The Sami Parliament building
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The Sami Parliament building in Karasjok was officially opened on November 2nd 2000 by His Majesty King Harald V. The architects Stein Halvorsen and Christian Sundby won the international architectural competition for the Sami Parliament in 1996, and it was completed in the autumn of 2001. The architects have won the Building Practice Prize and other architectural prizes for this work. The Sami Parliament is a complex building, implemented with strong architectural techniques, materials in pine, slate and glass, and incorporating a lot of light and air. The plenary hall, which is located under the graying cone shape, is the most visual and striking feature of the building, and is clearly visible in the town of Karasjok. The Sami Parliament building holds the library, reception, meeting rooms and offices, and forms a semicircle on two floors. At the end of the semicircle is the Sami Parliament's plenary hall, a low-lying amphitheater for meetings of the Samis’ elected assembly. The main building has a gross area of 5300 square meters and cost approximately 130 million kroner to build. An additional office and administration building was opened in November 2015, and is connected to the parliament building by means of a glass walkway. Stein Halvorsen was also the architect for this building.