Between tradition and contemporaneity, The Fennoscandinavians countries

Nolwenn JOBARD-HOUDUSSE

NTNU - AUTOMN SEMESTER 2022

Eivind Kasa - Experimental practices B

a. The culture of a hostile but sacred territory

b. The culture of local know-how: wood

a. Continuity or pastiche architecture

b. Sverre Fehn, a contemporary architect trying to reconnect with tradition

It is quite common to hear people talking about something "typical". When you talk about a "typical Scandinavian" village, for example, it is quite easy to imagine a setting, at least for the French. Small houses by the water, with wooden facades painted in different colors. The snow falling and clinging to the sloping roofs, sometimes covered with greenery But it is true that we don't really ask ourselves what the word "typical" means. It is commonly used in our language, because it is an effective word I would say It allows us to generalize, without having to go into detail. It allows us to immediately conjure up images in people's heads. In a fraction of a second, it creates a connection between several people who are discussing: from the typical word comes a common imagination/language.

The word typical comes from the Latin ecclesistic typicus meaning "symbolic, allegorical"1 . In this case, as I pointed out earlier, it evoked an idea, an image that one can form in one's head of something or someone. Its definition in the Larousse dictionary qualifies it a little more. Typical is that which "constitutes a characteristic example"2 or "Said of a character peculiar to a single animal or plant group and of an individual or group which clearly displays this character”3 In other words, typical would mean which is common, that which recurs regularly in a group or which is characteristic and which allows one to stigmatize something or someone.

The word "typical" has intrigued me since I first arrived in Norway. When I arrived in the city of Trondheim, the "postcard" picture I had in my head turned out to be totally accurate. Near the central station and in the Bakklandet district, the colorful houses/shacks, one stuck to the other, are quite present: they border the Nidelva river channel. They are raised from the ground by rough wooden stilts, worn down by the humidity of the water. I could also talk about the Norwegian landscape, with forests as far as the eye can see, fjords with their calm water separating two mountains. Breathtaking landscapes, where nature is more important than human life. Sometimes you can find on the edge of the fjord one or two small huts painted in red with a boat attached to its pontoon to navigate on the water.

To sum up, the first thing that struck me when I arrived in Norway was the visual identity that cities like Trondheim and Norwegian landscapes convey And this is what I think allows us, when we use the expression "typically Scandinavian", to imagine the main characteristics of these landscapes in our heads. And if this is something particularly striking for me, it is that I find that this strength

of identity has disappeared in France over the last few decades.

With constant industrialisation after the war, architecture is formatted in a capitalist model: build faster, more efficiently and cheaper. There is even talk of a strictly functionalist architecture, allowing spaces to be organized4 Yes, the needs of the time have accelerated this capitalist process and this race against time. If

1 (Cajolet-Laganière, Masson, and Martel 2022)

1.1 Picture : Jobard-Houdusse Nolwenn, somewhere in Trondelag

modernism is also called "international style" in the 1930s by the young historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock and the architect Philip Johnson5, we begin to understand what role the development of this style may have played, in my opinion, in the disappearance of this local visual and cultural identity force in certain countries, regions, but mainly in Europe. How can we move from a localized modernist style to a style that goes beyond the borders of France and Europe? As Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson explain to us: "Style must overcome and replace styles"6, the modernists preferred to favor a visual unity that could be distinguished internationally, a unity of style, to the detriment of an architectural logic that until now has favored local traditions and resources. It is through these distinguishable visual codes, identical constructional processes, and an impoverishment of semantic7 codes that it seems quite understandable that a style with such an identity should go beyond the borders of Europe. It is by erasing all traces of the past, in order to recreate a new base, that we have started to lose some local traditions, a local identity.

Therefor, in a context where the specific characteristics of each culture are being smoothed out in favor of an "international culture" since the 1950s, it seems interesting to me to try to understand why certain countries, regions, such as Norway or Fennoscandia (Finland and Scandinavia) have such a strong cultural identity, such a strong local visual unity? And so, indirectly: how to integrate contemporary architecture into a built landscape, whose unity is as strong as in this region?

Firstly, we will try to analyze the context in which architecture has developed in the Fennoscandia countries, through their history Secondly, we will ask ourselves what remains of this built heritage, of this culture today And we will try to find answers by analyzing Sverre Fehn work.

