Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Image 2 of 24Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - FacadeOrsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - ChairOrsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Windows, ForestOrsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - More Images+ 19

Kumla, Sweden

Text description provided by the architects. A gallery for modern art, placed in a field. The whole gallery building shines like a traffic sign, when seen from a certain angle.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Windows, Forest
© Mikael Pauli

The gallery building
The new gallery building creates a ‘hamlet’ with the adjacent old farmhouses and the owners’ house, together representing three centuries of building tradition. Positioned on top of an artificial hill, as a buffer to the site’s moist soil, the base of the building follows the hill’s topology. The resulting series of curves at the building’s base, combined with mirroring curves in the rooflines, makes the planar facades seem curved – a bit like ‘cinemascope’ screens.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Image 2 of 24
© Mikael Pauli

The exterior facades
The facades have been painted white and, while still wet, three tons of special reflective glass beads were applied. The glass bead treatment, developed by artist Mikael Pauli, works in a similar way to the reflective component in zebra crossings. If viewed from the same angle as the incident light source, it glows as if lit from within. So, when driving by the building, it appears to flash brightly for a moment.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Brick, Facade
© Mikael Pauli

This effect can also be recreated during night. If the building falls into the path of car headlights or, as in the attached photos, where two 150 watt lamps – one red, one blue coloured – light the façade from different angles. (We would like to stress that the images have NOT been adjusted via Photoshop or other image manipulation programs - except inbuilt camera software).

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Facade
© Mikael Pauli

The relatively narrow door and window openings, stretching from ground to roofline, make the building’s scale difficult to judge. Appearing smaller at a distance, yet up close it rises to a height of 6.7 metres. Their positions correlate to interior wall positions as well as windows on the opposite side of the building, creating sight lines from one side to the other.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Image 13 of 24
© Mikael Pauli

The interior
The elevated position of the gallery building raises the floor level to the same height as the tops of the surrounding crop growth. The interior is divided in to four differently sized rooms connected with both central cross access and complete side circulation.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Image 16 of 24
© Mikael Pauli

Custom designed benches, manufactured in Botswana by Mabeo Furniture, have been added to the rooms recently.

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune - Image 17 of 24
© Mikael Pauli

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Project location

Address:Kumla, Sweden

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune" 19 Sep 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/78052/orsta-gallery-claesson-koivisto-rune> ISSN 0719-8884

© Mikael Pauli

Orsta Gallery / Claesson Koivisto Rune

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