Back in the late 19th century, the Allmannajuvet canyon in Norway was a zinc-mining hub that employed a large portion of a nearby village. Zinc ore stopped being extracted in 1899, and the area's mineral history was largely forgotten. But fresh off his tar-pit-inspired redesign of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and his sexy minimalist pavilion for London's Serpentine Gallery, the Swiss architect and 2009 Pritzker winner Peter Zumthor set his sights on creating a small zinc museum in this remote part of Norway.
So far, only a café on stilts and a service building attached like a barnacle to a stone wall have been completed (the museum is expected to be finished by 2016). Both structures are boxy and black with flat corrugated roofs, and resemble industrial takes on classic viewing points. Take a look:
· Peter Zumthor's Zinc Mine Museum Takes Shape in Norway [Design Boom]
· All Peter Zumthor coverage [Curbed National]
· All Museums posts [Curbed National]