Global Seed Vault awarded Norwegian Lighting Prize
Photo: Mari Tefre/Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault has been awarded Norwegian Lighting Prize for 2009. The award was established by The Norwegian Lighting Institute, and is presented every second year. The purpose of the Norwegian Lighting Prize is to focus on and emphasize lighting culture in Norway.
Prizes are awarded in two categories; one prize for indoor lighting and one for outdoor lighting. Svalbard Global Seed Vault has been awarded the prize for best outdoor lighting in 2009. The award is particularly gratifying because 2009 saw unprecedented interest in participating in the competition. The prize will be presented this afternoon in connection with the conference Lysdagen 2009, which is organized by Norwegian Lighting Institute in cooperation with Bærum municipality and several major lighting suppliers.
“The Svalbard Global Seed Vault has during its first year of operation been a huge success. 25 international and domestic institutions have deposited more than 400,000 seed samples for long-term storage in the seed vault. Just as important is the fact that the seed vault creates interest in and increases knowledge about the value of genetic diversity,” says Lars Peder Brekk, Minister of Agriculture and Food.
Prime Minister Stoltenberg opened the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a secure storage facility for seeds from all over the world, on 26. February 2008 in the presence of guests from all over the world as well as the major media networks and journalists. Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a secure storage facility for seeds in order to safeguard biological diversity in agriculture, particularly crops of great value to the global food supply. The Norwegian Government through the Ministry of Agriculture and Food owns the seed vault, while gene banks from all over the world will deposit seeds.
Lighting art
The external decoration of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was the responsibility of artist Dyveke Sanne and ensures that the building shines in light summer nights as well as dark winter days. The decoration consists of highly polished steel, bent into facets and assembled on manageable elements fixed in the concrete and containing fiber-optic lights. The decoration is covered by special glass that breaks the light in a certain way.
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Food
