Vassvika.
Scandinavian Quiet.

There are seven buildings at Vassvika. Four of the buildings have been completed; rehabilitated and reimagined into a living space, sleeping space, library, and bath house. Of the four, the bath house took the most time to restore. We are now converting a “stabbur”, a traditional Norwegian store house used to cure meats, into a studio space. The remaining two building are a boat house that will get some love and transformation in the coming three years and a tool shed that is full to the rim and will eventually be converted into a nice, small space to do simple carpentry and repairs. The whole project is a place for experimentation and an opportunity for the architect Todd Saunders, to explore things on his own time, with no deadlines and with an openness to a creative process that unfolds, as he meets new people and learns more about the art and craft of making handmade architecture.

The history of Vassvika is an uncommon one. There is a man that everyone calls Kalland. None of the locals seem to remember his first name. Kalland is said to be an eccentric and enthusiastic restorative painter who worked with the Norwegian National Conservatory (riksantikvar) restoring historical paintings and buildings. All seven of the buildings at Vassika were bought from nearby farms, dismantled, then rebuilt by hand where they stand today. The fashionable phrases of reuse and recycling were his way of living. One can see the amount of hard work, handcraft, and effort in all the small historical details at Vassvika. If anyone reading this knows more about Kalland, feel free to reach out. He seems like a man with an interesting history.  

We found a beautiful watercolour site plan made by Kalland. It shows all the building with little notes, names of the plants, future plans, trails in the woods, and the strangest thing of all, an asterisk marking the treasure spot. Kalland must have had an enormous amount of energy, will, and enthusiasm. His hard work has created a sort of museum of historical architecture on the coast of Norway that would have otherwise been lost. 

In 2016 Todd Saunders bought the property. Many of his friends and colleagues thought this to be odd at first, as Todd Saunders is known nationally and international for his unique brand of contemporary architecture. Little did they know, that Saunders loved historical Norwegian Architecture as much as Kalland probably did. When Saunders first moved to Norway, he worked with Anders Frøstrup, one of the best carpenters in Norway and author of Tømrerteori, every second week while building up his architecture practice. The difference is that Saunders wanted to experiment with the fine line between the old and the new. Over a 25-year career, Saunders work has been a balance between the strange and familiar, so much so that it is the title of the 2015 documentary of his work on Fogo Island, in the province of Newfoundland. 

Together with his staff at his architecture studio. Uldis Rimša is one of the carpenters that built several of Saunders' award winning houses in Bergen, Norway. Uldis worked hard, worked alone, and did the most incredible job of merging the old with new insertions designed by Saunders and his studio.