Turns forsaken WW2 bunker into perfect Arctic underground cabin

How did you find this area? I grew up in Oslo, you know, in the city, and then I saw online movies and stuff of skiing and nature, and I was just like, ah, I want to go up here. They are, I met them yesterday, and they just slept up there. Did you know there was any World War II bunkers in this area? Did you know the history? No, I'd seen a few things around, but I didn't know that much about it. This is another friend of mine. From the bunker? Ah, hi. Hi. It's tricky in some places. I hope it will be okay. Let's see. Okay. How did you even find this? From the town, you can see this small mountain, and it's very tempting to get up there, but it's really difficult. So the first time, I went through the gardens of the houses here. Hello. We will never get up there. It's too many people. And then, when I started building, I was like, I need to make a new trail. You need a hand? I think I might need to. Oh, yeah. Okay, got it. Oh, so you made this trail. So I made this trail, basically. Is there a right here in Norway to use the land? We have this law that everyone can enjoy and walk in nature everywhere, but then it's like, leave no traces, you know. But I left a trace. I think it's nice for the community. Hello. Another friend. Bye. Enjoy the day. So this was your route for construction. I mean, there's no other route. No other route. Some of my friends are camping there. It's a pretty nice spot. Wow. So people, the rule is, you can just camp where you want. You don't have to rent a camping spot. No, in Norway, you can camp wherever you want. Wherever you want? Yeah. Anywhere that's public, just find your side of the mountain. Exactly. You can camp for some days, and then you should move it. You can't, like, camp one spot for a long time. So the Germans, they built some stairs there. They built these stairs, you know. It's from the war. Because this is the route they were using to come up to the bunker? Yeah. They were building a bunker up here in order to... In order to watch... Oh, wow, what a great ship. Yeah, they built bunkers all across the shore to watch for ships. The Germans really wanted to protect this area after it was a raid from the Allies in 1941. After this, Hitler was like, wow, we really need to protect this area. So this area is the place in Norway with the most bunkers in Norway. They built even this, you know. I knew it's a lot of bunkers in this area. And I love to check all of them out. Wow. And I just wanted to hike up this mountain for fun. And then, oh, it was a bunker here as well. So you stumbled upon it? I stumbled upon it. And then I was like, I could create a beautiful place here. So this is it. Wow. So I was expecting a concrete bunker that, you know, makes sense that they'd be using the materials from here, not just bringing in cement or the... Right? Exactly. They used cement, but as little as possible. Possible, yeah, because there's so much rock here. What can I say? It's the most beautiful bunker I've ever seen. Yeah, that's a compliment. So here you see... You put a window in the front? Put in windows here and there. And I was really happy with the door. Because it's just a big window. So we get some light in because it's quite dark in this bunker, you know? Wow, that's great. Is that a salvage door? Yeah, it's really... Your eyes have to get used to it as well. So inside, what did you find? There's no roof. And just trash and soil and rocks here on the floor. And I dug everything out. Because people have been using it? Yeah, a little bit, you know, through the years. It was all trash, you know. And you put in bunk beds, right? Yeah. And also got this... They were going to be trashed. And they are waterproof, so they are really great. Comfortable mattresses. Are they camping mattresses? No, they're from hospitals. So, you know, when they pee or whatever, it's waterproof. So the idea is anybody can come... Yeah, so we were nine people here. Last night? Last night. I like your door here, the message you have here. Yeah. No key, feel free. My goal to create this great place for people to stay and transform the history to something new. So it keeps going back. I mean, the cement was there with the Germans, probably? Yeah, yeah. These are just old walls from the war, and this as well. And I put in this ladder, so you get some light and you have also another way to get out. This was here. I mean, there was a lookout here, so this was all dug out. Was it dug out, or were they covering something with rock? Could you tell? I mean, I think they, with dynamite, made some room and then they put it back together, you know? What about the windows? They were just like open, and I just put in plexiglass. It works really well. It's barely visible. Yeah, yeah. So this is the top. It's the top of the top. I call it utsikten, which is Norwegian for the view, because the view is the best in northern Norway. Right. Amazing view. It's like a fortress. But not too difficult to access. Yeah, yeah. Just 15 minutes from the town, and you see everything you need to see here. So they were watching from out there, you know, from this spot. They probably have these binoculars in there to see, you know, and to measure how far away the ship is. Then they had a cannon down there. So they were looking for? For ships, yeah, like British ships, because there were two fights