Forging into a new year, architectural buffs and nature lovers alike will have something to look forward in the arriving decade when the Norwegian island of Andøya becomes host to a dramatic architectural expression celebrating the surrounding landscape and its local aquatic denizens. In 2022 Danish architect Dorte Mandrup’s The Whale is to become “a world class attraction celebrating whales and their relationship with man through science and art”.

“Large windows that open toward the archipelago underline the connection between landscape and building and create a visual connection between the exhibition spaces and the vast natural surroundings.”

Located three hundred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, in the small town of Andenes, a small population located at furthest tip of Norway’s Andøya island is where Mandrup’s The Whale will find its dramatic home ? a site where the austere beauty of ocean and rocky shore presents an undeniable challenge for any construction, let alone an enormous undulating parabolic form structure slated to host exhibition spaces, cafe, store, and adjoining offices under its cavernous stone covered roofline. Andøya was specifically chosen for its proximity to a deep-sea valley frequently visited by migrating whales offshore, offering visitors an intimate opportunity to observe the ocean mammals in their natural environment.
It was back in the spring of 2019 when The Whale AS invited architectural...