Norway and Germany Field Trip

Excerpt from Group Booklet:

 As part of our initial studies, we (David Holden & Niall Bird) elected to undertake a field trip to see several specific buildings which would inform our thesis studies. We are both of the opinion that to fully understand a building it must be experienced, particularly as we are both primarily concerned with the notion of physical addition through tectonics and materiality. 

OSLO

We left for Oslo from London Gatwick, passing over the 

Norwegian fjords. Autumn arrives earlier in Norway than the United Kingdom so upon arrival the leaves are yellow and the fjords are calm sitting beneath a crisp autumn chill. 

 The first building we visited was Hamar Museum. Designed by Sverre Fehn  between 1967 - 1979 it is located on a peninsula adjacent to the ruined Norman Hamar cathedral. Prior to being a museum the building was a barn which itself was built on top of a ruined Bishops Palace. 

The building experience was incredibly powerful and because we were alone it was possible to fully appreciate the spaces which enhanced our perception. The building itself incorporate imposed contemporary additions that sit onto  its historic building fabric, whilst other remains were protected below as artefacts. The other exhibitions were set into bespoke iron brackets along the concrete ramp that defined the route.

Heading south back to Oslo we visited the Oslo Opera Theatre designed by Snohetta Architecture. We paid 100 NOK to be seated to watch a modern ballet with four bizarre acts. Whilst the performance was decidedly alternative the opera house interior itself is a highly impressive structure.

COLOGNE

The following day we took a flight to Cologne via Berlin, approaching Cologne by train the Gothic cathedral is highly prominent amongst the low-rise surroundings. The cities build up is an eclectic mix of new and newer, having suffered heavily during WWII.

The Kolumba Museum was our focus building. Following the bombing raids in 1945 the Gothic church which had existed on the site lay in ruins and all that remained in situ was a statue of the Madonna. This was subsequently enclosed in a modernist octagonal chapel by Gottfried Böhm. 

Peter Zumthor’s interventions use a holistic approach which involves exposing and integrating the previous layers of history beneath the Gothic church as artefacts and inserting new contemporary additions over the remaining exterior walls of the Gothic church. These additions work with the existing Gothic church walls to enclose the earlier excavated ruins below. These are then viewed from a detached, polished timber walkway.  

This walkway is deliberately removed from its historical surroundings so to present a contrast so they cam be appreciated as layers of past history. This is in contrast to the remaining walls, which instead form an integral part of the new protective structure.