there where the Allies tried to take back the area. So it brought the war up this far north. Yeah. Norway was really important for the Germans. So there were, like, yeah, big fights with sinking ships, where the Allies, they conquered the area back for just some days before the Germans got control again and whatever. And after this, the Germans decided to build bunkers all over so it wouldn't happen again. So when you came here, what did you find? I found just the ruins, you know. Rock? Just the rocks and the concrete walls. No roof, no floor, nothing. A little trash, you know, I cleaned it up. It was just a lot of soil and rocks that I had to dig out. That was a big job as well. Then I started to carry planks up, you know. So how many hikes did you take before you found this? Or how long were you living here? Several months, a year? Before I found this. Because this is obviously not the most traveled route. No, like half a year. Half a year, yeah. I used, like, one and a half years to think about the idea, you know, to flirt with the idea of making something. So one and a half years hiking back and forth and looking at it, I mean, coming. Getting to know the place. And you were living where? In this town. Yeah, so you'd moved up here from Oslo. Yeah, I moved after high school. To get to know the place, I was sleeping in the wintertime, like minus degrees outside, like with the northern lights above, and then the sun waking me up. So I slept there, like, in the wintertime. And tried to feel the place and see if I was really committed to do it. And after one and a half years, I couldn't not do it. I just had to do it. And that's when I started building. I built for two years, like, because I had to carry out everything. Where were you getting the materials? In Norway, it's too much materials laying around. People don't value, trash it, you know. Oh, so a lot of recycled stuff. Yeah, everything. Everything is salvaged. From the junkyard, from containers. Also driftwood from the sea, you know. And you put in a skylight? Yeah, here it was a hole. It was just a hole here. And then I figured, yeah, why not make a window that you can climb in and out. And then it's this room, which is really cool. So this is, what, the lookout or something? I mean, what would this be? Yeah, the lookout, you know. From here they could watch the whole fjord. So here, I like to sleep here, you know. When I'm here, I just take a mattress and put it here and sleep. And I can wake up and just look. And it's also awesome when it storms. Big, big storms. And it's just like... But you're safe in here. Because you have so much cement around you. Concrete, yeah. I was too creative sometimes, you know. I made this coffee table that you can take down, you know. But I never do that, you know. It's not needed. But it was fun to make, you know. It was a big, big task to be able to do that. But I had a lot of fun with the broomsticks. So it was holes from before. You see these holes? Oh yeah, these were here? They were here. Can you imagine what they were? Probably for the binoculars. They had a huge one with a lot of instruments. And so I think that's why they had stuff here. But there was a lot of holes. So I made everything stick into the wall. In those holes. So that was kind of fun. It's fun to play like that. What's under here? It's just... I think that's not that nice. So when you sleep here, you bring a mat? Yeah, I bring a mattress from there. So imagining what this place was during World War II is also interesting, right? It's this layer of history. You are just on top of something that's almost like being inside a historical monument or something. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I really connect with it sometimes, you know. Imagining how it was for them to be here. Even on beautiful days like this. It's kind of a world war, but... It must have been absurd to be here. How long were people here, do you know? Roughly? What, years? Yeah, I mean, probably for almost five years, you know. The Germans, they made it Norway early. I call this place The View. Utsikni. Which is interesting. You are not embracing the concept of a bunker, like being, you know, you are sieged, and you are afraid, and you want to shoot somebody. But The View, which is sort of like projecting yourself from that place, right? Yeah, what I wanted with the project was to turn the place on its head, what it was historically, what the place was about, you know. It was about war and abuse of power, and I wanted to turn it to the opposite. Like a sanctuary, a place where everyone is welcome, and transform the history to something new. I really enjoy this kitchen with a great view. It's practical. A lot of food, actually. So you bring this every time you leave things? Yeah, everyone does. So it says, like, take what you need, give what you can. So, pots and... I mean, people even leave this, you know. I mean, it's not so useful, but... That's one of the best things I have experienced about this project. I really tried to trust people, to show that I trust you when you come here, you know. A big German warship that was out there, you know. So I've had many valuable things here, and I trust that people keep it clean. And it's so nice to see that most people give so much back, so many gifts. Someone made this, like, this is new for me. Someone made this and left it, so that's perfect. When