This ‘Norwegian Wood’ lantern was part of the program The Cultural Capital of Europe 2008, an international architecture competition. This scheme aimed at public regeneration of Norway’s second fastest developing city, Sandnes, which needed revitalisation and lacked a definable identity. The leading architect was AWP, an award winning practice based in Paris, combined with the efforts of Atelier Oslo. The intentions were as follows;
“In the lantern, we have interpreted husformen, which already exists in the old wooden house environment in Long Street.A transparent roof made of wood and glass being held up by 4 søyleknipper. To give the ceiling a light and abstract expression, all elements in the ceiling are exactly the same dimensions, so that they appear without the primary and secondary bearing.The columns branching out into the ceiling to distribute the load in the roof and down the ground for stabilizing forces.The columns are moved under construction, so that they are protected.This is also done to erase the distinction between covered and not covered outdoor space. We did not want the roof of the structure to define the space. The columns are positioned so that casual spaces occur, and facilitate informal ways to experience the project.”
