A first important step has been achieved

The three projects in Bindal, Lurøy and Velfjord have got financing from the State. In the next months these projects will be further developed and published here. Every suggestion from the local communities is truly welcome.

Bindal: This museum will be dedicated to the traditional use of wood. The existing building will be widened to give more space to the exhibition area and for the common areas. From the new cafeteria, a big glass window, will open the museum to the fjord introducing the landscape inside.

Lurøy: An old warehouse, close to the existing war museum area will be transformed to supply visitors with services, cafeteria. A space for closed permanent exhibition will improve the museum exposition. All the community around Lurøy will find here a place for organize local events and concerts.

Velfjord: The old Coop store will be transformed to the new local museum. The building opened towards the Fjord will be visually connected with the surroundings. A small auditorium for video exhibition will be a new facility for the town.

Something more than small museums

The new Helgeland museums should redefine the traditional museum concept.
Culture is the result of the interaction of people and the information exchanges!
Thus preservation is not the unique task of the museum.
The museum must be first of all an “interaction place”, between people and objects, between local people and tourists, between the past and the future.

The museum should be felt in a different way from society and become more attractive.
This can be improved through a new kind of architecture.
Transparency is very important for two reasons: to show outside the activities going on inside the building and to bring nature inside the building.
The landscape can be included in the exhibition.

Museum as a house for the community: people inside the building should feel like being home. Only when you feel home you can understand a place, and the place becomes part of you.

A centre for the community: the museum should be important for the identity of the society. It should become a symbolic place: transparency is important even for this. Museum can be a light point in the towns during the winter. The architecture is important to give to every building its own identity.

Museum as a social network: the museum should work to expand social networks. The “cafeteria and the meeting place functions” are very important to improve social connections.

Museum as engine for the local economies: the museum should be part of the local development, giving space where to discuss about the future of the community. They can also improve the tourism activities and be part of the regional marketing: they can be a representation of the past and the future of the communities.

Velkommen

This Blog is first of all a tool for Helgeland people. Its aim is to involve the local communities in the renovation process of the Helgeland museums, started few years ago by the museum director Hans Pedersen.
All the architectural projects will be shown here during the developing process, to allow people to give their opinion and their contribution.
The participative architecture sounds often more utopic than realistic, but I believe that at least the first step of participation can be reached: this first step is the “transparent information”.
An informed person is an involved person.
This Blog wants to build a social network, including all people who can give a contribution or want to be informed about the new Helgeland museum.
Every person should feel free to add a comment to the posts. This is a free space where we would like to discuss about many aspects related to the new Helgeland museums: architecture, local identity, sustainability, museology, society…