NORWEGIAN GLACIER MUSEUM: Precedent Study

Sverre Fehn, 1991

Fjaerland, Norway

February, 2013

Sverre Fehn’s Glacier Museum in Fjaerland, Norway was designed to challenge the landscape. Taking inspiration from a stone rolling down the mountains and settling in the valley, Fehn created a modest yet distinct museum by considering its context. After studying the entire valley, he created three axes that align with the peaks of nearby mountains. At the intersection of these axes lies the museum. A long skylight carves out the center of the museum, letting in the soft Nordic light and giving the feel that one is under the ice. As the skylight travels deeper into the museum, it becomes smaller, letting less light into the back of the long hall. Keeping form and context at the forefront of his design, Fehn creates an experience in which he claims “visitors become the focal point in the total panorama.”