33land

Romsdalen - Geiranger fjord

diephotodesigner.de

in the winter) is handled by the choice of materials. Structures and details are designed to withstand extreme stress without compromising visual slenderness. Working with resistance felt natural; cast-in-place concrete and cor-ten steel are the main materials. The steel oxidises, developing its own patina over time; the concrete has received several different techniques: polished, steel-trowelled, flushed, broomed, spot-hammered and cast in different types of formwork. With the nuances each treatment gives the material, it is possible to address each micro-context in relation to use and placement. All the materials are carefully chosen to show a clear and precise transition between the architecture and the natural landscape. There are always some difficulties in the construction of an installation like this. Because of the extreme weather conditions and the difficulties of access for construction equipment, most of the material was transported by helicopter to the outlook plateau. However, for us as architects it was always the structural challenge to do a structure robust enough to look after the safety of the public, and at the same time appear simple and elegant.

L ocated on Norway’s west coast, the Trollstigen Visitor Centre is in a pass between two deep fjords. The site can only be visited in summer due to severe winter weather. Despite – or perhaps because of – the inaccessible nature of the site, the project became an entire visitor environment from a mountain lodge with restaurant and gallery to flood barriers, water cascades, bridges, paths to outdoor furniture, pavilions and viewing platforms. These elements are folded into the landscape so that the visitor’s experience of place is very intimate. The architectural intervention is respectfully delicate, conceived as a thin thread that guides visitors from one stunning overlook to another. The architecture is characterised by clear and precise transitions between planned zones and the natural landscape. Using water as a dynamic element – from snow, to running and then falling water with rock as a static element, the project creates a series of prepositional relations that describe and magnify the unique spatiality of the site. The Trollstigen plateau is a robust facility, dimensioned for durability with minimal maintenance and large static stresses. The contrast between the seasons (up to seven metres of snow

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