Hasta La Ideas

Danish architecture firm BIG has scattered miscellaneous street furniture from 60 different nations across a brightly coloured carpet of grass and rubber at this park in Copenhagen (+ slideshow).

The architects worked alongside landscape architects Topotek1 and artists Superflex on the design of the Superkilen park, which stretches 750 metres through the Nørrebro neighbourhood in the north of the city.

Neon signs from Russia and Qatar, picnic benches from Armenia and ping-pong tables from Spain are just some of the different objects in the park, which are meant to represent the nationalities of every local resident.

“Rather than plastering the urban area with Danish designs we decided to gather the local intelligence and global experience to create a display of global urban best practice comprising the best that each of the 60 different cultures and countries have to offer when it comes to urban furniture,” said BIG project leader Nanna Gyldholm Møller.

The park is split into three colour-coded zones and different objects can be found in each one.

A patchwork of pink rubber blankets the ground and covers the sides of buildings in the first zone, and the designers have planted maple trees with matching red leaves.

The local market is held here, beside benches from Brazil, cast iron litter bins from the UK and a Thai boxing ring. There’s also a children’s playground, containing a slide from Chernobyl, a climbing frame from India and a set of swings from Iraq.

Above: photograph is by Torben Eskerod

The second zone is conceived as an “urban living room” where locals play board games beneath the shelter of Japanese cherry trees and Liberian cedar trees.

Painted white lines run north to south across the ground but curve around the outside of the street furniture, which includes Belgian benches, Brazilian bar chairs, a Norwegian bike rack and a Moroccan fountain.

Above: photograph is by Torben Eskerod

Grass plains and hills comprise the third zone, which contains areas for sports, sunbathing and picnics.

A Texan pavilion provides a venue for line-dancing, while a sports arena accommodates football and basketball.

“Rather than perpetuating a perception of Denmark as a mono-ethnic people, the park portrays a true sample of the cultural diversity of contemporary Copenhagen,” said Topotek1′s Martin-Rein Cano.

See the initial designs for Superkilen in our earlier story.

Other landscape architecture on Dezeen includes an undulating public square in Mexico and a plaza in Austria.

Photography is by Iwan Bann, apart from where otherwise stated.

Above: photograph is by Torben Eskerod

Here’s a detailed project description from BIG:

Superkilen Masterplan

Superkilen is a half a mile long urban space wedging through one of the most ethnically diverse and socially challenged neighborhoods in Denmark. It has one overarching idea that it is conceived as a giant exhibition of urban best practice – a sort of collection of global found objects that come from 60 different nationalities of the people inhabiting the area surrounding it. Ranging from exercise gear from muscle beach LA to sewage drains from Israel, palm trees from China and neon signs from Qatar and Russia. Each object is accompanied by a small stainless plate inlaid in the ground describing the object, what it is and where it is from – in Danish and in the language(s) of its origin. A sort of surrealist collection of global urban diversity that in fact reflects the true nature of the local neighborhood – rather than perpetuating a petrified image of homogenous Denmark.

Superkilen is the result of the creative collaboration between BIG, Topotek1 and SUPERFLEX, which constitutes a rare fusion of architecture, landscape architecture and art – from early concept to construction stage.

Above: photograph is by Torben Eskerod

A World Exhibition at Nørrebro

Superkilen is a park that supports diversity. It is a world exhibition of furniture and everyday objects from all over the world, including benches, lampposts, trash cans and plants – requisites that every contemporary park should include and that the future visitors of the park have helped to select. Superkilen reattributes motifs from garden history. In the garden, the translocation of an ideal, the reproduction of another place, such as a far off landscape, is a common theme through time. As the Chinese reference the mountain ranges with the miniature rocks, the Japanese the ocean with their rippled gravel, or how the Greek ruins are showcased as replicas in the English gardens. Superkilen is a contemporary, urban version of a universal garden.

Above: photograph is by Torben Eskerod

Three Zones, Three Colors – One Neighborhood

The conceptual starting point is a division of Superkilen into three zones and colors – green, black and red. The different surfaces and colors are integrated to form new, dynamic surroundings for the everyday objects.

