, parking facilities and a service building. The museum is spread over three floors. The main floor, which is at the same level as the churchyard, contains a foyer with a museum shop, reception desk, an auditorium, a café, toilets and cloakrooms. The first floor accommodates the exhibition area, which is split into four levels. At the top are the administrative office and the library.

The strong historical importance of the surroundings made the task of locating and designing a new building on the given site, sensitive and challenging. The architects wanted to maintain the site in its pristine natural condition and therefore suggested that the given site be moved to its present location in the mountains.

A wire-cutter, typically used for infrastructure projects, was used to slice through the solid rock. This allowed a freestanding building to be placed in the crevasse. The building volume balanced the mass removed. This helped in blending the building with the surrounding landscape, to create an expressive architecture. Two 70m long wire-cut rock walls, 15.5m apart, defined the site. A new ground level was established between these two walls. A two metre wide clearance was kept from the rock wall on either side to allow the visitors to move around the periphery.

Project:	Petter Dass Museum
Location:	Alstahaug, Norway
Project Schedule:	2001-2007
Collaborators:	Kjetil Traedal Thorsen, Tarald Lundevall, Astrid Renata Van Veen, Jim Dodson, Bartek Milewski, Maria Svaland, Jenny B. Osuldsen,
Client:	Alstahaug kommune
Constructed Area:	1350 sqmt
Budget:	60 million NKR