Knut Hamsun Center

Hamarøy, Norway.

Knut Hamsun, Norway’s most inventive twentieth-century writer and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, fabricated new forms of expression in his first novel Hunger. This center dedicated to Hamsun is located above the Arctic Circle by the village of Presteid of Hamarøy, near the farm where the writer grew up. The 27,000 square-feet center includes exhibition areas, a library and reading room, a café, and an auditorium for museum and community use.

Influenced by Hamsun’s explorations of the intricacies of the human mind, the building is conceived as an archetypal and intensified compression of spirit in space and light, and as a Hamsun character in architectonic terms. The concept for the museum, “Building as a Body: Battleground of Invisible Forces,” is realized from inside and out. The wood exterior is punctuated by hidden impulses piercing through the surface. The spine of the building body, constructed from perforated brass, is the central elevator providing handicapped and freight access to all parts of the building.

The board form concrete structure with stained white interiors is illuminated by diagonal rays of sunlight calculated to ricochet through the section on certain days of the year. The stained black wood exterior skin alludes to Norwegian Medieval wooden stave churches and on the roof garden, long chutes of bamboo give the appearance of grass akin to traditional Norwegian sod roofs. Strange, surprising and phenomenal experiences in space perspective and light will provide an inspiring frame for the exhibitions.

Client

Nordland Fylkeskommune (County)

Location

Hamarøy, Norway.

Years

1994–2009

Size

24,445 sq ft

Status

Complete

architect

Steven Holl Architects

Steven Holl (design architect)

Noah Yaffe (associate in charge - construction documents)

Francesco Bartolozzi, Ebbie Wisecarver (project team - construction documents)

Peter Englaender, Chris McVoy (project team)

Erik Fenstad Langdalen (project architect - design development)

Gabriela Barman-Kraemer, Yoh Hanaoka, Justin Korhammer, Anna Müller, Audra Tuskes (project team - design development)

associate architects (construction documents)

LY Arkitekter AS

structural engineer (design development)

Guy Nordenson and Associates

structural engineer (construction documents)

Rambøll Norge

mechanical engineer (design development)

Ove Arup

mechanical engineer (construction documents)

Rambøll Norge

electrical engineer (construction documents)

Rambøll Norge

lighting consultant (design development)

L'Observatoire International

lighting consultant (construction documents)

Vesa Honkonen Architects

Vesa Honkonen

landscape architect (construction documents)

Landskapsfabikken

Timeline

Hamsun Centre selected by The Guardian: “Top modern European Architecture”

May 19, 2022

Steven Holl Architects reports: Norwegian Council votes to build Knut Hamsun Center

March 1, 2007