A Ski-Jump in Norway

By:  | August - 13 - 2012

Holmenkollen Ski-jump in Oslo, Norway is a speculative design project based on a collaboration between Argentine architects Estudio BaBo and Norwegian designers R21 Arkitekter. This project, submitted for consideration as part of an international competition, is programmatically rather simple. The structure includes an observation deck and skybox and finally, the ski ramp itself, surrounded by stadium seating for spectators. The project makes effective use of the mountainside location chosen for the site, utilizing the massive change in altitude to not only fulfill the physical and technical requirements of the ski jump, but to render these accommodations in a fluid and dynamic manner. The section of the project is curvaceous and energetic, swooping over the mountainside along the length of the course and digging into the ground at the finish line. The plan, however, is angular in nature, not quite orthogonal, but decidedly orchestrated to utilize linear geometries.

This project utilizes the dynamic and sinuous nature of its program to communicate an exciting and organic architecture that, though seemingly oscillating, is comprised, instead, of fragmented, angular geometries. The relationship between plan and section corresponds to this formal contradiction, showcasing an example of fluid section coupled with abrupt plan.

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