#studytrip

Allmannajuvet Zinc Mines Project. Sauda, Norway.

Peter Zumthor. 2016.

The Allmannajuvet zinc mines project by Peter Zumthor at Sauda is part of a larger state program of the national tourist route in Norway to create sites enhanced by art and architecture. The zinc mines project was to commemorate the lives of the miners who worked there from 1881-1899. There are three buildings - a toilet and services block, a cafe, and a gallery. The buildings appear as boxes held up or hanging from the rock in timber post and beam structures.. The boxes are black inside and out, and are made from plywood covered with jute and then coated with black PMMA. The boxes are dark inside with ceilings of differing heights to give the feeling of being underground in the mine. The texture of the black walls, rather than just being flat and painted black, creates an even ‘blacker’ experience as the undulations of the jute create small, rhythmic shadows that suck more of the light away, making the inside spaces even darker.

The most impressive thing to me was the way the displays in the gallery were lit. Rather than using artificial light - as I assumed on first glance - the items and books of the gallery are lit using small windows of just the right sized and angled to bring light exactly onto the displays. I was completely stunned by that.

Another observation I had when looking at the buildings and trying to decipher why the boxes were held up on timber legs like suspended caves is that for a mine the timber structure is a marker for the entry to the mineshaft. So in this project, the timber marks the entrance to the suspended caves. I only came to this thought as on the drive to the project we passed what must have been an entrance to a mine which had a small timber shelter protruding from the tunnel entrance. I feel that element shows how Zumthor must have reflected on all the elements that comprise the mine. The timber legs teetering on the rocks could also reflect the precarious and dangerous nature of mining. During the group discussion, others posited that the reason for lifting these boxes up and leaving considerable space underneath the boxes reflects the practice of excavating resources from a mountain, which can look solid from the outside yet is hollow underneath.

I was really astounded by the atmosphere created and the thought behind each part of this design. We were so lucky to have so much time to explore, sketch, and ruminate on every element of this project.