Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter Installs Large-Scale Sculptures Along Old Railway Route in France
Known as the Chemin des Carrières, or ‘Quarries’ Track.’
Award-winning Norwegian architecture and design firm Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter has installed sculptures and cultural pavilions along the Chemin des Carrières. The 11km-long railway in France that connects Rosheim to Saint Nabor now serves as a walking and cycling path. As the landscape varies, Reiulf Ramstad’s architectural interventions, titled Gates of Happiness, split into five different “chapters.”
Referencing the space’s industrial past while highlighting important sites along the route, the landmarks punctuate the Chemin des Carrières in distinct ways. In Rosheim, intertwined steel circles create a labyrinth with irregular concave and convex interiors. The train tracks are conserved in this area, with openings in the sculpture that allow viewers to reflect on their environment. Moving to Boersch, Reiulf Ramstad enlarged the riverbed and built an open-space amphitheater to access the water.
After exiting a long green tunnel, two large steel plates open into Leonardsau. Like a gate, the structures frame Mont Sainte-Odile, a 760-meter-high peak of Vosges Mountains. With a former train station, the village of Ottrot materializes the history of the railway. Concrete crossings connect housing buildings to historical elements — like bridges, cranes and pumps — and to the surrounding landscape. Ending in Saint Nabor, a stunning structure, inspired by a four-leaf clover, offers wide views of the valleys and plains.
Take a look at the structural pieces that mark the Chemin des Carrières in the gallery above. For more information on the architecture firm and its past projects, head over to Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter’s website.
For more architecture-related news, Hangzhou 9M Architectural Design Co. created a modern living center in Yiwu, China based off of Tao Yuanming’s 421 CE fable, The Peach Blossom Spring.
