Detour DK

An architectural detour through the dramatic Norwegian nature - from the lofty peaks of Sognefjellet in the south, to the northern lights and the midnight sun at Havøysund in the north.

Photo: arcspace

Detour DK offers you the possibility of experiencing five selected projects that exhibit unique architectonic and artistic qualities. In addition, these spectacular projects demonstrate an untraditional collaboration between authorities, architects and artist. They are architectural policy in practice./Kent Martinussen, CEO, Danish Architecture Centre

Breathtaking Norwegian nature and the driving experience are main pillars of the National Tourist Routes in Norway, spectacular architecture its distinctive feature. In Norway there is a long tradition of adapting buildings to a rugged topography, a tradition that is redefined and refined by designers for the National Tourist Routes in Norway. Architecture facilitates experiences of scenery as well as being an attraction in its own right. Works of art along the road further enhance the identity of individual stretches.

A selection of 18 stretches running through the very best of Norwegian nature is to fuel wanderlust and pleasant driving experiences. Viewing platforms, rest places and service facilities have been designed by a host of Norwegian and international architects, landscape architects and designers. The aim is to strengthen local business and industry and help populate district areas. Detour DK highlights five of the architectural sites.

The Steilneset Memorial
Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois
Steilneset, Varanger

Photo: Gjarne Riesto

Photo: Gjarne Riesto

This site is a collaboration between the artist Louise Bourgeois (1911-2010), one of the most influential artists of the contemporary era, and the architect Peter Zumthor. He contributed the design of the building that houses the artwork, as well as an information centre.

Exhibited for the first time through Detour DK it is a memorial for the 91 victims of the 17th-century witch trials in Vardo. Illuminated windows, 91 in total dedicated to each victim, are incorporated within Zumthor's information centre design which measures over 400′ long with a connective thread of tautly stretched silk sheets.

Stairway
Odd Aanensen AS / Inge Dahlman
Hellåga, Helgelandskysten nord

Hellåga stopping-place is situated on the northern side of the Sjona Fjord with a magnificent view towards the islands in the west. The stopping-place itself is situated on a large terrace over the coastal rocks and the fjord. Two means of access have been established to the rocks and the sea below - one is gentle, following the terrain diagonally, while the other is steep and dramatic, taking the most direct and shortest route to the sea. Below the terrace the nature experience dominates, with steps linking the two areas together and seating opportunities spread out over the rocks.


Photo: Vegar Moen

Photo: Gösta Reiland

Lillefjord
Pushak arkitekter
Havøysund

Photo: Werner Harstad

Photo: Werner Harstad

The road to Havøysund passes through deserted bare mountains at the ocean`s edge in wild and barren terrain towards the far north and its enticing Arctic light - the violet twilight of winter and the midnight sun of summer.

Pushak's work at Lillefjord is one of the better examples of a project that engages the visitor in the natural environment.  The program is condensed into a small footprint that appears at first to be an object dropped by helicopter in to the far north of Norway, however, it's program, a bridge from the parking lot across a small river, and execution gets people out of their cars and into the landscape. The wood slat siding is angled in response to the geometry of the service building and the bridge, creating visual continuity across the bridge. The exposed steel frame also draws visitors onto and across the bridge to hiking trails that lead to the mountains and a nearby waterfall.

Torvdalshalsen
Architects: 70° Nord - Gisle Løkken
Lofoten, Europavei 10

Photo: Steinar Skaar, Norsk Form

This rest area is situated in an old leftover road bend with a most spectacular view from the wild ocean and mountains of Eggum in the west, to the calm farmland of Borg in the south. Borg vas the Chiefdom of Lofoten from 500AD, and hosts now a Viking museum. After taking off from the main road, you pass through the site to reach the parking space. From east to west the 60m long-wall is cut into the ground and separates the parking area from the rest area, the sun and the view. The sheltering wall is made of a steel construction covered with wooden laths and boards.

Trollstigen
Architects: Reiulf Ramstad Architects AS
The Trollstigen Plateau
Geiranger, Trollstigen

Photo: Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter AS

Photo: Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter AS

The Trollstigen plateau, one of three main architectural projects, is set to open in 2012. The project will enhance the experience of the Trollstigen plateau's location and nature. The architecture is characterized by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape. Through the notion of water as a dynamic element - from snow, to running and then falling water - and rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site.

So far the initiative has resulted in almost 200 completed projects involving more than 50 architects, landscape architects, designers and artists. A focus on innovation instead of cost efficiency has unleashed a flourish of creativity, and has served as a way for young architects to launch themselves as independent designers. Two of the earliest participants, Jan Olav Jensen and Børre Skodvin from Jensen & Skodvin Architects, have become internationally recognized names, and their viewing platform at Gudbrandsjuvet was nominated for the 2009 Mies van der Rohe Award for Architecture.

Photo courtesy Jensen & Skodvin Architects www.jsa.no

In 2007 Snøhetta designed the Eggum Building in Lofoten, north of the Arctic Circle.


Photo courtesy Snøhetta

Since 2007 Norsk Form - Foundation for Design and Architecture in Norway and the Norwegian Public Roads Administration have collaborated in presenting the National Tourist Routes in Norway to an international audience through traveling exhibitions.

This exhibition is curated by Pia Bodahl and Ellen Margrethe Skilnand from Norsk Form in collaboration with Jan Neste Design.