5 (Hitchcock and Johnson 2001)

6 (Hitchcock and Johnson 2001, p.9)

7 (Delevoy, n d )

2.1 - Hans Gude, Adolph Tidemand, 1848

I. A SCANDINAVIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

Indeed to me, the built landscape of Fennoscandia still reflects in many places the heritage of a culture, of traditions well anchored in the customs. This built landscape is the reflection of an evolution and an adaptation capacity of a civilisation over the centuries. It highlights an understanding of the territory as a whole but also more locally. It relates to a knowledge of the climate and available resources. For example, the traditional architecture of Fennoscandia shows an ability to build in a hostile territory, to build shelters to live in harmony, and to weave links with its context. Due to the vastness and wildness of their nature, this region has an abundance of resources. For decades, many techniques to use these resources as efficiently as possible have been developed. From building techniques for the fastest and most powerful ships to go to war, in the Viking era. Or construction techniques to protect themselves from a hostile climate. Finally, all these needs to be satisfied have only stimulated experimentation with materials and resources over the centuries, giving way to traditional skills that are still perpetuated today So I think it is interesting to try to understand to what extent this cultural unity has developed over the centuries? Where did it come from?

a. The culture of a hostile but sacred territory

Unlike the countries further south in Europe, the Fennoscandian countries never really experienced the abundance of the Renaissance period (palaces, castles), nor even an "urban tradition" 8 as such until the 19th century Indeed, mainly composed of narrow valleys, encircled by fjords and mountains, they developed their rural society mainly around hunting and primitive agriculture. Because of their rurality and poverty, the local populations used mainly local resources for architecture and art, wood.9

Indeed, due to the hostile territory, traditional Fennoscandian architecture is mainly composed of farms in the valleys and churches near the fjords. Some authors, such as Norberg-Schulz and Bugge, describe the Norwegian landscape for example as a powerful landscape. Deep forests, impenetrable rocks and gushing waterfalls.10 According to both authors the Norwegian nature "is experienced as a world of "forces". 11 , and farms, the traditional churches tell, each in their own way, of the relationship, the link between people and their territory. The stave-churches have a vertical dimension, they reflect a link to the spiritual: a desire of the population to connect with the divine and the grandeur of this nature. The relationship between architecture and its place can thus be understood through the divine: “In its dark interior the «cosmic» quality of the winter sky is kept, expressing thus the magical nature of the Nordic world.”12 The architecture of the Stav-church through the stone vaults inside and the wood outside tried to imitate and enhance the dark and mysterious atmosphere of the Norwegian landscape.

There is a culture of sacredness and respect for nature in Fennoscandia. It is noticeable that architecture plays an important role in the enhancement of this landscape, through its physical and visual links with it. As Sverre Fehn explains in an interview, "The nature of Norway is a nature untamed by culture. Here in Norway, nature is the norm, whereas in many other places it is the cultivated land

8 (Norberg-Schulz and Bugge 1990, p 5)

9 (UKEssays 2018)

10 (Norberg-Schulz and Bugge 1990, p 7)

11 ibid

12 ibid

2.2 - Christian Ernst Bernhard Morgenstern, Haugfoss in Norway,1827

that people take for granted."13 The Fennoscandia’s population sought to tame their hostile environment, and learn to really live in the Heideggerian sense: "to find one's place in a singular place, an architecture that puts us in the presence of what is already there, by giving a perception enhanced by the choice of materials, attention to light, work on framing and perspectives, etc."14 So I would say that the local people have reinterpreted the atmospheres created by this wilderness in their homes, in their living spaces. But what makes this desire to connect with their environment even stronger is the use of local resources for building and living.

b. The culture of local know-how: wood

Around the 9th century, Viking ships already showed a great mastery of construction techniques in general. Whether it was the presence of stave-structures in ships, a mastery of wooden joints, or large houses (300 feet long) with rows of self-supporting posts inside carrying a wooden roof and surrounded by stone or clay walls15. Indeed, as mentioned earlier, the Fennoscandian countries are rich in natural resources, such as wood and stone. Traveling mainly south, the Vikings brought back many new building techniques from all over Europe. During these long journeys, these different building techniques complemented the skills already present in Norway For example, the stave-structure from the Viking ships was experimented with and combined with new techniques from France and England to the highest perfection to build the stave-church in the 12th century However, although on the European continent, stone soon became the main building material, wood remained the most common material used by the Norwegian population. 16 Before the 17th century, the countries of Fennoscandia had no real economy, which made it difficult to import new materials.17 These conditions have therefore led the local population to

