The Nordic Countries Pavilion for the 18th International Architecture Exhibition “Girjegumpi”, is a collaborative library archive of Sámi architecture. While exploring La Biennale di Venezia onsite in Venice, ArchDaily had the chance to speak with the architect Joar Nango and also with the curators James Taylor-Foster and Carlos Mínguez Carrasco about the pavilion and its depths.
Joar Nango’s Sámi identity, the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia, is the backbone of his architectural practice. Working as an artist and an architect, Nango has long been interested in how indigenous cultures meet the field of architecture. Moreover, his interests stem from the often-neglected nature of these essential political questions. His practice evolves around creating platforms for these types of discussions. Throughout his work, Nango unfolds the characteristics of Sámi architecture, its connection with rural arctic landscapes, its unique ability to adapt to harsh weather conditions, and how people build and locally source materials.
“Girjegumpi” is inherently a collaborative library, celebrating improvisation and coincidence, which inform the building and the architecture production phase. The pavilion was built using many locally sourced materials. In fact, the staircase at the exhibition was built from a 4-meter tree onsite which was being torn down when Nango arrived in Venice. The pavilion encourages an action to claim autonomous spaces and allow culture to be built and fully expressed in relation to space and architecture. Due to years of silenced voices, this type of discourse is crucial to what Nango believes could be the future of the building. In the interview, the architect claims that the built environment must find more sensitive ways to think about materials and resources.
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The Nordic Countries Pavilion Brings an Indigenous Sámi Architecture Library to the 2023 Venice BiennaleThe Sámi Architecture library on display at “Girjegumpi” is a collective intervention, bringing artists, craftsmen, researchers, boat builders, and many others to collaborate to build this library. The pavilion aims for all humanity to have access to this archive.
In conversation with the curators, James Taylor-Foster and Carlos Minguez Carrasco explain the importance of this national center, bringing together and facilitating these works with a real focus on what it means to be practicing around these essential topics. In the long run, the curators believe the pavilion to be a step towards studying and presenting knowledge about the Northern regions. Moreover, it encourages an imagination to develop more knowledge around the Sámi lands and harness this relationship, which otherwise has been neglected. In addition, the curators explain that the uniqueness of “Girjegumpi” is its representation of three different countries under one pavilion. Although they are neighbors, the exhibition transcends these modern borders, pushing the boundaries of nationhood in the context of indigeneity.
The exhibition hopes to promote conversations and engage in these international dialogues at Lesley Lokko’s biennale. The Sámi architecture is unique for its inherent generosity. The pavilion boasts its open invitation and welcoming energy to everyone. The curators see it as a social space where interwoven collaboration can thrive and begin to model future collaborations, questioning how they can be produced more efficiently.
We invite you to check out ArchDaily's comprehensive coverage of the Venice Architecture Biennale 2023.
