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Absolutely everything,
from the shape of the building to the guided visitor experience, is closely
linked to the culture, tradition and landscapes of the five Nordic countries –
Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – and to the people who came from
there.
The museum’s new design,
according to Mithun, the architecture firm responsible for the project, is
«organised around a linear fjord», which weaves together stories from the
Nordic region and the Nordic American experience. A vertically-striated zinc
skin wraps the exterior of the building, while, inside, facetted white walls
evoke the glacial environment. Within this fjord there is a narrative, written
by exhibition designers Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA): bridges connect Nordic
and Nordic-American exhibits, and at the centre, the Fjord Hall connects all the
museum’s exhibits and features, as if they were tributaries, greeting visitors
with a map display. Heading out from the Fjord Hall, visitors discover a number
of exhibition areas. If the Nordic Orientation Gallery explains what it means
to be Nordic or Nordic American, the Sense of Place Gallery’s Nordic-inspired
seating offers the perfect place to watch films about the region’s environment.
For its part, the Nordic Region Gallery presents artefacts and key historic
moments from all five Nordic countries and explores how immigrants built their
lives in America. The last area, the Nordic Perspectives Forum Gallery, reveals
contemporary life in America and the Nordic region and the way they connect
with each other and with the past. In total there are around 1740 sqm of
permanent exhibitions and 345 sqm of temporary exhibitions, housing 580
artefacts, as well as a storage area of about 230 sqm, a café and a shop. A
performance and gathering hall adds a further 390 sqm and room for 374 people.
The landscaping around the museum is an integral part of the facility,
displaying not only a few exhibits of its own, but also a century-old Finnish
sauna that the museum hopes will one day be functional.
The Nordic Museum, on
Market Street, the heart of Ballard, thus creates a link between the Nordic
region and the experience of the Nordic Americans, in the past and present.
According to the RAA (Ralph Appelbaum Associates), this museum and cultural
centre, «allows us to reach back into the distant past as a means of exploring
more recent times».