A white dome has risen over Svalbard to take us on a trip to the future.
**Snøhetta has done it again.** She has brought together the most contemporary and innovative to take us on a journey into the future. In The Arc, not only is his appearance surprising , but your stage, in the arctic ocean and its interior, which will display **the contents of the Svalbard World Seed Bank and the World Arctic Archive**. This is indeed the Chamber of Secrets, and not Harry Potter's.
This whole story takes place in ** Svalbard ** **, an archipelago of Norway **. Over there, 78º north of the Earth , it's found the World Seed Bank, dedicated to preserving seeds from thousands of plants around the world . The objective of having such a store of possible food is, as if it were a movie, be prepared for a catastrophe at all levels. The motive is tricky, but the strategy is brilliant.
Share location with the Arctic World Archive, in which the world's digital heritage is stored (will this be the sixth season of Black Mirror?). Painting, literature, television programs... Everything you can imagine can be stored here. Both centers are underground, bombproof , literally. The Arc is going to make sure that we can see it , which means having the future in our hands.
His name, The Arc, is directly connected with the arctic climate but, despite the evidence, the pun also related to Noah's Ark , maintaining the philosophy that custody of something preserved for the future . The project will be located exactly in Longyearbyen , also in Svalbard and, although the design is already finished, we will have to wait at least two years to visit it.
AS WILL BE
The facility will consist of two buildings connected by a tunnel . The lobby and cafeteria will be in one of them, which will have access to the bridge, a glass structure created to organize visitors. The huge transparent crystals they make it become another attraction, since it offers a postcard of the landscape taken from a story.
A window with spectacular views is what will take you to the final show.
It will be then when we arrive at the Vault . From the outside, you can see a sturdy monolith in pristine white that combines with the snow of the place. Irregular furrows surround it, as if it were a clay figure, imitating erosion due to weather conditions . Simplicity and minimalism, the ingredients of a timeless and futuristic design.
WHAT WILL WE SEE
Entering this center will mean making **a trip back in time**. Between the exhibition of the World Seed Bank and the Arctic World Archive, there will also be demonstrations of how the geology of the Svalbard archipelago has been transformed over millions of years . For this, they will have the collaboration of the Norwegian Museum of Natural History.
However, carrying the word future in its DNA, it was to be expected that the exhibitions would not be as we have known them until now. Touch screens and virtual reality experiences , among other digital elements, will form part of The Arc's identity.
Everything is designed to be a truly immersive experience, in which for a few moments, you will forget where you are. The exhibition building has dimmed lighting , specially designed so that you feel that you are inside one of the authentic vaults of the files.
The purity of the exterior white contrasts with the darkness acquired in the ceremony room.
In addition, the matter is not only about exhibitions. In the center of the vault, there is the ceremonies room, an auditorium that will be oriented to make digital projections, conferences, talks, etc. , with the aim of discussing and inspiring this type of innovative solutions to protect the future.
Presiding over the room, there will be a large deciduous tree representing the ancient vegetation of Svalbard . They can be admired ancient Tree Leaf Fossils, more than 56 million years ago, a time when the temperature was 5 to 8 degrees higher and favored the growth of these species.
In short, in a few years we will have the unrepeatable opportunity to see the best kept archive in the world and on which our future directly depends . And beyond the sample, the true purpose lies in open the eyes of current generations and prepare those of future generations , to teach them (and teach us) how we should take care of the resources we have and that, sometimes, we value so little.
Virtual reality, touch screens... Welcome to our future.