Architecture: The Twist at Kistefos Museum
Written by Clara Pysh
At the Kistefos Museum in Jevnaker, Norway, The Twist will make your head spin. It is simultaneously a bridge, a sculpture, and a self contained art gallery. Kistefos is noted as a “must-see destination” by the New York Times and others, and The Twist is the museum’s newest addition. It is set in the center of the sculpture park, and is attracting art and architecture lovers from all over the world. It is not only a visual attraction, but also provides infrastructure as a pedestrian bridge that connects the two riverbanks, creating a continuous loop around the 15,000-square-foot Kistefos Museum grounds. The structure crosses the Randselva River, and has won numerous awards for its cutting-edge design, conceived by the Danish architects BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). It’s an optical wonder, appearing textured and sinuous from the outside; inside, it is just as dramatic.
What’s inside? The 1,000-square-meter Twist contains three showrooms: the Closed Gallery, the Twist Gallery and the Panorama Gallery. Visitors enter from the south end of the river through a dramatic, high ceilinged space, where it is possible to see straight through the entire building; through the Twist Gallery, and Panorama Gallery, which contains large windows that look out over the river and surrounding landscape, all the way to the opposite entrance. Going through the Twist Gallery, visitors experience the space like going through a camera shutter, as the walls and ceiling curve around in a spiral.
Even though The Twist appears to curve around fluidly, the construction only consists of straight lines. This optical illusion is possible because the aluminum and wooden panels from which the building is made are placed like a fanned out deck of cards, creating the curving effect. The bridge connects the two halves of the sculpture garden, which is split by the river, and The Twist itself enables the walkway to rest on the river banks of different heights, while connecting the park as a whole continuous loop.
Currently, work from artist Paulina Olowska is being displayed in The Twist. Kistefos has already put The Twist on the map: in the recent past The Twist was the venue for a concert by the artist Ruben, and hosted a show of “world renowned artists” for its inaugural, in collaboration with Nybruket Gallery. Kistefos is not shy to promote The Twist, which was named one of the Top 10 Architecture Projects of 2019, according to Domus architecture magazine, was number twenty-one in New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2020,” and has been nominated for several other architecture and culture shortlists.
The Kistefos Museum was built around the foundations of a historic pulp mill, and there is a wood pulp mill “Living Factory” on the grounds. Everything you need to know about enjoying Kistefos on your next trip to Norway can be found at Kistefos Museum, including a separate landing page dedicated to The Twist.