13 (Fehn and Almaas 2010)

14 (Heidegger 1951)

15 (Norberg-Schulz and Bugge 1990, p 15)

16 ibid

17 (UKEssays 2018)

2.4 Sketches of early post-and-log constructionusing

2.3 Corner jointing in log construction, Finland

develop numerous skills to exploit local materials, mainly wood, and thus to develop a tradition through know-how. The use of wood is therefore the reference raw material for shelter. The Finnish architect Reima Pietila has stated that the vision of the Nordic man was a "wooden cave" 18 This wooden cave was necessary to protect man from the harsh climate. The wood provided thermal comfort during the long, cold winters.

Traditional Norwegian architecture is represented mainly by three types of buildings: stave-churches, farmhouses and cottages. The two main methods used by the craftsmen were log construction and stave construction. Each farmhouse was skilfully built, with different variations in different regions. But generally they had a shelter, a loft enclosed by massive horizontal logs. In the center of the shelter was the fire, where people could come to warm up and rest.19 The wood was regularly painted and carved with designs so that people would remember the color and shape of the flowers and trees even in winter.20 These log building techniques have continued to develop over the centuries, thanks to travel and centuries of transmission of know-how

The traditional wooden architecture of Fennoscandia reflects the climate and the local landscape. Through their built form, traditional architecture reflects a way of life, a culture of living in the narrow valleys. The unique material of wood has pushed craftsmen to develop their creativity and find new ways of using it, to push the limits in its use. This cultural wealth has become a tradition, taught over the centuries. As explained in the essay vernacular architecture in Norway, Norwegians have inherited an understanding of the proportions, forms and natural properties of wood through their history and practices.21 Its use was at first inevitable, an obligation to survive a hostile climate and one of the only resources available in abundance. Today, however, wood is still a tradition and continues to be very present in this region, in contemporary architecture. Can we still speak of tradition, or is it only a question of aesthetics and pastiche, in an attempt to preserve this visual unity and image of Scandinavian culture?

18 ibid

19 (UKEssays 2018)

20 ibid

21 (UKEssays 2018)

II. A CONNECTION TO TRADITIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE

Around the 19th century, the timber used to construct buildings such as stave-church or cottages and farms began to be industrialized. The log cottages gave way to buildings clad in wainscots, giving a very uniform profile to the streets.22 Architecture is no exception, it will follow the new lifestyles of society, and become more and more industrialized. With the emergence of Scandinavian classicism and functionalism in the 1920s, traditions gradually tended to disappear. What the architect Kirmo Mikkola says is that this style was definitely internationally oriented.23 Nordic classicism was a transition between national romanticism, which emphasized the value of skills and craftsmanship, and functionalism, which wished to erase all links with the past and free itself from the restrictions of tradition, of the classic.24 During this period, a lot of debates and polemics took place against bourgeois conventionalism and the formal aesthetics proposed by the functionalist movement. This allowed architecture to be placed back at the center of cultural debate and to highlight the link between culture, heritage and architecture, which had been erased by this modernist, functionalist architecture.25 At a time when our society is increasingly reduced to an architecture of facade, where aesthetics are favored, rather than an architecture of context, of cultural continuity, with a vernacular logic. What place can we give today, in architecture, to tradition, to a built heritage? In other words, what place can we give to ancestral know-how, to local materials, to the results of tradition, while responding to the challenges of our time?

22 (Hilling 2022, p 56)

23 (Ibid, p 44)

24 (ibid, p.76)

25 (ibid, p

a. Continuity or pastiche?