The desire for more nature is met through a significant increase of vegetation and plants throughout the whole neighborhood arranged as small islands of diverse tree sorts, blossom periods, colors – and origin matching the one of surrounding everyday objects.

Traffic Connections

To create better and more transparent infrastructure throughout the neighborhood, the current bike paths will be reorganized, new connections linking to the surrounding neighborhoods are created, with emphasis on the connection to Mimersgade, where citizens have expressed desire for a bus passage. This transition concerns the whole traffic in the area at outer Norrebro and is a part of a greater infrastructure plan. Alternatives to the bus passage include signals, an extended middle lane or speed bumps.

Market/Culture/Sport – The Red Square

As an extension of the sports and cultural activities at the Norrebrohall, the Red Square is conceived as an urban extension of the internal life of the hall. A range of recreational offers and the large central square allows the local residents to meet each other through physical activity and games.

The colored surface is integrated both in terms of colors and material with the Nørrebrohall and its new main entrance, where the surface merges inside and outside in the new foyer.

Facades are incorporated visually in the project by following the color of the surface conceptually folding upwards and hereby creating a three-dimensional experience. By the large facade towards Norrebrogade is an elevated open space, which almost like a tribune enables the visitors to enjoy the afternoon sun with a view.

In addition to the cultural and sports facilities, the Red Square creates the setting for an urban marketplace which attracts visitors every weekend from Copenhagen and the suburbs.

Superkilen’s central marketplace is located in the area of the existing hockey field. A large area on the square is covered by a multifunctional rubber surface to enable ballgames, markets, parades, and skating rinks in winter etc. The mobile tribunes of Norrebrohallen can be moved there for open-air movie/sports presentations. The square towards East allows outdoor service from the café inside by the future main entrance. Towards North, the visitors will enjoy basketball courts, parking spaces and an outdoor fitness area.

» The red square is defined by a street in each end and building and fences along the sides. The edge is moving in and out – and we have tied the area together by connecting the surrounding given lines and edges in the big red pattern. A big red carped stretched out between all sides of the square.
» Fitness area, Thai boxing, playground (slide from Chernobyl, Iraqi swings, Indian climbing playground), Sound system from Jamaica, a stencil of Salvador Allende, plenty of benches (from Brazil, classic UK cast Iron litter bins, Iran and Switzerland), bike stands and a parking area.
» Only red trees except the existing ones.
» Basket ball next to parking.

Urban Living Room – The Black Square

Mimers Plads is the heart of the Superkilen Masterplan. This is where the locals meet around the Moroccan fountain, the Turkish bench, under the Japanese cherry-trees as the extension of the area’s patio. In weekdays, permanent tables, benches and grill facilities serve as an urban living room for backgammon, chess players etc.

The bike traffic is moved to the East side of the Square by partly solving the problem of height differences towards Midgaardsgade and enable a bike ramp between Hotherplads and the intersecting bike path connection. Towards North is a hill facing south with a view to the square and its activity.

» The square can be spotted by the big, dentist neon sign from Doha, Qatar.
» Brazilian bar chairs under the Chinese palm trees, Japanese octopus playground next to the long row of Bulgarian picnic tables and Argentinean BBQ’s, Belgian benches around the cherry trees, UV (black light) light highlighting all white from the American shower lamp, Norwegian bike rack with a bike pump, Liberian cedar trees.
» To protect from the street ending at the north east corner of the square and to meet the wishes from the neighbors, we have folded up a corner of the square creating a covered space.
» Unlike the pattern on the red square, the white lines on Mimers Plads are all moving in straight lines from north to south, curving around the different furniture to avoid touching it. Here the pattern is highlighting the furniture instead of just being a caped under it.

Sport/Play – The Green Park

Bauman once said that “sport is one of the few institutions in society, where people can still agree on the rules”. No matter where you’re from, what you believe in and which language you speak, you can always play football together. This is why a number of sports facilities are moved to the Green Park, including the existing hockey field with an integrated basketball court as it will create a natural gathering spot for local young people from Mjolnerpark and the adjacent school.

