Groundwork - Part 1

This week, in preparation for my trips out into the wilderness to various hytter, I met with four people who know a lot about Norwegian cabin culture: two architects, a museum curator / historian, and the head of communications at the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT). Below are some highlights from the first two meetings. I’ll talk about the other two meetings in a separate post!

André Severin Johansen, Partner at Hamran/Johansen Arkitekter

André and his business partner Lars Hamran are serving as mentors for my research here in Norway. They are a big reason that I have this opportunity, and they have been so amazingly helpful every step of the way! André was actually responsible for connecting me with the other three people I was able to meet with. So, before I get started, I would like to extend a big thank you to André and Lars for all their help!

André and Lars’ firm, Hamran/Johansen Arkitekter (HAJA for short!), has recently designed some contemporary Norwegian cabins that are getting a lot of attention for their innovative approaches to connecting with the landscape. You can check out their work at www.haja.no. For a quick example of one of their designs, here is an image from HAJA’s website of a competition rendering for a DNT cabin:

photo courtesy of haja.no

My conversation with André mostly dealt with the larger Norwegian context: how Norway is changing and how that affects views towards architecture and the wilderness. We talked at length about the differences between the more traditional trekker and the “new explorer”.  You are probably familiar with the “new explorer” – that person you see on the trail with all the latest equipment; he/she sports a $1000 neon gore-tex jacket and is in search of the perfect image for Instagram.* André explained how, in Norway, the most egregious of these types will rent tents and sleeping bags, use them for a night, and never pack them up / just leave them in the wilderness. Crazy right?!? To cater to these people, trails get paved, luxurious amenity-filled cabins are built, and “signs with poems from Henrik Ibsen” get staked in along every path. André expressed his concern with this, pointing out that the reason people come to Norway is to experience something “untouched and raw.” He also contrasted this new way of exploring with traditional Norwegian culture, where being in the wilderness is often about the longing for a simpler way of life.

*  I admittedly felt slightly guilty in this moment, as I know I happen to lie somewhere between those two types of people. I have pretty basic gear, but I definitely am always in search of great pictures to share…

We discussed the role of architects within this debate. Understanding that this new type of explorer is part of the reality of natural tourism today, how can architects keep both them and the environment safe? Is it about better messaging and getting more information out? What type of architecture makes sense in the wilderness? This is a big debate in Norway. Recently, a new wave of more contemporary cabins has been built that feature more expressive architecture, nontraditional geometries, and bigger windows that open up to panoramic vistas. Is this new architecture abandoning a long-held Norwegian tradition or simply adapting to the present? This conflict came up again and again in each of the meetings I had.

Some other interesting tid-bits:

• Hiking advice from André: “A pair of good shoes… that’s important.”
• At one point, in discussing the history of Oslo, André explained that Oslo was one of the first cities that had an orthogonal street grid. The gridded part of the city starts at the foot of the hill that the Akershus Castle sits on.
  The reason? so that the Norwegians could shoot cannon balls at attacking Swedes down straight streets without messing too much up :)

Mette Habberstad, Head of Communications at the Norwegian Trekking Association (DNT)

As head of communications for the DNT, Mette works to get the word out about Norway’s vast network of trekking cabins to the public. Among many other duties, she makes sure the cabins are properly documented – photos, videos, descriptions, etc. You can check out profiles for all the DNT’s cabins at https://ut.no/kart#5.35/62.367/8.917 (If you think I should visit a specific one, let me know in the comments!). 

As you can imagine, Mette had a lot of great recommendations for places I should visit. One of her recommendations was actually only a 45 minute walk from my Airbnb! This cabin, Fuglemyrhytta (designed by Snøhetta), is on the outskirts of Oslo and belongs to the “new age” of cabin architecture in Norway. I will definitely be staying at Fuglemyrhytta for a few nights sometime soon!

Fuglemyrhytta (photo courtesy of ut.no)

Mette also recommended hiking to cabins in a few regions I had not considered  - Romsdasfjella/Tafjordfjella and Vesteralen. These areas are less frequented than some of the more popular wilderness destinations, but also happen to have beautiful scenery (as does most of Norway I’m learning). Also, by virtue of being less visited, those areas have more of the types of cabins I am interested in: unserviced, remote cabins - the types of places that really have the potential to accumulate clues/stories/traces of human occupation and experience over time. Below are some of Mette’s other recommendations for hytter I should consider visiting:

Guvåghytta (photo courtesy of ut.no)

Maistua (photo courtesy of ut.no)

After talking with Mette, I am even more excited for my upcoming trips!

Stay tuned for notes on the other two meetings I had this week - with Trond Bjorli, curator at the Norske Folkemuseum, and Rikard Jaucis, architect at Snøhetta!

LEARN NORWEGIAN:
Jeg snocker litt norsk  = I speak a little Norwegian
(y-eye snocker leet norshk)
Jeg forstår ikke = I don’t understand
(y-eye forshtar eek-eh)