No Man's Island

Architect: Sami Rintala.
Location: Kirkenes harbour.
Producer: Pikene på Broen, Kirkenes.

NO MAN´S ISLAND IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT.
No-Man’s Island will be a new island erected in the harbour of Kirkenes, a meeting place for various cultures in the Barents Region out in the sea, a meeting place between land and water.
No-Man´s Island is to become a symbol for the exciting melting pot Kirkenes has become, and an outstanding piece of Nordic architecture in public space of Kirkenes. The island will attract attention towards the harbour undergoing now re-design: it is planned to move the Hurtigruta pier back to the town center and build an embankment.

Why Kirkenes?
Kirkenes is located by the Barents Sea, close to the Norwegian border to Russia and Finland.
Kirkenes is called the Barents capital, and considered to be the Barents Region in miniature with its 70 different nationalities and ethnic groups.
Kirkenes has become Hot Arctic Kirkenes: both the Norwegian Barents Secretariat, the
International Barents Secretariat and Barents Institute are located in Kirkenes – home to the Kirkenes Declaration signed in 1993.
Kirkenes has become a geopolitical destination.

We want to profile “the new Kirkenes”, with its Russian community, represented by the numerous Russian fishing boats in Kirkenes harbour and the Russian 10 % of the municipality population (Kirkenes is often called ”a Russian town” in Norway) — versus «the old Kirkenes» represented by the main company Sydvaranger A/S and the mining community (the mines were closed in 1996, and re-open in 2009).

No Man´s Island
No-Man´s Island has now got a permanent place on the town map within the harbour area.
The floating island offers a sauna, kitchen and a shelter. After a visit to the sauna take a refreshing dive into the Barents Sea! Or row a boat around the island enjoying the skyline of the new Kirkenes. The floating tank with wooden houses on top is sanked under the water, thus creating an impression that the houses are floating.