The activities of the Green Park with its soft hills and surfaces appeals to children, young people and families. A green landscape and a playground where families with children can meet for picnics, sunbathing and breaks in the grass, but also hockey tournaments, badminton games and workout between the hills.

» The neighbors asked for more green so we ended up making the green park completely green – not only keeping and exaggerating the curvy landscape, but also painting all bike- and pedestrian paths green.
» From Tagensvej at the very north, the park is welcoming with a big rotating neon sign from USA, a big Italian chandelier and a black Osborne Bull from Costa del Sol (a wish from a Danish couple living in the area!).
» Armenian picnic tables next to Mjølnerparken with South African BBQ’s, a volcano shapes sports arena for basket ball and football, a line dance pavilion from Texas, muscle beach from LA with a high swing from Kabul, Spanish ping pong tables and a pavilion for the kids to hang out in.

The green park is turning into Mimers Plads on the top of the hill to the south. From the top of the hill you can almost overlook the entire Superkilen.

Site plan – click above for larger image

Facts

Client: Copenhagen Municipality, Realdania
Location: Nørrebro, Copenhagen / from Norrebrogade to Tagensvej
Function: Public space
Site area: 30.000 m2 / 322917 sq.ft / 750 m long public space
Completion: Spring 2012
Authorship: BIG, Topotek1, Superflex
Collaboration: Lemming Eriksson, Help PR & Communication
Budget: Ca. 58,5 MIO DDK / 7.7 MIO EUR / 11 MIO USD

Project credits

ARCHITECTURE: BIG
Partner in Charge: Bjarke Ingels
Project Leader: Nanna Gyldholm Møller, Mikkel Marcker Stubgaard
Team: Ondrej Tichy, Jonas Lehmann, Rune Hansen, Jan Borgstrøm, Lacin Karaoz, Jonas Barre, Nicklas Antoni Rasch, Gabrielle Nadeau, Jennifer Dahm Petersen, Richard Howis, Fan Zhang, Andreas Castberg, Armen Menendian, Jens Majdal Kaarsholm, Jan Magasanik

LANDSCAPE: TOPOTEK1
Partners in charge: Martin Rein-Cano, Lorenz Dexler
Project Leader: Ole Hartmann + Anna Lundquist
Team: Toni Offenberger, Katia Steckemetz , Cristian Bohne, Karoline Liedtke

ART CONSULTANCY: SUPERFLEX
Partner-in-Charge: Superflex
Project Leader: Superflex
Team: Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen, Bjørnstjerne Christiansen

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and Superflex appeared first on Dezeen.

World Architecture Festival 2012: the Kallang River Bishan Park in Singapore by landscape designers Atelier Dreiseitl has been given the title Landscape of the Year at the World Architecture Festival (+ slideshow).

A river winds through the centre of the park, replacing a concrete-sided canal, and features bio-engineered edges created with a variety of different plants.

This river also forms a flood plan during heavy rain, helping water to drain away naturally and preventing the grassy areas from becoming waterlogged.

A new bridge connects the park with the residential area beyond.

We’ve also announced winners for World Building of the Year and Future Project of the Year, as well as all the category winners from day one and day two.

Dezeen is media partner for the World Architecture Festival, which is taking place at the Marina Bay Sands hotel and conference centre in Singapore. You can follow all our coverage of the event here, including a series of movies we filmed with programme director Paul Finch.

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at World Architecture Festival appeared first on Dezeen.

Budapest architects MARP have replaced the missing corner of a ruined Renaissance palace with a Corten steel lookout point.

The L-shaped structure is part of a renovation of the ancient site in the city of Pécs, Hungary, which was almost completely destroyed. The architects stabilised the site and added new elements, including the lookout point, a low-level stage for open-air theatre and Corten steel seating blocks.

“We chose Corten steel as the primary material of our intervention to make the new structures significantly distinguishable from the older parts,” architect Márton Dévényi told Dezeen. ”The old remaining structures had been so incomplete for centuries that we did not want to rebuild them, we preferred to show their absence.”

