This month, images of a concept for a jaw dropping boutique hotel and pool in Norway went viral - not just in the architecture community - but throughout the general media as well, inspiring architects and non-architects alike. The images were posted on Instagram drawing intrigue and generating debate from around the world. However, despite the many who inquired about visiting, in reality, the design is a concept only. It was imagined many kilometers away by a creative firm in Istanbul.
The evocative images comes from Hayri Atak Architectural Design Studio. They were inspired by photos shared with them from a friend who visited Norway’s Pulpit Rock - which rockets 2000 ft into the sky. Atak says ‘I dream of living on and beyond the edge and the idea of having this experience inspired me. I think this is equal to swimming in a gravity-free environment. The pool was the one and only design element at the beginning but the idea of a pool hanging over the cliff by itself scared me…..The hotel structure bending of the fjord became a ‘protector’ of the pool.’
Will the project be built one day by someone inspired to take it further? Who knows. But Hayri Atak explains why it is important for architects and designers to imagine projects like this:
‘Sometimes there are some places or topics that exist that excite me. I dream about it and sometimes work on it to a design. It could be a chair, a small space or a building and environment. That kind of works to raise my creativity and helps me find interesting ideas for my “real world” designs. I call that activity ‘what if-brainstorming’. What if there is something like that somewhere in this universe? Actually the design is the answer of this question in a particular place. So, some projects and designs are created but not meant to be built, they inspire us to create something different and feed us in different ways.’
