Archinect - News

Renderings are unveiled for what will become the world's northernmost contemporary art museum

2021-07-14T19:19:00-04:00

A former mall in central Russia is being converted into a museum as part of a larger $2 billion development project that will give the isolated Siberian city of Norilsk what could potentially be the northernmost contemporary arts facility in the world.

Images have been unveiled for the new Arctic Museum of Modern Art (AMMA), a new $40 million institution that will give new life to a defunct mall thanks to a city-wide cultural renewal initiative funded by a local nickel-producing magnate.

Russian architect Ilya Mukosey is behind the 8,500 square meter design meant as a new home for the collection of mostly regional art put together by Nornickel. The new museum will feature added exhibitions spaces, open storage, and a new above-ground entrance not common to the closed Arctic city. Mukosey is the creative director of a Russian-language online magazine Artplay Today and has his own practice founded in Moscow in 2019.

AMMA will be joined by another museum called MAMA as well as existi...

Studio Puisto's Arctic TreeHouse Hotel offers village style accommodation units

2020-01-28T15:09:00-05:00

Located in the Arctic Circle, Finland, the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel draws inspiration from the nearby SantaPark Arctic World, the local Nordic nature and culture. Studio Puisto chose to do away with the typical hotel building, and instead designed a village of 32 units.

Each structure contains two shingle covered units with northern facing walls of glass, offering panoramic views to the exterior. The lighting within the hotel was designed to minimize artificial light pollution, allowing undisturbed viewing of the Northern Lights.

As permafrost thaws, Nunavut's capital city is racing against time to save its sinking homes

2018-05-10T20:36:00-04:00

It’s difficult to build new houses on thawing permafrost, and many existing houses have huge cracks in the foundations. It is also extremely expensive to ship materials in the Arctic, so the houses that are repaired and built must be planned very carefully. [...] Permafrost thaw is not a new problem; urban planners, architects, and builders have taken its volatility into account for decades in the Arctic. But climate change exacerbates existing permafrost issues—and it does so rapidly.

In this piece by Melody Schreiber, the Nunavut capital of Iqaluit isn't only dealing with scarce housing and soaring prices, many of the town's homes are sinking — or are at high risk — as the permafrost beneath them rapidly melts.

As officials turn to new solutions like thermosyphons, with climate change transforming the entire Arctic landscape, they're also planning for a future to only build on bedrock.

Snøhetta unveils “Svart”, the Arctic Circle's first energy-positive hotel

2018-02-12T20:33:00-05:00

From an underwater restaurant to a black crystalline U.F.O to the AT&T Building update, Snøhetta is coming out with plenty of debatable designs as of late. Most recently, they revealed their concept for “Svart”, described as the Arctic Circle's first Powerhouse-standard, energy-positive hotel. Designed for the tourism company, the Arctic Adventure of Norway, the hotel's name refers to its proposed location at the foot of the Svartisen glacier in Meløy of northern Norway. Svart is also a tribute to the glacier's deep blue ice.

Located in the arctic environment where natural preservation is key, the circular hotel reduces its yearly energy consumption by approximately 85 percent and produces its own energy. Inspired by local vernacular architecture, Svart's design is based on the “fiskehjell” (an A-shaped wooden structure for drying fish) and the “rorbue” (a traditional seasonal house used by fisherman).

Rendering © Snøhetta/Plompmozes.

In reference to t...

Haunting beauty: Alexander Gronsky photographs Russia's polluted North

2015-02-10T20:12:00-05:00

Russia’s northern cities are a triumph of will; grand settlements in the middle of snow and darkness where people are dwarfed by the outsized factories they’ve built and helpless next to the industrial waste those factories create. Photographer Alexander Gronsky’s images of Norilsk seem both close to reality and something out of a dream. [...] But at the same time it is a place of heart-wrenching almost Arcadian beauty. A place of pale skies and metallic rivers.

Make sure to also check out the other tales in Calvert Journal's excellent mini-series, "Six stories from the Russian North."

SALT festival celebrates arctic architecture in Sandhornøy, Norway

2014-08-29T21:16:00-04:00

Taking place on the island of Sandhornøy in the Arctic Circle region of Norway, SALT will host its opening festivities this weekend, starting August 29 to September 1. Founded in 2010 by acclaimed curator Helga-Marie Nordby and cultural entrepreneur Erlend Mogård-Larsen, SALT celebrates the rarely traversed arctic landscape and promotes Norway's contributions to art and design history.

This weekend's events include traditionally inspired architecture designed by Rintala Eggertson Architects.

Find out more on Bustler.