Gjemmested Fishing Hideout in Norway is Camouflaged in Nature.

The older I get the more I want to escape this complex, often cruel world filled with anxiety, spreading viruses, shithouse governments, and other people’s crap, in general. The beauty of uncomplicated simplicity appears as the ultimate luxury. Don’t worry, I haven’t lost the plot (yet), but you can’t tell me this remote little place doesn’t look ultra-appealing, no?

This little hideout is built on a steep slope facing a small mountain lake in the south of Norway. Designed by Gartnerfuglen Arkitekter and Mariana de Delá, the hideout is built on a secret location, away from all the small trails leading to the lake. The structure is only accessible by boat in summer and by skis in winter when the lake is frozen.

The family who owns the land lives on a secluded farm across the lake where the owner keeps a small rowing boat. For several generations, the family’s small lake has been their preferred retreat for fishing, swimming or camping in solitude. In recent years, this beautiful place has been discovered by more and more people, and due to the Norwegian law of Public right of access (Allemannsretten) one can no longer expect to be alone here. It is this desire to reunite with nature, completely isolated from other people, that determined the inconvenient site; furthest away, behind a rock, shaded and lacking mobile and internet reception. Elements that could be considered inconvenient in the past are nowadays becoming more and more luxurious.

When in use, the hideout serves as a place to seek shelter for fishing, lighting a fire, having a nap and disconnecting from any tech distractions. This place is all about getting in touch with what most of us have lost – the primal human condition of solitude surrounded by wild nature. When not in use, it sits quietly and modestly in nature as if it were one of its creatures; blending in with the forest behind and even serving as a pit stop for thirsty birds on their way to the lake.

The scree for the structure was dug out by hand, and the removed rocks were placed in the water, forming a natural pier for boat access and docking. The mini-building has a timber skeleton clad with birch twigs, giving it a camouflaging effect while keeping an insulating layer of air beneath the snow – imitating and learning from nature itself. As one enters the hideout through the “ear” of the creature, a narrow entry zone presents with a built-in desk with views to the lake. This is a space to work, think, reflect and gaze towards nature’s cinema. Up two steps, an open room allows space for two people to lie down underneath the tower-shaped skylight that creates a sacred atmosphere due to its height and small aperture.

Unlike the texturized natural exterior, the interior is crisp and white. Emphasizing a controlled man-made environment, the minimalist nature of the space amplifies the wild properties of nature; reminiscent of a movie theatre where the black environment contrasts the image, augmenting the effect and drama of the visual spectacle outside.