The lookout point offers vistas over the Tettye valley, similar to those that the original two-storey palace would have enjoyed, while an aperture in the steel wall frames views of the internal courtyard.

Visitors ascend a staircase hidden within one wall and emerge on a walkway that runs along the length of the adjoining wall. A perforated pattern allows light to permeate the structure and filter into the staircase.

Photography is by Tamás Török.

Check out our Pinterest board for plenty more projects made from Corten steel.

Here’s some more information from the architects:

The reconstruction of the Szatmáry Palace

The existing ruins of the renaissance Szathmáry Palace is one of Hungary’s most valuable protected monuments. The palace is situated in the city of Pécs which is one of the oldest town of the southwestern region of Hungary with long historical background. The ruins are located in a park of Tettye Valley in the northeast part of the city, where the dense historical urban fabric meets nature. The valley rises almost from the heart of the city, offering a magnificent view of the city from the top. Bishop György Szathmáry (1457-1524) built his own Renaissance style summer residence here at the very beginning of the 16th century. The palace must have been a two-storey building with inner patio, made of local stone. It was said to have been a U-shaped building arranged around a courtyard open towards the South, that is to say, towards the city. A former archeological excavation confirmed that the Bishop of Pécs had a building with inner courtyard built that was rebuilt a number of times later. During the long occupation of Hungary by the Ottoman Empire from the mid-16th century, the palace housed probably a Turkish dervish cloister. This is when the south-east tower must have been built that is still untouched. After the Ottomans had been driven away, the building was left empty and its condition became worse and worse. At the beginning of the 20th century, one part of the building was demolished, and certain openings were strengthened with arches, thus providing a sense of romantic ruin aesthetics. Until recently the ruin was used as a background scene for a summer theatre. Despite the long history and its superb location, the palace in its bad condition was not able to fulfil the proper role following from its historical and architectural importance.

In 2010, it was Pécs, Essen and Istanbul that were awarded the title of European Capital of Culture. As part of this, a priority project focussed on the renewal of public areas including Tettye Park. This project provided an opportunity to put the ruin in a new context and the park could be present in its redefined way as a whole. The ruin in its dense complexity carries a number of qualities, therefore the designers of the intervention studied the current context and condition of the ruin as a starting point.

The Szathmáry Palace are, mostly, ruins of a building, but today this quality does not say too much in itself. It does not particularly reflect a significant renassaince feature. Obviously it lacks the architectural details we know very little about (few of the renaissance stone fragments kept in Pécs can be attributed to the building in Tettye). So it can be said that the architectural reality of the ruins continue to exist through the spatial relations generated by the remains of the wall. However, this shows a very mixed picture caused by natural and human erosion. The volume of damage at the southeast corner is so big that one can hardly picture the supplement of the ruins.

At the same time, the badly damaged ruin, particularly due to the neglected state of the park, appeared as a picturesque landscape element in the valley of Tettye. Pre-war postcards represent the atmosphere of a nice, picturesque tourist destination which undeniably rule the whole landscape. However, the abandoned park began to re-conquer the ruin so much that during high season, the character of the ruin can hardly be made out. From certain angles, it looked like a geological creature. This feeling has still remained if one looks at the ruin closely due to the intense erosion of the former southern side of the building. The image of the picturesque ruin is emphasised by the strengthening arches made through the early 20th century.

The third important peculiarity about the building is that the originally closed inner space of the palace has continued to be part of the park’s public areas today, dissolving the former differentiation between the landscape and the building. Thus the ruin has gained a public space quality in the meantime. Interestingly enough, the open-air performances of the summer theatre set in the ruins emphasised this feature even more.

The reconstruction programme of the Tettye Park basically made it unavoidable to re-define the role of the palace ruin as an emphatic landscape element and architectural monument. When defining the interventions, our main aim was to avoid overwriting the intellectual layers as well as the quality resulting from the ruin’s complexity. The starting point was to accept the existence of these even if the layers were developed either through centuries or just a few decades. At the same time, it was unavoidable to revise and ’retune’ the quality and the meanings carried by the ruin.

