We all have our talents. One of mine is gaining access to architecturally significant sites that are currently closed to the public. It was this talent that had granted me an appointment to visit the zinc mine museum currently under construction in Sauda, Norway. Designed by Architect Peter Zumthor my heart was a flutter when it was secured that my visit would coincide with a construction site meeting. I was provided the list of attendees for the meeting and one name jumped to the foreground. Architect Maximillian Putzmann would be in attendance as a representative from the Swiss Architect's office.
I was about to have a close encounter of the Zumthor kind.
I set to the task of planning how I would travel from Oslo to Sauda; what legs to travel by bicycle and what legs to travel by train. As I made my way to the west coast the name nagged at the periphery of my mind.
Maximillian Putzmann, I could not imagine a more fictitious sounding name.
I googled it. Nothing.
What, you've never run a race Maximillian?
You've never left a review for the perfect pair of handmade Italian leather shoes?
It is a feat to have zero web presence and I entertained the prospect that the moniker could be a pseudonym for the Maestro himself. Surely they would not allow an unknown Seattle architecture student cyclist to attend a meeting with Peter Zumthor. Or would they?
bridge used by miners at the abandoned 19th century zinc mines at Allmannajuvet
The Allmannajuvet site is located along the National Tourist Route Ryfylke in southwest Norway. I arrived in Sauda a day prior to my scheduled meeting and performed a reconnaissance ride into the mountains for two reasons. Firstly, to scout out the site and get a sense for the relationship between the museum that serves as an access point to Norway’s industrial past and a current aluminum smelter that is actively manufacturing at the Sauda coast. Secondly, to experience what was described to me as ‘too mountainous to bicycle’ which was the climb from Sauda to Røldal. Cycle touring in Norway was an intimidating prospect and I needed a bit of reassurance.
The climb was well worth it as it allowed me to view the site from the approach as well as along the return descent. Three structures in various phases of construction obscured by heavy scaffolding denoted the location of the former mine. I zipped through the active construction site to maintain my anonymity. It was apparent that I would be touring the bones of three buildings the following day.
looking east :: restrooms + storage in the foreground, café in the background, museum beyond
The next morning I met the project manager, Inge, at the offsite staging area at the base of the mountain where the building elements are prefabricated before being transported and installed. Floors and roof elements awaiting the journey sat in the company of templates for future elements.
We proceeded up the mountain to the meeting and I scanned the conversation for clues to the architect’s true identity. In the absence of clues was a warm, friendly conversation where Inge had brought me a tourist guide to the area that would prove invaluable over the following days.
We parked and I realized I was holding my breath as we entered the construction trailer. It was the moment of truth. I rounded the corner and as I viewed the inscription of the underside of the proverbial coffee cup I realized:
Maximillian Putzmann is not Peter Zumthor.
No, he is Max Putzmann: a young, competent architect acting as project manager for the Allmannajuvet project.
Drats. Reality-1, Imagination-0.
I settled into my role as the anomalous novelty attending the site meeting and listened intently as plumbing fixtures were selected and details for shrouding mechanical ducts were strategized, debated and developed.
Construction administration for me is always an exciting phase of a project. The decisions are final and when unexpected opportunities arise they require nimble problem solving skills. To successfully guide a project through construction requires true talent. Things work because you make them work, there is no talking your way out of inadequacy. I find the accountability thrilling.
pine structural Glulams at café
café structural frame :: floor and walls will be craned into place
mechanized pulley system to retract café roof during construction to allow building elements to be craned into place
The meeting continued and I was invited to walk the site and view each building with Arne Moen. The three buildings in order of most to least realized are: restrooms with storage, a café and a museum. The architectural language of each building is expressed wood structural frame (creosoted pine) with the occupiable space being a black box of ambiguous construction. Unbroken, textured exterior walls wrap seamlessly to the interior; the texture being created by several layers of jute.
The museum will be a powerful presence. New design drawings were casually presenting during the construction meeting that will showcase the artifacts and commissioned books with a reverence that the men who died working in the mines deserve. It was invaluable to glimpse a moment of the design process that the museum has undergone. It requires flexibility to depart from an initial idea and continue to push its development.
looking west :: scaffolding in foreground will be museum site, café in background, restrooms beyond
steel bearing plates for columns at museum :: the plates are secured to the rock with cast-in anchors arranged in a splayed pattern
jute evolution :: from roll to applied to completed wall finish
A Norwegian spring at Ryfylke can consist of nine freeze-thaw cycles. The rock walls that flank the paths are prone to cleaving and are difficult to secure.
I climbed on scaffolding, walked out on perilous ledges and ventured down a former mine path that is typically not tread upon. Without realizing it, walking the site with Arne would provide the fateful moment that I had hoped for.
I left Sauda with a second invitation.
I would meet Peter Zumthor.
And those two days would exceed what my overactive imagination could have conjured.