New Exhibit Uncovers Reinvented Rest Stops
The show highlights Norwegian Public Roads Administration's Tourist Routes Projects, which enlisted international architects and designers to transform rest stops and scenic overlooks.
Nicholas Tamarin -- Interior Design, 1/8/2009 12:00:00 AM
Tourist information building, Lofoten
Scandinavian travelers now make pit stops in style, thanks to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration's Tourist Routes Projects, a plan that remade Norway's rest stops and scenic overlooks by enlisting a team of international architects and designers.
These reinvented roadside staples take their own trip this year as the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. hosts "Detour: Architecture and Design Along 18 National Tourist Routes in Norway," a new exhibit running January 28-May 25. Large-scale models of the projects, each accompanied by descriptive text and supporting images, anchor the show. To help visitors put them all in context, a presentation device modeled after old-fashioned stereoscopes shows moving images of the Norwegian landscape.
Scenic overlook, Stegastein; Resting point, Torvdalshalsen
"What fascinates me about ‘Detour’ is that you literally peek into architecture interacting with nature, and at the same time realize that it serves the needs of travelers," says His Excellency Wegger Chr. Strommen, Norway's ambassador to the United States.
The museum relies on the silver screen to provide an accompaniment to the exhibit with “Detour: The Landscape of Travel on Film,” a film series that explores the dynamics between travelers and the unfamiliar environments they encounter. Included is a screening of A Room with a View, the 1985 James Ivory classic.
On March 30, a moderated panel discussion on scenic byways in the U.S. and Norway will feature Norwegian architects Tommie Wilhelmsen and Henning Kaland, along with Brad Cownover, director of conservation services for Scenic America, the non-profit advocacy group.
Images courtesy of the National Building Museum.
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