During the course of the architectural interventions, together with the monument protection authority, the ruin’s wholescale floorplan and its partial spatial reconstruction was carried out based on the scientific results of the archaeological excavations that preceded the design phase. During the excavation, the base walls of the southern wing believed to have been missing for a long time were discovered, which seemed to support the hypothesis that the building did not have a U-shape. As a result of the excavations, we were now able to draw the ascending wall parts and construct the original floorplan. What we basically did during the reconstruction of the floorplan was to repair the floor level inside the external outline of the whole of the original ruins, and we also attached retaining walls along the eroded southern side and the south-eastern corner, behind which we filled up the eroded ground up to the floor level. This supporting wall has a stabilising role in stopping the erosion that resulted in the sliding. The original floorplan is marked by the walltrace.

During the local spatial reconstruction, we designed an L-shaped, steel structure building part that had been missing from the south-eastern side, which includes a look-out tower and stairs leading to it, as well as a technical facility required for theatre use. It is important to mention that the new construction did not mean to be a formal reconstruction (the latter one was not an aim in fact and the amount of data that was available was insufficient), therefore it does not repeat the original mass properly. What happened instead was that we wanted to create such a mass in the place of the former wall corner that strengthens the building character of the ruin as opposed to its ruin character, framing the city view along with the current corner resembling it to the act of viewing out of a building. On the territory of the ruin, no more reconstructions were done, that is to say, we did not mean to ’complete’ the ruin. Evidently, the look-out tower offers a fascinating view of the city, but at the same time there is a nice view too to the inner part of the ruin, making the floor plan reconstruction neat and revealing.

As a part of the floor plan reconstruction, we re-defined the ground surfaces inside the outer walls of Palace, referring the former usage of spaces: the inner patio became a green lawn zone, while the other older inner areas, where the inner rooms were, received a surface course of mineral rubble of local stone granulations. As part of the interpretation of the ruin’s space as a public space, we applied surfaces that refer to the current public space use rather than to the original floor carpet. In the former inner space of the ruin’s Western wing, a new carpet-like stage was completed for theatrical purposes, rising above the surface level very slightly. The new corner construction, the stage and the street furniture (sitting facilities) all received the same Corten steel carpet.

As part of the reconstruction of Tettye Park, both the ruin’s immediate and distant environment have been renewed. Having replanted the green area around the ruin, the formerly covered, fragmented building that could be characterised as a more unified, magnificent whole has managed to regain some of its original character. We also managed to restore both the physical and intellectual layers that contribute to the ruin’s complexity through applied interventions. It was also an aim to rather define new directions to its future destiny when we placed the parts endowed with the remaining meanings in a new context. Furthermore, the whole area could become a new, exciting part of the city context, in which the re-defined palace ruin plays an outstanding role. Through the re-arrangement of the green surroundings, which included the removal of the traffic located south of the ruin, we created a triple terrace system that defines the centre of the Tettye valley in this place again.

Architects: Marp, Budapest
Márton Dévényi, Pál Gyürki-Kiss
Assistants: Ádám Holicska, Dávid Loszmann

Landscape planning: S73, Budapest
Dr. Péter István Balogh, Sándor Mohácsi, János Hómann

Structural engineering: Marosterv, Pécs
József Maros, Gergely Maros

Steel construction planner: J.Reilly, Budapest
Zoltán V. Nagy, Péter Bokor

Electrical Planning: LM-Terv, Pécs
Gábor Lénárt

Mechanical services: Pécsi Mélyépítő Iroda, Pécs
Erzsébet Bruckner, Ferenc Müller

Competition phase: 2007
Design phase: 2008-2010
Construction: 2009-2011
Gross area: 1040 m2
Client: City of Pécs

Photos: Tamás Török

 Above: site plan

Above : section

Above: floor plan 

Above : elevations

 Above: details

Above : axonometry

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by MARP appeared first on Dezeen.

Walls of rough stone and concrete surround the staggered levels of this public square in Zaragoza by Spanish architects Héctor Fernández Elorza and Manuel Fernández Ramírez (+ slideshow).

