Snefjord Road stop / Pushak
Architects: Pushak
Location: Snefjord, the road to Havøysund, Finnmark, Norway
Project Year: 2005
Client: Norwegian Road Administration, The National Tourist Road Project
Photographs: Pushak
The site of the road stop is a paradox. Oftentimes, the hardest winds blow off the sea, and yet the most attractive view is toward the fjord. The obvious response in order to shield tourists from the wind would be to construct a view-blocking wall. Instead three “bench-boxes” prefabricated at a local wharf dot the area, and their differing orientations allow visitors to choose where to sit according to wind and sun conditions.
Two persons or groups can use each box at once while they retain some privacy. The structure is built with steel bars with cantilevered benches and roofs. The interiors are covered with oak. The exteriors are coverd with copper sheets.
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Those are really cool, both functionally and aesthetically.
I think it could be transformable to a capsule for extream situations as an extra functionality. The form itself mention to that idea.
Oh, I would like so much to live and work in a country wich has enough sense and sensibility to finance such architectural pearls…
for me it much more interesting like social object than architectural. It’s great that community pay attention to such things. Architecture – yes it’s modern, but the form is too much contrasting to landscape and I do not see the reason why to do that. They serve to observe the nature, but not them:) The colouring is good. Function – I don’t thing that it’s nice to sit there then it rains
I live in snefjord, and I have to say that the boxes themselves look allright, but the placement and functionality is horrible. only one of the 6 sitting spots are useful (towards the river, watching the flyfishers), and I have never seen anyone use the other ones. in dusk rain theyre useless, and if your party is larger than 2-3 ppl, then you cant talk to the others unless the rest are standing in front of a booth.
good looks? sure, but does not go well with the surrounding area. functionality? not one bit. The money spent to put these up would go a long way making something more practical AND good looking!
3:14 PM Mar 27th
You gotta love Norwegian design. Check out this road side stop in Norway designed by Pushak Architects – http://tinyurl.com/d8txgc
3:21 PM Mar 30th
@awessendorf that OfficePod is a slick design and if you add one of these to the mix you’ve got a waiting area too – http://bit.ly/NCuzN