Jensen & Skodvin Arkitektkontor

Gudbrandsjuvet

Gudbrandsjuvet is a five metre wide and 20‒25 metre long gorge, through which the Valldøla river runs.

The gorge is easily accessible near National Road 63 between Valldal and Trollstigen. Here, Jan Olav Jensen has designed a functional and safe viewing platform with ample space. A unique bridge has been built from the car park down to the viewing platform, leading visitors down to the gorge. The gradient of the bridge is designed for accessibility for wheelchair users. In cooperation with the architect, Civil Engineer Finn Erik Nilsen has challenged the laws of physics to create an 80 metre long hybrid of a suspension bridge and a rigid frame. The Gudbrandsjuvet Café is built of durable materials, such as glass and concrete. Within walking distance of the gorge you can find the Juvet Landscape Hotel, also designed by Jensen & Skodvin, which is well worth a visit.

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Havøysund Artwork

Untitled

Untitled (“I hated the mountains and the hills, the rivers and the rain. I hated the sunsets of whatever colour, I hated its beauty and its magic and the secret I would never know. I hated its indifference and the cruelty which was part of its loveliness.”)

American artist Roni Horn is based in New York and is one of the most sought-after artists of our time. Her work is exhibited in art galleries and museums around the world. The artist has created two large glass objects, each of 4.9 tonnes, with a height of 133 cm and a diameter of 142 cm. One has a cool bluish colour; the other is warm peach.

Their massiveness and volume are striking. The objects exude silence in a weather-beaten and beautiful corner of the world, where the variations of light - midnight sun, northern lights and winter darkness - are constantly creating new moods.

The idea of the Norwegian Scenic Routes to establish a work of art in Havøysund is linked to the fact that this is where the road ends. The road out here invites you to experience the magnificent landscape. To continue from here, you would have to go by boat. Roni Horn’s art invites visitors to continue their journey in their imagination.

(Quote in the title: from Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys, 1966).

Artist: Roni Horn
Completed 2013 - 2015

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Mefjellet

At the rest area at Mefjellet you can experience both the majestic view over the mountains and the art of Knut Wold.

The rest area was created in collaboration with the architect Jan Olav Jensen and was the first point to be developed on the Norwegian Scenic Routes.  The idea was to make the rest area into a large “nature gallery” to reinforce the panoramic view and the feeling of loftiness. The rest area at Mefjellet was designed as a terrace with natural stone walls. We placed a “cubist” stone sculpture of larvikite out on the plateau wich frames the Smørstabb pinnacles and the grandeur of the surrounding landscape.

Knut Wold is a Norwegian sculptor living in Stange. He studied at Alanus Hochschule der Kunste and Hochschule der Kunste, Berlin. Wold frequently works with objects in large masses of only partially worked stone.

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Oscarshaug

The toilet at this place has been given a new solid steel superstructure.

From the parking area there is a well-maintained path up to the cairn at the top of Oscarshaug. The path has a simple steel railing. The area has room for two buses, five motorhomes and 20 passenger cars.

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Øvstefoss

The Øvstefoss waterfall lies at the end of the Hjelledalen valley, just below the crossing with the Gamle Strynefjellsvegen.

Together with Hjelle and the Jøl bridge, the waterfall offers an interesting rest area that previously belonged to the original Strynefjell road, before tunnels ensured year-round traffic between east and west. For more than 100 years, the Øvstefoss waterfall has amazed travellers crossing the Strynefjell mountains. In 1997, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration opened an information site devoted to the Norwegian Scenic Routes and designed by Jensen & Skodvin at Øvstefoss. For many years, the safety of the path leading down along the waterfall remained questionable, but since 2010 visitors can tread safely. Steel railings, approximately 200 metres in length, have been mounted as an extension of the information site. The railings ensure that visitors can safely enjoy a first-hand experience of the swirling waterfall.

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Ropeid

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Sognefjellshytta

An exterior of wood and glass disperses the light entering the room, thus communicating the varied ambience of light and weather in the high mountains.

The Sognefjell Lodge has been refurbished with a new and characteristic interior, including a more functional entrance area, a larger reception and universal accessibility. The new addition is constructed in latticework patterned in triangles that mirror the existing gables on each side. An exterior of wood and glass disperses the light entering the room, thus communicating the varied ambience of light and weather in the high mountains.

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Videfossen

This waterfall has been an attraction ever since tourists started to cross the mountain a long time ago.

At some point, it was provided with a minimum of safety in the form of poles and wire mesh. When the Norwegian Public Roads Administration started its work on the route in 1994, the site was in a dire state of disrepair. In addition, the location is occasionally exposed to avalanches. The initial idea was to remove the railing and leave the waterfall as an immediate and natural experience. However, removal of the safety installations would have involved a considerable responsibility. The architect contacted avalanche experts and chose a solution that would stop avalanches but leave the view unobstructed. The steel plates were point-welded to permit them to give way under extreme loads. At the same time, the plates act as snow barriers during especially snowy winters, and direct any avalanches over and above the facility. Improvements at Videfossen also included construction of a new walkway with railings leading to the vantage point.

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