Norway: Høse Bru
We spent the day driving from Sandnes to Odda for our next hike. We boarded one of many ferries that we would come to encounter during our trip and drove through endless tunnels. Along the way, we stopped at Høse Bru for some architectural sight-seeing.
Høse Bru is a pedestrian bridge in the village of Sand designed by Rintala Eggertsson Architects. The bridge spans the Sudalslågen river, making the vast wooden landscape accessible to the town's inhabitants.
What I found most beautiful was the material treatment of the bridge. When you enter the bridge, the perforated walls give you a glimpse of the landscape. As you move towards the center of the bridge, the walls become opaque and the floor opens up so you have a view of the water running directly below you. This creates a very intimate visual and acoustic space in which a pedestrian is reconnected with the river they are crossing.
We also came across a very interesting waterfall on the side of the road. We drove past it at first because, to be honest, I think we saw enough waterfalls for a lifetime during our trip to Iceland! We even purposefully kept waterfalls at the bottom of our priorities list for this trip because we wanted to see what else nature had to offer. We did end up turning back, and I'm so glad we did. Unlike some waterfalls that involved 4 hour drives into the middle of nowhere + an extended hike, this one was quite literally on the side of the road. The road passes over the base of the falls so the mist keeps the road constantly wet.
The waterfall was incredibly tall. But even more incredibly, it splits in two halfway down due to a significant mound of earth at the base. There was a small gift shop (which was unfortunately closed when we arrived) with a patio that led you directly to the rocks at base of the falls.