After many debates about the modernist movement, several Scandinavian architects have tried to re-discuss the place of architecture and its functions in our society. Although Scandinavian classicism tries to preserve certain traditions and skills, it remains a movement linked to modernism, with a strong international influence, which has caused the loss of many skills and part of a building culture, by taking the decision to erase all traces of the past. However, although this phenomenon is also spreading in the Nordic countries, there are still many buildings and districts with a strong visual identity in the Scandinavian countries. One example is the Norwegian village of Røros, which has preserved the traditional architecture of houses with coloured wooden facades dating from the 17th century This village is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which explains the desire of the inhabitants to preserve this heritage, this built landscape intact. Thus, when it comes to preserving traditional architecture, it is quite easy to continue to preserve "typical" landscapes. One example is the Norwegian "cabin" culture, which reveals a desire to perpetuate the tradition of a material and a way of life connected to nature, and to primitive needs. It is common for every family to have a cabin in the mountains, near a lake. Cabins are often rustic, inspired by primitive huts. They are usually made of wood, and have no water or electricity However, they have everything necessary for survival: a fire in the fireplace, and often a wooden sauna. If these two cases are about conserving and preserving a tradition, what about cities where there is a need to build housing and public buildings to meet current societal needs? In the city of Trondheim, the Bakklandet district is a good example: some of the wooden huts are from the past, they have been rebuilt many times after several fires, but have now been rehabilitated inside and house functions in line with our times (restaurants, shops). How can we build around this built heritage in the city? Should we continue with the tradition, at the risk, as is often the case, of making a pastiche of architecture, only of the façade? To create an aesthetic of continuity, which will please the inhabitants and tourists?

3.2 - NTNUI Cabin

3.1 - Røros

As Kenneth Frampton said in an interview: "Norway is a very rich country, but I think we have to discuss whether we are culturally assertive. The influence of Anglo-American culture is very evident throughout the last half of the 20th century The building industry is very standardized and dominated by internationally available products. And on the other hand, if you look at how Norway is marketed as a tourist product, it's clear that the public culture tends towards a very traditionalist/kitsch image, in your words." 26 . Yes, Scandinavian cities and landscapes still have this “typical style”, reflecting tradition, a built heritage. But I think that as Ingerid Helsing Almaas says: "Globalization affects the building industry, and it affects our architectural ideals. What sense does it make to talk about “Norwegian architecture”when you see all these lines of influence stretching across the globe?”27. Contemporary architecture regularly falls into pastiche, into façade architecture, and creates a nonsense to the continuity of these traditional architectures, since they are vernacular. Pastiche means to erase the vernacular logic of these traditional architectures, and to copy this appearance to offer a simple visual continuity This is the complete opposite of the vernacular logic.

b. Sverre Fehn, a contemporary architect trying to reconnect with tradition

“I have tried all my life to run away from the Nordic tradition. But I realize that it is difficult to run away from yourself.”28 These are the words of Sverre Fehn in an interview. In a globalized world where it is increasingly common to be familiar with several cultures, the Norwegian architect always returns to his source. Sverre Fehn is an architect who started practicing in the 1940s. Although at that time architecture was rather decontextualized, he was one of those who refused to cut himself off from tradition. When he was awarded the pritzker prize in 1962 for the Venice Biennale 29, he said : “the meaning of the project does not rely upon the reference to a classic French automobile or an

26 (Arkitektur N 2010)

27 (Helsing Almaas 2010)

28 (Fehn and Almaas 2010)

29 (Tandberg et al 2021)

3.3 - Bakklandet

3.4 - Scandic hotel, Bakklandet

iconic Venetian building, but rather in relation to the existing trees, the slope of the site, the pathways that existed before the pavilion, ways of making, and the very nature of the program of a pavilion.”30. Although he is a representative of the Scandinavian Fenno Peninsula, he explains his leitmotif in terms of architecture: the pavilion is not seen as an object in itself that represents, by copying, a nation, but must be inspired by its site, and deal with it. In 1967, Sverre Fehn was commissioned to propose a concept for the transformation of the ruins of an old manor house, on which a barn dating back to 1700 exists, into a historical museum. The architect's approach was to combine contemporary architecture with the preservation of bits of the site's tradition and history. He says: "Only by manifesting the present can you make the past speak" 31 Although he wanted to highlight the construction techniques of the ruins and the barn, he did not hesitate to use modern materials and construction techniques. He uses glued laminated timber, a new skill, to recreate the roof of the barn, inspired by the old farmhouses of the region. Concrete, glass and iron are also used and each material communicates with the ruins and the old building techniques of the barn.32