Located between the city and a canal to the south, the Valdefierro Park occupies an eleven-hectare site that slopes down by over nine metres and was formally used as both a gravel pit and a landfill for construction waste.

Leftover gravel and rubble littered the site before construction, but was mixed with cement to create the rocky walls that line the edges of every terrace.

The concrete walls surround pathways and staircases between terraces, plus new trees have been planted on each level.

Openings in the stone walls provide ledges for seating.

See more stories about landscape architecture »

Photography is by Montse Zamorano.

Here’s a project description from the architects:

Valdefierro Park, Zaragoza

The major decisions concerning the Valdefierro Park Project in Zaragoza were determined by the opportunities afforded by the context of the site itself.

On the one hand, the soil where the park was to be situated was considerably degraded. An L-shaped strip of land covering 11 hectares, bordered to the north and west by the rear of the Valdefierro district and to the south by the Imperial Aragón Canal had been used for years as a gravel-pit and later as a land-fill site, mainly for waste from building works in the city. The clean-up, transfer and recycling of the existing debris in such a large area of the site would have required substantial investment, disproportionate to the volume and budget of the proposed work.

On the other hand, the topographical context is quite pronounced. Almost 9 metres of difference separated the height of the Imperial Aragón Canal from the level of the nearby buildings of the neighbourhood; a difference that caused the riverbed to appear more distant than it really is.

Such determining contextual factors: the gravel-bed debris (with those large gravel stones which at the time nobody wanted to use as gravel), the land-fill site (composed mainly from the rubble of former construction works in the city) and the pronounced topography of the site, led us to construct the project with the geometry of a system of walls.

The gravel and rubble were mixed with cement to construct very thick Cyclopean walls. These unreinforced walls, which on account of gravity vary in depth according to their height, distribute the layout of the site into terraces and determine the topography of the park. Thus the initial contextual problems are turned around to favour the design itself.

Click above for larger image

The remaining layout is resolved geometrically. The proximity of the Imperial Canal and its link-up with the southern end is built with just one drop in level: a Cyclopean wall 210 metres long, 1.80 metres thick and 9 metres tall resolves the connection between park and river. The neighbourhood thus benefits from a public space that is optimally placed and serves as a backdrop underlining the canal landscape, while at the same time the depth of the walls allows for the stairs, ramps and benches providing greater accessibility to the canal to be hidden within the construction. Conversely, the extent of space available on the eastern side of the site of the site allows for this area of the Park to be distributed into three terraced levels ; three terraces of variable geometry that adapt to the terrain by means of a double row of Cyclopean walls 1.25 metres in depth and 4 metres tall.

Click above for larger image

If the defining Cyclopean walls outlining the topography are constructed from the very stone and soil of the site, the transversal pedestrian connecting areas (ramps and stairways), from the Park to the neighbourhood, in continuity with the existing street network, is resolved by means of reinforced narrow concrete walls. Two different skins with a very different function. The slenderness of the reinforced concrete wall sections is both compensated by and in contrast with the chunky aspect of the Cyclopean masonry. The smooth, polished texture produced by the metallic casting of the moulded sections contrasts with the rough surface of the thick Cyclopean walls, whose internal texture has been revealed by the abrasive action of a rotary crown gear.

Click above for larger image

In short, the Park has been built in terraces, on which the recently planted trees will easily grow, protected from the harsh north wind. The horizontal terraces are designed so that local residents will adapt their activities and needs to the layout of the Park. These same residents will move about between the different levels using the stairways and ramps built between the reinforced concrete walls that continue on into the streets of their neighbourhood; they will sit on the benches carved into the Cyclopean masonry or they will make their way through the interior using the various stairwells and ramps.These earthen walls will provide protection from the wind and at the same time receive the welcome rays of winter sunshine; they will highlight the trees and surrounding nature, framing the landscape through their various openings; returning the ball to a child playing or providing shade to an elderly resident. Climbing plants will grow on its walls, insects and birds will make their nests here and graffiti will make its appearance. These infinite artisanal walls, like giant carpets, interweaving with the warp and weft of cement and stone, will serve as a backdrop for conversations, and discussions or as a secret hiding-place for first kisses.

