Nordic Pavilion by Sverre Fehn

My precedent study for this semester was on an outdoor gallery in Venice used once a year for a summer art festival. The circumstances around this building were pretty interesting. Situated in the only park in Venice, architect Sverre Fehn had to navigate his building around trees, which the city really wanted to keep. He was also building a gallery that would be representative of all three Nordic countries – Norway, Finland, and Sweden. The Venice Biennale, that art festival that I mentioned earlier, wanted to have individual galleries that represented many of the major countries. Thus, there is a United States Pavilion, a Canadian Pavilion, a Spanish Pavilion, and so on. Most of these pavilions are rather tame, featuring classical columns and what not, but the Nordic Pavilion is a standout.

Fehn wanted to capture the shadowless light conditions from the Nordic countries. To do this in the much harsher Venetian sun, he had to filter the light through layers of tree canopy, fiberglass gutters, and perpendicular concrete fins. This roof configuration really is the highlight of the building.

The end result really is amazing. Simple, straightforward, elegant. The building does what it needs to do beautifully.