House of the North
The House of the North ( Faroese Norðurlandahúsið ) is the most important cultural and congress center in the Faroe Islands . It was inaugurated in 1983 in the capital Tórshavn and serves to promote Scandinavian and Faroese culture. But artists from all over the world also perform or exhibit here.
The House of the North is known for its unique architecture with the typical grass roof . Not least because of this impulse, the traditional grass roof has experienced a renaissance in contemporary architecture in the North Atlantic archipelago since the 1980s.
Patronage of the Nordic Council
The former Faroese representative in the Nordic Council , Erlendur Patursson (1913–1986), is considered to be the originator of the idea for the House of the North . In 1977 a Scandinavian architecture competition was announced, in which 158 architects took part. The contract were Ola Steen from Norway and Kollbrún Ragnarsdóttir from Iceland . The Nordic Council endorsed and supported the project with a grant of 2/3 of the construction costs (a total of 70 million Faroese crowns ), as it is a kind of "message" from this Scandinavian organization.
The sensational building opened on May 8, 1983. 92% of the operating costs are borne by the Nordic Council, the rest is paid by the Faroese government. It is headed by an inter-Scandinavian committee.
architecture
The two-story House of the North is a construction made of large glass surfaces and steel beams from Denmark. It has a grass roof pulled down from Iceland and fits in harmoniously with the green island world. The actual grass comes from the Faroe Islands.
Inside it surprises with a floor made from Norwegian granite . Otherwise only basalt is a native material in the Faroe Islands . Visitors sit on Finnish chairs and the interior walls are paneled with Swedish wood. Due to the continuous glass front and the higher location you have a beautiful overview of Tórshavn, the sea and the offshore island of Nólsoy .
It has a spacious lobby, a cafeteria, a special dance hall with parquet flooring for the traditional Faroese chain dance (and exhibitions, see photo) and a large hall that seats over 400 people. There is also another light-flooded, amphitheater-like room that can be connected to the main hall.
See also: Faroese art
One of the "Seven Faroese Wonders"
For Ólavsøka 2007, Faroese television Sjónvarp Føroya organized a nationwide competition on the “Seven Faroese Wonders”, in which viewers could make any suggestions about special buildings and other objects. A ranking of the eight winners (due to a tie in one case) has not been announced, but the House of the North is one of them. The others are the church stalls of Kirkjubøur , the Magnus Cathedral , the Christianskirkjan in Klaksvík, Tinganes , the Norðoyatunnilin , the first flag of the Faroe Islands in the church of Fámjin and the seat of the Imperial Ombudsman in the Faroe Islands (the last two with a tie).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ portal.fo : Føroyingar hava valt síni undurverk ( Memento of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (“The Faroese have chosen their marvels”), July 28, 2007
Coordinates: 62 ° 1 ′ 19.6 ″ N , 6 ° 47 ′ 4.6 ″ W.