Metropolis + Norway | Design Driven

Norway is perhaps best known for two things: oil and fjords. The western Scandinavian country is the largest producer of oil and natural gas per capita outside of the Middle East, making it the second richest nation in the world. Recently, it launched a national program to leverage its other natural resource—its breathtaking landscape of mountains, waterfalls, and coastline—by constructing appealing tourist routes equipped with observation platforms, rest areas, and service facilities. The hope is that the investment in infrastructure, sponsored by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration, will boost tourism, encourage its urban-centric population to move to sparsely developed regions, and showcase Norway’s stellar architecture and design.

Work on the tourist routes began in 2005 and has resulted in an impressive series of stopping points, each incorporating distinctive sights and singular architectural structures. The roads are detours, not main arteries, and, according to Per Ritzler, the assistant project manager for the National Tourist Routes, were chosen for their natural beauty and the absence of industrial development, which can sully a lovely drive. “We can speak of feelings here,” Ritzler says. “I do sometimes even speak of the poetry of the road.” Only nine routes have been fully developed, but the administration expects all 18 of them to be finished by 2020, complete with some 280 architectural installations and a piece of art along every route. The price tag? About $618 million.

To date, more than 50 architects have been commissioned to build projects ranging from a visitors’ center that has hikers’ facilities to a bicyclists’ rest stop with a lookout point. All the architectural installations are unique while adhering to the Nordic design tradition of using natural materials and eschewing unnecessary adornment. And while the rest stops perform express functions, they go beyond the merely practical; in fact, many of them stand out as artistic interventions. Take, for example, the Aurland overlook (part of the Aurlandsfjellet route), by Todd Saunders, whose stunning form, which extends into the air like a crooked elbow, competes for attention with the fjords surrounding it. Visitors stroll down the cantilevered skywalk before beholding a dizzying view through a chest-high sheet of glass.

So far, the National Tourist Routes have yielded tangible results. Along the Geiranger-Trollstigen route, for instance, cafés and a “landscape hotel” (see sidebar below) have sprung up to take advantage of tourist traffic. And small businesses, feeling a sense of local pride and ownership, have banded together to promote one another and their area. Says Ritzler: “They realize the benefit of cooperation to strengthen the whole region.”

For more information about the National Tourist Routes and

the associated design projects, go to www.turistveg.no.

Juvet Hotel
Built along the National Tourist Route of Geiranger-Trollstigen, Juvet describes itself as “Europe’s first landscape hotel.” Indeed, nature gets top billing at this destination: seven modernist boxes, set on a charming 16th-century farm, each have a glass wall framing a view of picturesque terrain. Designed by the Oslo-based firm Jensen & Skodvin, the detached guestrooms are made from native pine and elevated on metal stilts, so that they can be removed with minimal impact on the surroundings. Inside, the cabins are sparsely decorated—the timber walls are left bare—and furnished in dark tones to highlight the main attraction: the scenery. And while Juvet offers a full roster of outdoor activities, from rafting
to mountain climbing, there’s no shame in opting to experience nature from the comfort of a hotel bed.

Geiranger-Trollstigen Route
(47) 95-03-20-10, www.juvet.com

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