Ovnsvakta

With Ovnsvakta we want to build a multi-purpose building and a venue for art, craft and community — a unique space for creative expression for artists, makers and the people of the town.

Our plans include a wood-fired ceramics kiln, a workshop and a public outdoor space with a pizza oven. The building will replace the present Portvakta at Porsgrunds Porselænsfabrik, which has to be demolished as part of the upgrade to the quayside. We want to reuse materials from the old Portvakta and so create a connection to the factory’s history.

The kiln will be a “Girel 3E” — a French wood-fired low-emission kiln adapted to Norwegian conditions, and, as planned, the first publicly accessible wood-fired kiln of its kind in the country. The building is designed by Feste Landskapsarkitekter and built by master builder and traditional craftsman Arild Høgseth. Both the building and the building process become a work in their own right — a socially engaging Gesamtkunstwerk — and a centre of expertise for porcelain and contemporary ceramics, rooted in the factory’s 140-year-old history of craft and design. Ovnsvakta is part of the urban-development project Kunstløypa mellom bruene.