Okulus: Symbol-laden walk in the forest

Okulus is a landscape installation by Rintala Eggertsson Architects for the Harpefoss Art Arena. Here, wooden walkways and structures wind their way through a remote forest in Norway. A hiking trail through the powerful nature of Scandinavia would be scenically impressive enough, but Okulus offers much more. The past is brought to life, nature is brought to life and our perception is played with. Find out more about this exciting installation here.

The Okulus landscape installation is located near the village of Harpefoss in the Gudbrandsdal valley on the north bank of Gudbrandsdalslågen. The project is framed on one side by the Harpefoss gorge and on the other by Norway’s most important north-south railroad line. The walkway is located in a secluded forest near the Harpefoss Hotel. It can only be reached on foot. However, the installation can also be used by people with limited mobility.

With Okulus,Rintala Eggertsson Architects offers the opportunity to move through the forest without touching it. The installation also creates space for temporary works of art. According to the architects, Okulus is a “holistic forest observatory”. It was important to the architecture firm not to change the local nature. The installation is therefore one hundred percent deconstructable. The path and the buildings flow around the trees and rock formations instead of colliding with them. The forest therefore played a decisive role in determining the appearance and course of the project. Okulus enters into a dialog with nature.

The raised footpath as a typology is not a new invention. Archaeologists have found remains of such constructions dating back to 3,807 BC. Back then, this type of path was chosen to make it easier to cross bogs and wetlands. Nowadays, raised paths are used in various contexts. The common denominator is the creation of an elevated situation in a physical and mental sense. Users are thus lifted out of the local context and “primitive” state of nature. In return, a “purer”, man-made experience of the environment is created. In the past, nature was seen as something uncontrollable and demonic. Man, on the other hand, created divine order. With today’s knowledge, this attitude should probably be reversed. After all, isn’t purity to be found in nature, while man creates more chaos? Okulus is positioned between these poles.

This hiking trail therefore has a dual value. On an architectural level, it shows how different positions and movements change the user’s perspective on nature and the art on display. The route itself makes it possible to glide effortlessly over the ground and thus capture the surroundings more attentively. Visitors can decide subjectively how much they want to experience nature. Objectively speaking, the type of path already creates a common choice of direction and platform for experience. It is therefore in the “eye of the beholder” – hence the name of the installation.

Oculus means eye in Latin and an ocular is a lens that magnifies things. Oculus therefore refers to the act of looking and observing. In this case, the focus is on nature, which is created by the forest observatory. The idea of Rintala Eggertsson Architects was to create an arena in which man and nature co-exist. The path forms the framework and art the means of observation. However, the basic idea is not only theoretical, but also visually tangible. The top view shows that the installation leads around a small pond. The water level becomes a pupil that looks up from the ground into the sky.

Rintala Eggertsson Architects have not only created a means of transportation for a Saturday afternoon stroll. Okulus also has a symbolic value: “The eye as a figure of thought is present on several levels in the Okulus project. On an architectural level, it emphasizes how different positions and movements change the viewer’s perspective and interact with artistic perception,” says the office. Rintala Eggertsson Architects base the construction of Okulus on the concept of heterotopias. This term comes from the French philosopher Michel Foucault. According to Foucault, heterotopias are places that are located on the margins of the productive and social order of society. Unlike utopias, so-called non-places, heterotopias are concrete, marginal places and buildings. They are neither private nor public, neither closed nor open, neither regulated nor unregulated. In such places, boundaries can be experienced as temporarily permeable. The basic philosophical idea of this project can therefore not only exist in the forest, but also underlie several types of space.

Not everyone has a strong relationship with nature. In fact, it seems to be weakening with the new generations. This landscape installation has several functions, as it aims to appeal to a broad audience. In doing so, it aims to create an understanding of art, nature and sensory experiences. Rintala Eggertsson Architects hope that Okulus will bring visitors closer to the ambivalence and the need to reflect on our modern relationship with nature.

Watch a video with the architect Dagur Eggertson on site here:

You can also experience a special walk in harmony with nature in New York City: Read all about the Moynihan Connector here.