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In hope of spiritual inspiration, Adrian Mourby travelled to Oslo's eccentric Nobel Peace Prize Center, to find that it was as much about innovation as conflict resolution
When British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye was asked to design the new Nobel Peace Prize Centre in Oslo, he was instructed to preserve the façade of the 19th-century railway station. Adding only the words Vidsyn (Broadmindedness), Hap (Hope) and Engasjement (Commitment) to the front, he stamped his aesthetic firmly on the inside.
Interactive wallpaper is one of the hi-tech ways in which the centre gets its message across: the corridor walls are screens; from a ledge you can move a handle that acts as a mouse, moving the cursor to any name or word on the wall. Immediately it links you to more information, just as if you'd double-clicked on a link on your PC. With over 3,000 images and text in a choice of languages, you could spend all day just surfing the walls.
Next door, the Nobel Field is a darkened room with a thousand glowing diodes that lead you to 96 miniature TV screens, each displaying a portrait of a Peace Prize Laureate. As you approach, text and quotations suddenly illuminate around the portraits.
In the room dedicated to Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite and founder of the Peace Prize, Adjaye uses a Harry Potter trick with a 'magical' book that rests on a lectern. Turn a page, and text about Nobel's career is brought to life before your very eyes.
The story goes that when Nobel's brother Emil died in a factory explosion, an obituary of Alfred was mistakenly published, claiming he would be remembered for his weapons of destruction. Not wanting that to be his legacy, Nobel pledged his wealth to the betterment of humanity.
NOBEL PEACE CENTER
Radhusplassen, Oslo, +47 48 301000, www.nobelpeacecenter.org Admission NOK 80 (€10)
Students and Seniors NOK 55 (€7)
Autorem niezwykłych rozwiązań przestrzennych nowej siedziby Centrum Pokojowego Nobla w Oslo jest architekt David Adjaye.
Sciany korytarza są tak naprawdę ekranami. Jak wjedziesz kursorem na jakiekolwiek nazwisko lub słowo na scianie, od razu wyskoczą ci różne informacje - zupełnie , jakbys kliknął na link w swoim komputerze.
Na oswietlonym tysiącem swiatłowodowych lampek Polu Nobla zobaczyć można wszystkich laureatów nagrody, przedstawionych na aktywowanych ruchem ekranach komputerowych. W Izbie Nobla wyłożona jest interaktywna księga poswięcona Alfredowi Noblowi.
Centrum Pokojowe Nobla Radhusplassen, Oslo, +47 48 30 10 00, www.nobelpeacecenter.org Godziny otwarcia: wtorki 10.00-16.00, srody i piątki 10.00-18.00, soboty i niedziele 11.00-17.00 Wejscie: 80 koron (€10), studenci i seniorzy: 55 koron (€7)
PHOTOS BY TIMOTHY SOAR / ADJAYE ASSOCIATES
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