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 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) 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)