people feel trusted, they will give the trust back, and that's a big part of this project. And someone made these. This is funny, like, because this window had one side window attached as well, that had this shape. So I was like, ah, what to do with this window? And so I put it into the floor, so here it was a window. But obviously, it got destroyed after a while, because someone stepped on it. But you also have this. Secrets. I had the window also, because when it rains a lot, then water collects here. Found this. A lot of water collects here, and so I have a plastic pipe that goes down there, and in the end, I can suck the water out, and then it's this principle, I don't know what it's called in English. Gravity. With gravity, you know. And so I just suck one time, and then it flows by itself. So sometimes it's smart. It's knowing what to do. You don't need a pump. No, no pump. That's pretty cool. And I also have this. Like a secret shell. That's also just for fun, you know. Some gas. Yeah, some gas. Survival stuff. Yeah, I wouldn't say so. I mean, it must be some youth people. It's like fireworks. I don't know why they put it there. Sometimes it's beers. Sometimes it's food or firewood. That's kind of lollipop here. So you never know. You never know. And some people find that, and some others don't probably, right? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Does that open as well? It does. It was good because here I had stored some firewood that we used yesterday. So did it rain last night in here too? No, we were dry here. Yeah, it was good. But you see like on the walls it gets wet. And skins even. Yeah, that's also gifts from people. People are quite generous. I mean, some things disappear as well, you know. But that's part of it. So you put in a table that you carried this up? No, I made it. I built it here. It was really fun because there's no nails or glue or anything. It's just plugs. You see from the things to clean. There's a stick. A broomstick. Yeah, and you see the broomstick. So it's from them. So I just make holes and then plug them in. Then it's good. How did you learn how to do that? Just intuition, yeah. I mean, that was the fun thing about this project. I could just be so creative and play around, you know. So it's many, many cool details. So this, for example, someone got scared. They didn't trust the hook. So they put in more nails. But actually, you can take it off, you know, and then put it down, and it becomes a sofa. Wow. It's a convertible bunk bed, but really basic just to change. Yeah. You know, I just go to the junkyard, go around in containers, and I find different things, you know. I let them decide what I will make, you know. Yeah, like you see here, maybe an old window. Old window. And it's like a library, and this is just like sticks, you know. Oh, driftwood on the side, yep. This one is ore, you say? Yeah. From a boat. Yeah, that was destroyed, you know. So how much money do you think you spent on it? Yeah, not much. Only for the roofing. Those I didn't find at the time I needed. I found it later, you know. I bought them. I bought a chimney pipe, but that's pretty much it. So just a few hundred. A few hundred euros, yeah. Not more than that. And for me, like food as well. I dumpster dived when I was living here, so no food expenses. And also the tools. You find so much tools. And also screws, and knives, and even working clothes. I find, you know, my jacket that I use now, and this working dress. I find it in the trash. Yeah, these are found. This is for catching the fish from the boat. To get it in the boat. Oh, yeah. And you have some food here too? Yeah. And this, I found this and just mounted it. Like everything has a story, all the materials, you know. I found this in an old building, an important building. You even made some, like, hanging. Did you do this? Yeah. You really had fun with this place. I mean, the swings. So what inspired you to put up a swing? Just for fun. I mean, I had this rope, and also I found this, you know. Like, this was from the shore, from the sea. And, you know, it just looks like... So it made itself, you know. Oh, yeah. It was like, okay, obviously this has to become a swing. And I had the rope, so yeah, let's make it. So you decided here to keep this structure sound. You decided just to get a central bearing. To be safe. To be safe, yeah. And how did you get this stove up here? That must have been really heavy. Yeah, that was a good mission. I got help from six friends. You call it a mission, huh? Yeah. So, I mean, you walk the trail, so you know how tricky it is. Oh, shit. Six friends. So how would six people carry one thing? I think it was quite clever. We had planks, like long planks on each side, and then roping it. And then you could, like, carry from all the sides, you know. And it went fast, actually. Jesus. And where did you get it? Some hours away. It was for five euros, you know. It's great to cook on. We made a lot of food yesterday. It not only cooks, but also warms the place. Yeah, it really warms. It helps. This is actually from my family. They didn't use it anymore. It was just in the storage room. I grew up with it, and I just brought it here. From Oslo? From Oslo, yeah. What did your parents think of your project, or your family think of your project? Did they get it? Yeah, I think they get it. They like it, of course. My father has helped me