Gruve 2[b]

Gruve 2[b] (or Mine 2[b] in English) is a disused coal mine just outside Longyearbyen’s (Svalbard, Norway) southern edge. The scheme proposes the re-opening of the mine as part of the greater scheme to promote tourism in the area. The idea behind the scheme was driven by the apparent tensions between man and nature, earth and sky, and the conditions conducive to observation.

Visitors enter the mine through the existing entrance on the site of the mountain or at the level summit through a stair well or an existing hoisting shaft fitted with a lift. As one travels through the mine, the level of light available continually decrease as one gets closer to the observation shaft. The visitor’s vision becomes accustomed to the dark and austere geometry of the mine. As one enters the observation shaft, the stark, sombre mood is broken by the view of the aurora through the 150 - 200m high observation shaft. This serves to stir within the visitor the tension between the purely geometric, man-made mine and the untamed forms of the heavens. The light from the aurora softly bathes the dark and slightly reflective walls of coal. The visitor will hopefully be drawn into the heightened singularity of the experience of the aurora. The observation shaft serves as an observatory not only for the aurora but also for experiencing the richness of the heavens.