Jan Olav Jensen; Børre Skodvin; Torunn Golberg; Torstein Koch
Jensen and Skodvin are, for us, an important presence in architecture since the 1990s because of their imaginative, unpredictable, and highly sensitive approach. Their Liasanden Stop Point, which formed part of the National Tourist Road Project in Sognefjell (Norway 1997), showed an original combination of landscape, architecture and engineering skills in one simple design solution. Their commitment to the humanistic, tectonic and ecological components in architecture, has made them important participants in FREESPACE.
The project presented in Venice, the Protective Roof over Moya Spring Water Source, Changbai, China, shows the resolution of the considerable practical challenge of building in a forest reserve, part of a conservation area where no machinery is allowed.
The shape of the roof, the structure and the path are determined by precise mapping of the site; by the mapping of the tree positions and the preservation of these trees; by the shape of the water source; and by finding a way of mediating between these complex geometries.
The resultant sophistication and beauty of the forms reflects a deep respect for this environment and of course the very basis of the whole endeavour is to protect a drinking water source, one of the key challenges for architects globally both now and in the future.
YF+SMcN