“Litteraturbenkene”, The Literature Benches, or Atlas of Trondheim, is a project initiated by the Trondheim House of Literature where ten authors have written one text each to a specific site in the city. Now you can find a bench with an associated text in all of these ten places, and so the literature becomes a part of the urban fabric.
The benches are designed by the architecture students Grete Schia Kaasa, Beate Slåttsveen and Mari Synnøve O. Gjertsen, and were produced in collaboration with Snekkeriet in Verdal. Important aspects of the design include durability, composition and materials with both aesthetic and practical qualities. Based on this the choice fell on oak and slate. In addition to being a beautiful material, the slate from Oppdal gives the bench the physical weight necessary, as it is not fixed to the ground, a robust construction and a local anchoring to the Sør-Trøndelag region.
FACTS
Principal/client:
Trondheim House of Literature
Collaborators /sponsors:
Snekkeriet i Verdal, Minera Skifer (Oppdal), The municipality of Trondheim
Budget/costs:
170 000 NOK. Provided by the municipality of Trondheim and the Trondheim House of Literature.
Architects:
Grete Schia Kaasa, Beate Slåttsveen, Mari Synnøve O. Gjertsen
Authors:
Erlend Loe, Margrethe Aas, Nina Grøntvedt. Eva Furseth, Carl Frode Tiller, Arild Vange, Asieh Amini, Fredrik Skagen, Idar Lind, Markus Lantto