09/28/2021
In 2004 the Ilulissat Icefjord in Western Greenland was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, recognised for both its ethereal beauty and the importance of the vast and ever-shifting Jakobshavn Glacier at its heart. A place of natural wonder, it is also one of very real fragility, and this September, the extraordinary Icefjord Centre was opened as a research and visitor centre to help explore the impact of climate change in the region.
Designed by Danish architect Dorte Mandrup, the building’s twisting, triangulated form was inspired by the spread wings of the native Snowy Owl, its lightness and low profile allowing visitors to feel connected to the landscape. The angled roof provides access to an elevated viewing platform while helping reduce the build-up of snow in winter months.
‘The Icefjord Centre offers a refuge in the dramatic landscape,’ says Mandrup, ‘and aims to become a natural gathering point from which you can experience the infinite, non-human scale of the Arctic wilderness, the transition between darkness and light, the midnight sun, and the northern lights dancing across the sky.’
The Centre’s core philosophy is one of natural beauty, sustainability and minimal environmental impact. To reduce the need for concrete, Mandrup utilised lightweight steel beams to pin the building to the bedrock, allowing the space beneath to become a habitat for plants and wildlife.
For Automobili Pininfarina, the Icefjord Centre resonates strongly with our core beliefs – of how great design treads lightly, working with, and even on behalf of, its surroundings.