According to Ingerid Helsing Almaas: "With its stone walls built up and reconstructed over the centuries, the ancient ruins and the new elements introduced by Fehn, the site is more like a bricolage of elements where the layers of time and materials come alive. 33 What can be said is that in this work, the architect has tried to preserve the history of a place on the one hand, but also to highlight the built heritage of previous centuries, without copying traditional know-how, but as Christian Norberg-Schulz would say, he aims to "reinvent, without becoming a pastiche". 34 The museum is evocative of a past era, but also of a present, contemporary era.

As we have seen, there are several ways to answer the question What place can we give in architecture today to tradition, to a built heritage? Sverre Fehn gives us one: our built heritage is our basis of inspiration, it connects us with our past, and contemporary architecture must enhance this heritage, without

3.5 - Picture : Héléne Binet

3.6 - Picture : Hazwan Ariff Hakimi

copying it identically: we must reinterpret it. But one can always question this vision of architecture. Some modernists have chosen to wipe out the past, and to consider that the culture of one country no longer has any value, that of the world scale prevails, by imposing an international style.

So how can contemporary architecture be integrated into a built landscape, whose unity is as strong as in this region? This is the question we are asking ourselves. In my opinion, certainly not by leaving traditions or rich building cultures away But certainly by taking an interest in vernacular, traditional architecture and how to reinterpret it without copying it identically, like some pastiche architecture, which tries to create a continuity only of facade, visual. One solution would perhaps be to conserve and rehabilitate rather than wipe out the past, like Sverre Fehn and his Hedmark Museum. Or to use this culture rather through an approach that cultivates this respect for the immensity of nature, rather than a pale copy of the visual interpretation of a culture?

But is there any real sense in preserving the traditions of vernacular architecture? Does it still make sense to paint wood-clad buildings red, as in the days when red paint was the cheapest on the market and/or saved money because it was also used to paint boats? In my opinion, no, if we consider vernacular architecture as only a primitive habitat, built according to a context, a place, a climate, resources. As the architect Sverre Fehn says: "All these farms and barns, they take up so much space, it's absurd to try to develop this trend further today."35. For today, these architectures are no longer suitable for the comfort standards of our society The living conditions they offer are of the primitive order, and belong to a bygone era. Even if they can also perhaps allow us to question our demands in terms of comfort, and our priorities in our capitalist and over-consumption society It also doesn't make sense to me if the logic is only to create a purely aesthetic continuity like some of the buildings in the Trondheim Bakklandet area for example.

But if you look at vernacular architecture through its logic rather than its existence/function as a building, you can find meaning. I believe that the cultural identity of a country is not only a matter of aesthetics, but also of a process, a constructive logic. Moreover, in view of environmental concerns, I believe that

35 (Fehn and Almaas 2010)

the vernacular logic is also a solution, an example to follow It is not enough to use innovative materials, or to construct zero-emission buildings, to be able to make an ecological architecture. In his book, the author Pierre Frey establishes a link between the heritage of vernacular architectural know-how and the wealth of current know-how. These are not two opposing entities, but two essential resources for reconnecting our world to policies that address environmental concerns.36

At the crossroads of the vernacular heritage, know-how and 21st century innovation, the so-called "new vernacular" architecture revives a vernacular logic. It uses materials available in abundance on its site, in its environment, at low cost. It reuses and recycles. This is done with the aim of reviving ancestral know-how, and a tradition born of daily experience, and a response to precise needs at a given moment. All this while anchoring the built environment at the core of our times, at the core of our contemporary needs thanks to innovation. So yes, the built landscape of Scandinavia and its unity is significant, and it contributes to the beauty of this landscape, but do we not lose the essence of this culture when it is only preserved through façade architecture? Does it still make sense to continue painting in red and cladding the facades in wood?

Arkitektur N. 2010. “Cultural Sustainability.” Arkitektur N, mai 10, 2010.

https://www.architecturenorway.no//stories/people-stories/frampton-06/.

Cajolet-Laganière, Hélène, Chantal Édith Masson, and Pierre Martel. 2022. “typique | Usito.” Usito.

https://usito.usherbrooke.ca/d%C3%A9finitions/typique.

