Steven Holl Architects | Knut Hamsun

in Architecture by editor — 7:09 am | April 8, 20120 comments

The Knut Hamsun Center is dedicated to Knut Hamsun and includes exhibition areas, a library and reading room, a café, and an auditorium. The building is conceived as an archetypal and intensified compression of spirit in space and light, concretizing a Hamsun character in architectonic terms. The building uses the vernacular style as inspiration for reinterpretation.

© Steven Holl Architects

© Steven Holl Architects

© Steven Holl Architects

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Iwan Baan

© Steven Holl Architects

© Steven Holl Architects

© Chris McVoy

© Chris McVoy

© Chris McVoy

The stained black wood exterior skin is characteristic of the great wooden stave Norse churches. On the roof garden, bamboo refers to traditional Norwegian sod roofs in a modern way. The rough white-painted and the concrete interiors are characterized by diagonal rays of light calculated to ricochet through the section on certain days of the year.

© Chris McVoy

© Steven Holl Architects

Tags: auditorium building cafe exhibition Exhibition space featured ftnews library Norway reading room Steven Holl Architects