Stunning twisted art museum by BIG will span a river in Norway

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/bjarke-ingels-group" target="_blank">Bjarke Ingels Group</a> (BIG) has unveiled plans for a stunning new kind of <a href="http://inhabitat.com/tag/art-museum/" target="_blank">art museum</a> that’s so beautiful it looks right at home in a sculpture garden. The proposed hybrid volume mixes elements of architecture, infrastructure, and sculpture to create a twisted “art bridge” that serves as both art gallery and bridge connecting the banks of the Randselva River. The volume will be an extension of the <a href="http://www.kistefos.museum.no" target="_blank">Kistefos Museum</a> that comprises an industry museum, art gallery, and sculpture park in Jevnaker, Norway.

The museum overlooks stunning views of the landscape and sculpture garden.

Visitors enter the museum through a triple height space at the southern end of the building.

Founded in 1996 on a beautifully forested site, the Kistefos Museum was created on the grounds of a historic wood-pulp mill. The factory and surrounding site have been transformed into an art museum and sculpture garden that houses contemporary works by renowned international artists such as Anish Kapoor and Olafur Eliasson.

Although the museum building and sculpture garden are part of Kistefos, the Randselva River that bisects the site interrupts circulation between the areas. In order to solve the circulation issue, BIG proposed making the new building extension into a bridge to connect the site elements into a continuous loop.

BIG added a simple twist to the proposed bridge-like volume, turning it from a horizontal single story on the hillside in the north to a vertically oriented triple-height volume on the south side’s lower forested bank.

A glazed strip that runs the length of the interconnected building is also twisted, creating a variety of views and natural lighting conditions, from the southern vertical galleries lit from above to the horizontal open gallery at the north that overlooks views of the old pulp mill.

The museum’s southern end will include smaller galleries for media, paintings, and sculpture; an information center; museum shop; and other facilities.

The north side will house an open gallery, perfect for sculptures and large installations, as well as a cafe.

Kistefos Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group

Kistefos Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group

Kistefos Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group

Kistefos Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group

Kistefos Museum by Bjarke Ingels Group

The museum becomes part of the sculpture garden.

Twisted glazing disagram.

Twisted geometry diagram.

Circulation diagram.

Aerial view of the site.

Section view.