Day 4: Norway Study Trip
Stop 1: Seljord Watchtower, Rintala Eggertsson. 2011.
A timber watchtower built with students on the shores of Seljord lake, where a mythical sea serpent resides. The project straddles two pine trees, utilising a natural marker in the landscape to locate a watchtower that looks out over the lake and into the branches of the trees where birds occasionally nest. The timber walls appear as solid from afar, but up close the angled timber slats reveal rhythmic gaps and dappled light. Read more about that here.
Stop 2: Mortensrud kirke. Oslo, Norway. Jensen & Skodvin, 2003.
Built using the same budget as social housing in Oslo, this church repurposes what would have been discarded materials to form walls with poetic light qualities. The project comprises two buildings - the main church and a community space. In line with Jensen + Skodvin’s philosophy of respect for the site, this building incorporates elements of its surroundings into the design and realisation, reminding us that the site was there before us and will remain after we and the building is gone. More about the properties of the wall can be read here.