Petter Dass Museum

photo by Inge Ove Tysnes

Petter Dass is one of Norways most important and beloved National poets. He was also the Vicar at Alstahaug church from 1689 until his death in 1707. The strong historical importance of the surroundings made the task of location and designing a new building on the site sensitive and very challenging. Snohettas team decided to make a new site by making a cut in the landscape. This cut allows a freestanding building which in volume balances the mass removed. This bold solution creates a new but humble relationship to the historical sites, as well as allowing an expressive architecture. In this way the new museum contributes to visualise the historical span from the origin of the church to our time. The site is defined by two 70 meters long wire-cut rock walls 15,5 meters apart. Between these walls a new ground level is established. The museum itself is 11,5 meters wide creating a 2 meter clearance to the rock wall on either side. This open space reveals a new sightline and allows the visitor to circulate between the building and the rock walls. Snohettas overall intention has been to integrate the building with the landscape by letting the roof section relate to the section of the terrain. The transparent walls of the museums round floor emphasizes the relationship between the landscape and building. At both ends of the closet and “floating” volume there are large glass surfaces, offering views towards the church on one side and towards the sky on the other. Through this visual contact the building represents a relationship between the historical site representing the past, and the view towards the sky represents the future.