The Norwegian Printing Museum in Stavanger will open on 20 November. It is located on the site of a former sardine canning factory in the historic district of the city. The factory building is home to the Norwegian Canning Museum. It was architecturally extended by Eder Biesel Arkitekter. The exhibition in the new building was designed by ATELIER BRÜCKNER. The two museums operate together under the name IDDIS, derived from iddikett, the word for label in local dialect.

The Norwegian Printing Museum looks back over a period of more than 40,000 years – from the first human records in the form of cave paintings to the digital present. One point of focus is on the transformation of printing techniques for text and images – with regional and local references: In Stavanger, the art of printing blossomed from the late 19th century onwards as local canned-fish production resulted in numerous printing orders. The label was of central importance for the marketing of canned fish. The latter was exported from Stavanger to all parts of the world – right up to the 1950s.

The museum offers playful access to more than a thousand sardine tinlabels, which are presented digitally in the exhibition. Other impressive items are the historic lithography stones, a lithography press, various print cylinders and the equipment of a photo laboratory. In a spacious workshop area, the Print Shop, on the upper floor of the museum, it is also possible to marvel at half a dozen historical printing machines.

The museum exhibition on the ground floor of the building extends over two large, chronologically arranged spatial units. They are connected by means of a shared media tunnel, which is the climax of any visit to the museum and can be entered from two sides. If a visitor enters the museum from the Canning Museum, the first exhibition space encountered concerns image reproduction, with a focus on lithography and photography. A flood of images comes out of a camera and passes through the corridor, leading up to the present and then back to a Gutenberg printing press, accompanied by daily newspapers, typewriters and early computers.

The printing press is the central exhibit in the second exhibition space. With regard to content and positioning in the room, it is the turning point: The wide-scale dissemination of printed material became possible from 1450 onwards with the invention of moveable letters. Printed sheets shoot upwards out of the press and into the media tunnel, taking the visitor through time up to present-day e-publishing. Before the printing industry became established, the scriptorium was the central place for written reproduction. Presented as being of an importance equal to the printing press, it is staged as a spatial unit.

The exhibition spaces are structured by sets of cubic shelves made of wood. The cubes can be combined with each other individually, whereby they are displays for exhibits, or it can be printed on them in different ways. The general principle of this ordering system is inspired by letter cases, in which the letters of the alphabet used in the printed industry have their place.

The Print Shop on the upper floor of the building is also laid out flexibly: the theme-centred texts and object descriptions are printed on boards. They are inserted in wooden strips all around the exhibition space and in the chest-high zoning that separates the individual thematically dedicated areas from each other: different printing methods can be compared here. Typesetting and bookbinding are also themes. The printing industry of Stavanger with its rattling technical marvels fascinates up to the present day.

Charming wooden houses and canning factories have long dominated the cityscape of Stavanger and are an important part of the city’s history. Old Stavanger and the Norwegian Canning Museum are clear examples of the golden age of this industry from the 1870s to the 1970s and have become a major tourist attraction. The Norwegian Printing Museum is to be co-located with the existing Norwegian Canning Museum and together will tell about the industrial history of Stavanger during this time period in the new IDDIS Museum. The graphic industry developed in sync with the canning industry in Stavanger and is reflected on the tin can labels, called iddis in the local dialect.

The existing canning factory with the characteristic chimneys still houses the Norwegian Canning Museum. The new museum sections consist of a three-storey new building that echoes the identity of the Norwegian Printing Museum and with a facade adorned with letters, inspired by the type cases used by printers. In addition, a one-storey glass foyer and café building joins the museums into a single museum surrounding a courtyard. The new sections conform to the historic context without competing with the surrounding buildings.

The site is located along two major walking routes through Old Stavanger. From ØvreStrandgate, the most important tourist route through the district, a passageway opens up between the existing buildings and leads to the courtyard. From Andasmauet, an important diagonal connection with the Vågen harbour area, a footpath is being established along the steep descent to the courtyard. The museum site will be visible to the public from both sides and invite passers-by to walk across the grounds. This generates a meeting place in the courtyard, where the main entrance and café are located. The historic and modern expression creates a unique ambiance for the co-located museums and provides Old Stavanger with a new and exciting meeting place. The motto ‘Synergy in Old Stavanger’ refers to the interaction between the Norwegian Canning Museum and Norwegian Printing Museum parallel to the creation of a meeting place for visitors and local residents, resulting in a living museum.

