Kistefos Museum’s new art institution doubles as a bridge to connect two riverbanks

The Twist, an inhabitable bridge torqued at its center that winds over the Randselva river in Norway, both acts as a piece of infrastructure to connect two riverbanks in northern Europe’s largest sculpture park and doubles the Kistefos Museum’s indoor exhibition space. 

The structure is conceived as a beam warped 90 degrees near the middle to create a sculptural form as it spans the Randselva. The twist in the building’s volume allows the bridge to lift from the lower, forested river bank in the south up to the hillside area in the north. Visitors roaming the park’s site-specific works cross the bridge to complete the art tour through the sculpture park.

From the south entry visitors cross a 16 meter aluminum-clad steel bridge to reach the double-height space. The double-curve geometry of the museum is composed of straight 40 centimeter wide aluminum panels arranged like a stack of books, slightly shifted into a fanning motion. 

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The curved form of the glass windows allows for a variety of light to enter the museum, creating three distinctive galleries: a wide, naturally lit gallery on the north side with views of the nearby historic pulp mill and river via a full-height glass wall; a tall, dark gallery with artificial lighting on the south side; and a sculptural space with a twisted sliver of roof light that connects the other two spaces.  

A glass staircase leads down to the lower level on the north river embankment where the building’s aluminum underside becomes the ceiling. Restrooms and a full-width glass wall are located on this level. 

The project is BIG’s first in Norway.