A modern museum in Norway designed by Bjarke Ingels Group opened its doors to the public on September 18th. The project is part of “Kistefos”, an industrial museum and sculpture park in Jevnaker. This belongs to a municipality that is located 80 kilometers north of Oslo. Fittingly, architect Bjarke Ingels and his team have designed a sculptural intervention that has an international program until November 17, 2019contemporary art exhibitionsentitled “Hodgkin and Creed – Inside Out”.
The concept for such a modern museum
Selected after an international competition and originally unveiled in 2015, the new building responds to the museum's natural surroundings. In addition to the sculpture park, the architect has developed a modern museum to enhance the overall experience of visitors to “Kistefos”. Described by Bjarke Ingels as a “livable bridge”, the 1000 square meter building rotates halfway. In this way it crosses the Randselva River to connect the north and south sides.
Access is from both ends of the river bridge. From the south, visitors enter an extraordinary double-height space. Above all, this has clear sight lines that run through the entire building to the north entrance. Conversely, guests arriving from the north enter a panoramic area overlooking the site's pulp mill and the surrounding countryside. With the inhabited bridge project, the architectural firm has come across its first experiment with social infrastructure. So it is a building that also serves as a bridge. For this reason, such a modern museum can also combine a cultural institution and a practical infrastructure in one.
Kistefos was founded in 1996 by Norwegian businessman and art collector Christen Sveaas at the former site of his family pulp company. He also aims to preserve the region's buildings and industrial heritage. At the same time, the project celebrates the best of Norwegian and international contemporary art. The sculpture park also already includes works by leading international artists such as Anish Kapoor and Marc Quinn. Yayoi Kusama's latest site-specific artwork, 'Shine of Life', was also unveiled in May 2019. Accordingly, it is inspired by nature, water and industry at Kistefos.
Impressive structure and shapes
So, The Twist was built around a historic pulp mill and is designed as a beam warped 90 degrees in the middle to create a sculptural form that spans the Randselva River. Visitors wandering through the park's site-specific works visit international artists such as Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson, Lynda Benglis Yayoi Kusama, Jeppe Hein and Fernando Botero, among others, to complete the art journey. As a second bridge and a natural extension of the park, a modern museum transforms the visitor experience and doubles Kistefos' exhibition space.
Such a simple change in building volume allows the bridge to be raised from the lower forested river bank in the south to the hillside in the north. As a continuous path in the landscape, both sides of the building serve as the main entrance. From the south entrance, visitors cross a 16m aluminum clad steel bridge to enter the double-height space with unobstructed views to the northern end, also connected to a 9m pedestrian bridge.
The museum's double-curved geometry consists of straight, 40 cm wide aluminum panels arranged like a stack of books, shifting slightly in a fanning motion. The architects also use the same principle inside the room. White-painted, 8cm wide wooden slats cover the floor, wall and ceiling as a unified backdrop for Kistefos' short-term Norwegian and international exhibitions from both directions.
Futuristic design for modern museum
At the northern end is a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with panoramic views of the pulp mill and river above. This also forms a 25 cm wide roof window strip. The curved shape of the glass windows creates three distinctive galleries from the diversity of daylight. The first is a wide, naturally lit gallery with panoramic views of the north side. The second is a high, dark gallery with artificial light on the south side, while in between is a sculptural space with a twisted piece of roof light.
For this reason, the ability to subdivide, divide or merge the gallery spaces also creates flexibility for Kistefo's artistic program. A glass staircase also leads to the lower level of the museum on the north bank, where the aluminum underside of the building becomes the ceiling of the basement and toilet area.
After many years of planning and development, Christen Sveaas is excited to open this beautiful new space. This has enabled the community to expand its work with leading contemporary artists. This allowed the hosts to welcome more visitors than ever before. So the aim is to make Kistefos an essential cultural destination with a world-class program of temporary exhibitions in the sculpture park. Above all, this will be able to complement the rich industrial heritage of the place.