Click above for larger image

Architects: Héctor Fernández Elorza and Manuel Fernández Ramírez
Collaborators: Félix Royo Millán, José Antonio Alonso García, Antonio Gros Bañeres, (Engineers)
Location: Sector F-57/8, Barrio de Valdefierro, Zaragoza
Project: 2006-2007
Construction: September de 2009 – December de 2010
Client: Sociedad Municipal ZARAGOZA VIVIENDA, SLU
Constructor: Construcciones MARIANO LÓPEZ NAVARRO, SAU
Surface Area: 11 Ha.
Budget: 5.010.000 euros

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and Manuel Fernández Ramírez appeared first on Dezeen.

Zig-zagging pathways lead to viewing platforms perched high in the Norwegian mountains in this visitor facility designed by Reiulf Ramstad Architects (+ slideshow).

An angled concrete block at the entrance to the site contains waterside restaurant and gallery, while Corten steel pavilions are set in the ground alongside.

From here a footpath crosses the mountain river and leads to the lookout points, which are made of concrete, steel and glass.

The facility, which opened last month, is one of five architectural projects along the Geiranger-Trollstigen tourist route, a 66-mile scenic road across the Trollstigen Mountain Plateau in western Norway.

Trollstigen – or “troll’s ladder” – is regarded as one of Norway’s most spectacularly beautiful areas and the tourist route across it is one of the country’s most popular attractions.

At the foot of the wall is a jagged glass restaurant, which Reiulf Ramstad Architects completed last summer.

See also our recent story about the architects’ beachside walkway on the Havøysund trail, which is another of the 18 national tourist routes in Norway.

Stops on some of the other tourist routes that we’ve written about include public toilets in a rusty steel cabin and a memorial commemorating suspected witches.

See all our stories about the Norwegian National Tourist Routes »

Photography is by the architects.

Here’s some text from Reiulf Ramstad Architects:

Trollstigen National Tourist Route Project

Located on Norway’s west coast, Trollstigen is perched within a dramatic pass between the deep fjords that characterize the region.

This panoramic site can only be visited and constructed in summer, due to severe winter weather.

Despite—or perhaps because of—the inaccessible nature of the site, the project entails designing an entire visitor environment ranging from a mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery to flood barriers, water cascades, bridges, and paths to outdoor furniture and pavilions and platforms meant for viewing the scenery.

All of these elements are molded into the landscape so that the visitor’s experience of place seems even more intimate.

The architectural intervention is respectfully delicate, and was conceived as a thin thread that guides visitors from one stunning overlook to another.

The RRA project will enhance the experience of the Trollstigen plateau’s location and nature.

Thoughtfulness regarding features and materials will underscore the site’s temper and character, and well-adapted, functional facilities will augment the visitor’s experience.

The architecture is to be characterised 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.

Location: Romsdalen – Geiranger Fjord, Norway
Program: National tourist routes project
Client: The Norwegian public roads administration
Commision type: Invited Competition 1st prize in cooperation with Multiconsult 13.3 landscaping (2004)

Architects: Reiulf Ramstad Architects, Oslo Norway (RRA)
Reiulf Ramstad, Christian Skram Fuglset, Espen Surnevik, Anja Strandskogen, Nok Nimakorn,
Atle Leira, (Christian Dahle, Lasse Halvorsen, Helge Lunder, Karen Selmer, Tia Ginard Adover)

Civil Engineer: Structural Engineer: Dr Techn. Kristoffer Apeland AS, Oslo Norway
Design year: 2004-2011
Construction year: 2005-2012/ Official Opening 2012

Building area: 800 m2 (Mountain Lodge with restaurant and gallery), 950 m2 (Flood Barrier House)
Site: Building Site 600,000 m2
Time to build: 6 years
Type of construction: Corten steel and poured-in-place concrete

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by Reiulf Ramstad Architects appeared first on Dezeen.