Knut Hamsun

The Knut Hamsun Center is dedicated to Knut Hamsun and includes exhibition areas, a library and reading room, a café, and an auditorium. The building is conceived as an archetypal and intensified compression of spirit in space and light, concretizing a Hamsun character in architectonic terms. The building uses the vernacular style as inspiration for reinterpretation.

The stained black wood exterior skin is characteristic of the great wooden stave Norse churches. On the roof garden, bamboo refers to traditional Norwegian sod roofs in a modern way. The rough white-painted and the concrete interiors are characterized by diagonal rays of light calculated to ricochet through the section on certain days of the year.

Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Location: Hamarøy, Norway
Program: Historical museum for writer Knut Hamsun including exhibition areas, library, reading room, cafe and 230 seat auditorium
Client: Nordland Fylkeskommune (County)
Project Area: 2,271 sqm
Project year: 1994-2009