helen & hard: ratatosk

ratatosk is an installation by norwegian design firm helen and hard that is currently on display at 1:1 – architects build small spaces and the V&A museum in london. ‘ratatosk’ is an old norse word which means ‘drill-tooth’. it refers to an ancient squirrel from norse mythology that lived in a giant ash tree standing at the centre of the cosmos. the installation recalls british 18th-century garden folly and consists of five ash tress that has been split lengthways and planted face to face. the visitor walks through the trees with a hand-woven canopy of willow branches above. the trees were sourced from norway and carved using digital modeling and CNC milling. helen and hard’s principal designer reinhard kropf describes the concept, ‘the intention is really to trigger a lot of joyful and playful interactions. this kind of stimulation of the five senses but also of your fantasy and imagination has been our goal.’

image by pasi aalto (also main image)

image by pasi aalto

image by pasi aalto

image by pasi aalto