I closed my eyes and wished for wings as I stood on the blonde-wood platform jutting out the side of a mountain, with nothing but a glass barrier between me and the teal-blue waters of Norway's Aurland Fjord 600 metres below.
Other visitors were similarly affected: When a group of Norwegian hikers arrived, they all gathered at the glass barrier and crouched down like ski jumpers at a starting gate. Two Japanese tourists pulled up soon after, but only one walked out for the breathtaking view from the end; the other watched nervously from the road. She did, however, insist that her friend snap a photograph off the edge.
For an elegantly simple piece of architecture, the Aurland Fjord Lookout provokes a lot of emotion, which is perhaps why it is attracting so much attention. The lookout, which officially opened last month, was the winning entry of Canadian Todd Saunders and Norwegian Tommie Wilhelmsen for a 2002 design competition held by the Norwegian Highways Department, which is aiming to attract more visitors to the area.
The department seems to have chosen well: Condé Nast Traveler magazine has already named the Aurland lookout as one of the "New Seven Wonders of the World," and numerous other publications from Wallpaper magazine to Britain's Guardian newspaper have sung its praises.
"The response has been amazing," said Saunders, 36, a Newfoundland-born, McGill University-trained architect who has lived and worked in Norway since 1997.
When you see the lookout, it's easy to understand why. It is located about three hours east of Bergen, Norway's second city, on one of the country's most spectacular fjords. The most scenic route to the village of Aurland is by express ferry from Bergen, which takes a pleasant half-day along the Sognefjord, the world's longest (at 204 kilometres) and deepest (1,308 metres) fjord, of which the Aurland is an offshoot.
My first glimpse of the lookout -- a surprising golden silhouette high on a green mountain -- was from the ferry as we pulled into the tiny Aurland dock.
Because most visitors continue on to the more-touristed town of Flam, the region's main cruise-ship port, Aurland has maintained an enticingly relaxed atmosphere. High above its 800-year-old church and organic farm-school -- about a two-hour hike or a 10-minute drive along Old Laerdal Road -- is the celebrated lookout.
Heading up the mountainside, it sporadically appears among the pines, an unexpected, lyrical curve that draws you up the mountain. When it comes into full view, most visitors' first word is "wow" -- or a translation thereof.
Built over a steel frame, the outer shell of pine planks appears to spring from the mountainside into the void, then gracefully curve back and down to form the support. It is at once stylized and organic. The apparently seamless curve, composed of specially compressed "bent" wood produced in the Netherlands, is at the heart of the design. "The form is basically a quick line (or stroke of the pencil) in a dramatic landscape," Saunders said. "The main idea was never ever watered down."
The environment was also primary in the design. According to Saunders and Wilhelmsen, the pair considered "nature first and architecture second," consciously choosing an expressive form but with a minimalist concept "to conserve and complement the existing nature."
They chose to leave the tall pine trees around the lookout untouched to give the sensation of walking "out into the air through treetops," a feeling heightened by the protective glass barrier that is angled ever so slightly outward. "This way," Saunders explained, "the view doesn't have an ending."
After all, it is a lookout over one of the most sublimely beautiful places on the planet, where pristine green mountains plunge into sapphire waters.
But was it intimidating to create a piece of architecture over one of the natural wonders of the world? "Not at the time," wrote Saunders in an e-mail. "In retrospect, yes. Luckily, though, it worked out very well."
The architects also added stylish public WCs nearby, which perhaps have the best views of all: The glass outer walls overlook the fjord's edge. The acrophobic are advised to wait for the next stop.
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Pack your bags
For more information on the Aurland Fjord Lookout, visit saunders.no and http://www.tommie-wilhelmsen.no.
GETTING THERE
Direct flights from Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Amsterdam and London land in Bergen. From there, express ferries (http://www.fjord1.no/fylkesbaatane_en) take around four hours to travel to Aurland.
WHERE TO STAY
Aurland Fjord Hotel: Aurland; aurland-fjordhotel.com. Close to the ferry terminal and right below the lookout. Rates start at $150 a night.
Det Hanseatiske Hotel: Finnegardsgaten 2, Bergen; dethanseatiskehotell.no. In the historic Bryggen district and a two-minute walk from the ferry. Rates stat at $280 a night.
MORE INFORMATION
Norway Tourism: visitnorway.com.
