
This Twisting Art Museum in Norway May Actually Be the World’s Coolest Bridge
Designed Bjarke Ingels Group, the enclosed structure dramatically torques 90 degrees over the Randselva river, appearing to almost roll over upon itself
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Unless they’re massive, people tend not to give bridges too much thought. But a new one in Norway may change that. Designed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, the visually striking bridge is a twist on the age-old structure—literally.
Completed earlier this year, BIG’s enclosed bridge spans the winding Randselva river that runs through Kistefos Sculpture Park in the southern city of Jevnaker. Entitled The Twist, the aluminium building violently torques 90 degrees over the water, appearing to almost roll over upon itself.
Built around a historic pulp mill, the structure links together the major sections of the park, allowing visitors to walk through the works of artists like Anish Kapoor, Olafur Eliasson and Yayoi Kusama uninterrupted. While the look of the bridge may stop people in their tracks, nothing about its actual design will. Visitors can make their way from one end of the passageway to the other easily, and the bridge’s aluminium panels are arranged in a way that creates a fan-like effect.
But the bridge’s actual twist is far from the only surprise it has in store for park visitors. In addition to providing panoramic views of the Randselva from its floor-to-ceiling windows, the 1000-square-metre structure also acts as an art gallery within the sculpture park. What’s more, architect Bjarke Ingels says the dramatic bridge was specifically designed to blend in with its artistic surroundings.

“The Twist is a hybrid spanning several traditional categories: it’s a museum, it’s a bridge, it’s an inhabitable sculpture,” he told Designboom last month. “As a bridge it reconfigures the sculpture park turning the journey through the park into a continuous loop. As a museum, it connects two distinct spaces—an introverted vertical gallery and an extraverted horizontal gallery with panoramic views across the river. A third space is created through the blatant translation between these two galleries creating the namesake twist. The resultant form becomes another sculpture among the sculptures of the park.”
Currently, The Twist is playing host to its first exhibition, Hodgkin and Creed-Inside Out. The show pairs the work of the late painter Howard Hodgkin with conceptual artist Martin Creed. It will be on display at Kistefos until November 17.

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