UPM has been selected as the timber supplier for renowned Nordic architect Sami Rintala's installation "Ark" for the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington London.
The exhibition "1:1 Architects Build Small Places" consists of several architectural indoor installations which reflect the theme - retreat. One of the key targets of the exhibition is to introduce the public to contemporary architecture in 1:1 scale instead of drawings and images.
Sami Rintala's design "Ark" is a three-storey book tower dedicated to reading and studying which offers a relaxing and retreating approach for exploring books. The basic structure of the three-store book tower is to be built of Finnish construction timber (whitewood) and stairs and platforms of glue-laminated redwood boards.
"The book tower attracts visitors to the museum, like moths to a lamp. From the outside we can see white paper, which is also made of wood. Inside we are served with a colourful story of the biodiversity of our planet, its beauty and disappearance. Every week 500 species disappear, never to return. Every week the last representative of a language and a culture passes away. Our work is like a small lighthouse that tries to steer us on a new course, towards diversity and greater appreciation of the spirit of the place, a biodiversity that includes humans," Mr. Rintala explains.