Delevoy, Robert. n.d. “STYLE INTERNATIONAL, architecture - Encyclopædia Universalis.” Encyclopédie Universalis. Accessed November 12, 2022.

https://www.universalis.fr/encyclopedie/style-international-architecture/.

Fehn, Sverre, and Ingerid H. Almaas. 2010. “An interview with Sverre Fehn.”

Architecture norway, May 10, 2010.

https://www.architecturenorway.no/stories/people-stories/fehn-97/.

Finnish organisation of Architects. 1985. Classical Tradition and the modern movment. Helsinki, Finlande: Julkaisijat.

Frey, Pierre. 2010. Vernacular architecture, pour une nouvelle architecture

vernaculaire Arles, France: Actes Sud.

Hartmut, Rosa. Mai 2010. Accéleration, une critique sociale du temps. N.p.: La découverte.

Heidegger, Martin. 1951. Bâtir, Habiter, Penser.

Helsing Almaas, Ingerid. 2010. “Norwegian architecture.” Arkitektur N, Mai 10, 2010.

https://www.architecturenorway.no//questions/identity/almaas-norwegianarch/.

Hilling, John B. 2022. The wooden architecture of northern europe. London, UK: Lund Humphries.

Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, and Philip Johnson. 2001. Le style international collection eupalinos ed. N.p.: parenthèse.

Larousse.fr. n.d. “Définitions : typique - Dictionnaire de français Larousse.”

Larousse. Accessed November 3, 2022.

https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/typique/80380.

Meyer, Hannes. 1928. Building

Neveu, Marc J. 2008. “"Architecture and Identity" – on Sverre Fehn's pavilion in Venice.” architecture norway, March 5, 2008.

https://www.architecturenorway.no/questions/identity/neveu-on-fehn/.

Norberg-Schulz, Christian, and Gunnar Bugge. 1990. Stav og laft, early wooden architecture in Norway. Oslo, Norway: Norsk arkitekturforlag.

PIB Paris. 2021. “Le Style International - le mouvement architectural majeur.”

PIB. https://www.produitinterieurbrut.com/stylisme/style-international.

Tandberg, Jørgen, Ellen Peirson, Meriem Chabani, John Edom, Manon Mollard, Felipe Walter, Sandra Carrasco, David O'Brien, and Nina Bassoli. 2021.

“Revisit: Hedmark Museum in Hamar, Norway by Sverre Fehn.” The Architectural Review.

https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/revisit/revisit-hedmark-muse um-in-hamar-norway-by-sverre-fehn.

UKEssays. 2018. “Vernacular Architecture In Norway.”

https://www.ukessays.com/essays/cultural-studies/learn-from-vernacular-a rchitecture-in-norway-cultural-studies-essay.php?vref=1.

Vitruvius. 1960. Ten books of architecture. Vol. 2. 10 vols. New-York, USA:

Dover Publications INC.

First page :

https://www.subtilitas.site/post/2643129575/sverre-fehn-hedmark-county-museum -renovation-of

1.1 - Jobard-Houdusse Nolwenn photography, 2022

2.1 - Hans Gude (1848). Brudeferd i Hardanger [oil painting]. National gallery, Oslo, Norway

2.2 - Christian Ernst Bernhard Morgenstern (1827). Haugfoss in Norway [oil on paper on board]. Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany

2.3 and 2.4 - Drawings from Hilling, John B. 2022. The wooden architecture of northern europe. London, UK: Lund Humphries.

3.1 - https://en.trondelag.com/attractions/Roros-Church/1196523/

3.2 - NTNUi picture

3.3 - Bakklandet, anonymus photograph :

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g190499-d8537568-Reviews-Ba kklandet-Trondheim_Trondheim_Municipality_Trondelag_Central_Norway.html

3.4 - Scandic hotel picture :

https://visittrondheim.no/en/accommodation/hotels/scandic-bakklandet/

3.5 - Héléne Binet photography

https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/revisit/revisit-hedmark-museum-in-h amar-norway-by-sverre-fehn

3.6 - Hazwan Ariff Hakimi photography

https://shakespeareintitchfield.weebly.com/archbishopric-museum-of-hamar--sver re-fehn.html