The choice of materials was inspired by the surroundings. Old Stavanger is characterised by white wooden houses with red roof tiles. The canning factory has light grey plaster walls and window frames and doors painted reddish brown. The colour scheme and materials continue in the new building in a new form in order to create harmonious interaction with the surroundings. The materials used are red tile, glass that reflects the surroundings and exterior surfaces in white and reddish brown. The design of the glass facade with letters is inspired by the collection of printing machines and type cases for letters, the very starting point of the Norwegian Printing Museum. Wooden furniture is also used in part of the interior, inspired by the type cases themselves.

The visitor entrance leads to a foyer with a shared reception, shop, café and information area. The historic facade of the smokehouse can be seen in the foyer. A glass ceiling connecting the foyer to the existing building offers views of the sky and chimneys. The facade of the first floor opens up to the inner courtyard and is primarily transparent in order to offer views of the foyer and museum walls behind it. The foyer becomes part of the outside courtyard as it were.

The exhibitions are displayed on one level that is aligned with the existing Norwegian Canning Museum. The layout is designed to demonstrate the overall pedagogical concept. The foyer offers separate access to both the Norwegian Canning Museum and Norwegian Printing Museum or visitors can choose to explore both museum sections. It is possible to lead visitors through a chronological development or production process by determining the route through the exhibition areas or give them the possibility to wander freely around the various exhibitions. The rooms themselves create a unique ambiance and backdrop for these exhibitions. The Norwegian Canning Museum is housed in the former canning factory, offering an authentic setting. The Norwegian Printing Museum will have a new and unique identity, derived from the graphic theme. The transition exhibition on iddis (labels) and label production for the canning factories will be placed in the transition area between the Norwegian Canning Museum and Norwegian Printing Museum, yet also located at the intersection between the existing and new building and the existing factory walls.

The exhibitions will be supported by a layout that facilitates authentic activities and experiences. The combination of new and existing buildings creates completely new frameworks and opportunities for communication and experience. The historic smokehouse with chimneys is part of the Norwegian Canning Museum exhibition and also connected directly to the café and outdoor seating area. This makes it possible to hold workshops where visitors can smoke and taste fish – an active museum at an authentic location. The second floor will house a print shop, consisting of a collection of printing machines and equipment that can be seen in operation and used for activities and workshops on the art of printing, letterpress printing and bookbinding. The space offers views through the letter facade, which is inspired by the collection itself. The letters are printed directly on the glass and mirror-inverted from the outside as letterpress letters from type cases.

The foyer together with the café, kitchen, cloakroom and assembly rooms can be rented separately for meetings or get-togethers organised by the business community, residents, museum friends’ associations and others. Flexibility and today’s standards for comfort are addressed in the possibilities to change the exhibitions and use the space for various types of events, group work and workshops. The living museum is an active meeting place where visitors can see and use operational machinery and printing equipment, make prints and bind books, smoke fish and more. The inner courtyard can be used for outdoor gatherings. The steps, ramp and sloping lawn can be used as an amphitheatre for various events and will encourage community building and interaction in Old Stavanger.

Team:
Client: Museum Stavanger – MUST
Architect: Eder Biesel Arkitekter
Landscape Architect: Eder Biesel Arkitekter, Asplan Viak AS avdeling Stavanger
Interior architect: Eder Biesel Arkitekter
Exhibition Design: ATELIER BRÜCKNER GmbH

Consultants:
Rådgivende Ingeniør RIB/GEO: Rambøll AS, Stavanger
Rådgivende Ingeniør Brann: ÅF Safety AS
Rådgivende Ingeniør Elektro: Norconsult AS
Rådgivende Ingeniør RIVVS: Errive AS

Project management: Must Stavanger Museum / Sweco AS, avdeling Stavanger
Construction Management: Sweco AS

Construction companies: 
Foundation work and outdoor facilities: TS Maskin  
Concrete Precast: Hako Total AS
Bricklayer: Chem-Con AS
Carpenter: Byggmester Sagen 
Facade contractor: Profilteam AS 
Roofing work: Sandnes Tak AS
Pipe and sprinkler work: Finn Midbøe AS
Air treatment: URD Klima AS
Electrical and automation work: Rogaland Elektro AS

Material Used:
1. Facade cladding: Brick, wienerberger
2. Flooring: Concrete, no brand
3. Doors: Inner doors: Dalcoog Deko, Historical Doors – Hovland AS
4. Windows: Glas façade Schüco
5. Roofing: Sedum 
6. Interior lighting: Exhibition: Erco
7. Interior furniture: Furniture produced for project, surface birch