sometimes. And my father is a mason, you know, bricklayer. And all my family, you know, my mother and two older sisters, they are architects. And so, on all, like, holidays and everything, the only thing they talk about is buildings. Go around, oh, look at this, look at that window. Like, I always thought it was super boring. But it seemed to be influencing me, where I approached it in a different way. Yeah, and here I have, like, a small museum. I dug out the soil, and then I found so much barbed wire. And from an oven, from a lamp, from a door. This says, like, made in Germany. And I found a bullet once, and I don't really know what this is. Probably some weaponry. And they even had electricity up here. So, yeah, I found a lot more than this as well. Just metal. And also barbed wire. Yeah, so much barbed wire, actually. And, like, down here, like, 20 meters, it's like a valley with just so much barbed wire laying there. And this plank is amazing as well. Found by the ocean. It's, like, eaten up. You see? By small insects. This is wood? This is wood. Oh, God. It's so porous now. I like this, because it's just kind of organic shape. Yeah, I mean, it's so playful. It just leans on this. This is also found here. And it leans here. Like, I don't even know how I came up with that. And this is going here, you know? And this is, like, bamboo coming by the sea. Made like an instrument. Yeah, it's just a map of the area. And more pieces. More stuff, yeah. People, I mean, that's a good instrument. I can't play. There was a flute there as well. I don't know where it is. Yeah, and then, you know, some tools I use. Still? Yeah. Oh, here's the flute. Also, I'm really happy with this gong. This is also just trash, you know? And someone made this to dry stuff. It's quite clever. You can probably dry some fish you caught. Or your boots if it rains, you know? What a fun place. Oh, right. So this place is quite alive. Yeah, very much alive. Yeah, it's awesome to be here. To just read or eat breakfast. Because there's no houses here. Like, out here, it's just all... You're just looking down at nature. Right. And that doesn't always happen. A lot of times we get out into nature, and you see the houses around you, the people staying. And, you know, we have to search for this now. Yeah. You think you'll keep coming back here? Yeah, for sure. I feel the responsibility to make sure it's alive and well. Yeah. So, I mean, this winter, we had the biggest storm in 40 years. The storm took some of the roof. And so in March, I was here for one month fixing, and I also took off the whole roof and got new planks in because they started to get rotten. Wow. So the weather would act fast then. Yeah. Because it's very difficult to get everything sealed and waterproof. I've tried to do my best, you see. But the water gets in, so I changed the planks under the roof. So it's much nicer now. I really love the guest book, the heater book. And there's also another one. So, yeah, it's so nice to read the messages, you know. There's been so many people here. That's me. It feels refreshing because I think we got very used to measuring everything by the economic value. Our society quantifies things based on the economic value and return on investment. I don't perceive that was your main goal here. No, not monetarily, at least. Some people put effort, yeah. You are getting something back that is not money, maybe. No, not at all. No money. She was actually here yesterday as well. So some people just came more than once. Yes. Yeah, yeah. People come back. That says something about the place. Yeah. And they tell... I mean, there's so many people from around the world and they tell their friends, you know. The brotherhood of the view. Oh, yeah. And sometimes you can see orcas and whales out there, you know. This is beautiful. Edible plants around the bunker that you can put in a wrap, you know. Not the most obvious. Yeah. Oh, wow. Like greens. How to use them. That's a real gift, too, then, to the place, right? Yeah. Survival skills. Yeah. Playing games, you know. And things you can't measure. It's just people enjoy this place. Playing music. And for me, that's great. And when they appreciate it, that's like a good feeling for me. I don't expect anything back. I just hope that people enjoy it and take care of it. Yeah, like from reading this, it's like crazy how much people appreciate this place, you know. They say it really inspires them of how the world could be, how open we could live, you know. Open spaces. Because you put a lot of time into something that's not yours, not personal property. Yeah, people appreciate that as well, right? I put a lot of effort in this. Yeah. But obviously, the best thing is to share it. That's just really nice for me. So that was always the idea. I need to get another one soon. Ah, there's only some pages left, you know. People are coming from everywhere. And probably thinking also about the history, right? It's sort of forcing you to keep the objects in here. You keep it as it was, in a sense, right? Exactly, yeah. You reflect on the history and the present while being here. It forces you to, in a new way and maybe in a good way, in a constructive way. How can we transform things, you know? This is from Einstein. A human being is part of the whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion, to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.