Oblong Voidspace sounds like a theoretical construction, but it is in fact a highly tactile and sense-oriented structure. Almost cubic on the outside, it is accessed by an interior stairway, which leads to a vessel-like space open to the sky. In a sense it is about the absence of sculpture: the outside being more architectural and the inside more experiential. Like a ceremonial space, the interior focuses attention on the convergence of body and mind.

– Jene Highstein

Conceived as an experience in space and light, the interior of the 9-metre-tall cube of ice is modelled on the absence of a huge monolithic shape, which is characteristic of Jene Highstein’s sculpture. We calculated that the melting ice would create a hole in Oblong Voidspace, sited on the rivers edge outside the city of Rovaniemi, and would allow an uninterrupted view to the city.

– Steven Holl