Poetic situationism in bright and airy spaces Norwegian architect Askill Voll focuses on poetic situationism through large light surfaces that open up rooms – not only to the immediate surrounding landscape, but to the ever-changing nature of the sky. By Line Elise Svanevik | Photos: Askill Voll
Inspired by the western Norwegian landscape, the Stavanger-based architecture firm led by Voll develops several types of buildings, including private homes, cabins, schools and commercial buildings. The home (displayed on this page) – designed many years ago in the ‘90s in Sandnes, Rogaland – is a project he believes defines his work as an architect. 76 | Issue 105 | October 2017
“If you look at the façade and the outer form of this building, you see a reference to the western Norwegian landscape. You have the steep hills out towards the sea, with rocks and reefs, and then there are loose surfaces that go back in towards the countryside,” explains Voll. “That’s the inspiration for the shape of the house – there’s a steep rock facing out towards the sea, and then you’ve got
the natural materials with grass on the roof and the natural stone roof tiles on the front. What happens when you have a steep surface like this is that you get a lot of sky and light to fall into the room and past it – and this is central to all of my projects: to take in lots of light, which makes the rooms bright and airy, creating a contact with the sky.” Voll believes that the most animated part of the landscape is the constant changes in the sky, which is why he focuses on large light surfaces that do not simply take in the solid landscape but as much of the above as possible.