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The Tree of Light | OBA Northern Light Observatory

  • Name Project
    The Tree of Light
  • Status
    Design | Architecture Competition
  • Designer
    Marcello Cesini Architetto | Arch. Antonio Giulio Loforese
  • Category
    Public Space | Hotel
  • Place
    Rovaniemi | Finland
  • Year
    2012

The project was born from the idea of taking some strong elements typical of the Nordic landscape and combining them with the main function for which the project was born. In fact, in the large wooded area overlooking the lake the project takes shape with a main body surrounded by other small buildings which form the seven double rooms, triangular in shape, and the three quadruple rooms, trapezoidal in shape. The path that connects all these residences draws the constellation of the Dragon on the territory, almost as if to recall the main function of “The tree of light”. The homes, simple and modern inside, are entirely covered in white wood on the outside, while internally the dominant color is that of natural pine wood. Furthermore, they have a large glass window above the bed, which is built into the mezzanine, which allows you to see the sky during the Northern Lights. Moving on to the main building we see how this is made up of many small wooden blocks painted white ( like homes) spread over the territory, as if they were lying tree trunks, from which the light of the internal living spaces emerges. In fact, in them we find a bar, a restaurant and spaces for the sauna with related changing rooms. However, the two fundamental elements of the project are made up of the observatory and the planetarium. The observatory is made up of a block placed upright, as if it were the only surviving tree, completely glazed and lit from inside, containing a staircase with intermediate landings on which the various stations were created for observing the sky. All the blocks of the project are covered with a thin sheet of perforated cor-ten steel, almost as if the starry sky had descended to envelop the entire project. The planetarium, for practicality, is instead made up of a sphere placed in the center of the project , among the small lying “logs”. It is completely covered in polished steel to allow the reflection of all the lights of the project and of the sky, almost as if it were a “moon among the stars”.

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