According to the head of the Kola Peninsula Sami parliament Valentina Sovkina, traditional Sami houses could diversify Soviet architecture in the village of Lovozero. Now head of the Sami organization is working on a draft of such construction. She has created a selection of possible projects. Veja, tupa, labaz, gohti, lavvo are the names of the various national houses made of natural materials: wood, moss and peat, reindeer skin. "Today, these buildings from the outside look like a few centuries ago, but the houses can be absolutely modern inside, suitable for living," Valentina Sovkina says.
There are experienced builders of such houses among the Sami people. In Norway, the indigenous people have opened the company for the construction of an authentic property.
Olle Myusat is originally from Tana — the Saami area in the north of Norway. First peat house (in Sami — gohti) he built next to his contemporary home. The wooden one-story building is fully nestled with peat and reindeer moss. Roof and walls were quickly entangled by young plants and birds. Only windows are modern. There is not a dark and damp room behind a massive door, but a cozy two-room house with a spacious kitchen-studio, stove and underfloor heating, lighting, appliances, large combined bathroom. Olle designs living in the Sami way himself. Cuts hooks and handles of wood, makes tabletop of board scraps and brings things from the grandmother's trunk. According to Olle, the construction lasts a few months. House without a foundation, and yet it can be operated for many years. Cost of gohti in Norway is about five million rubles.
Valentina Sovkina believes that the construction of the street of six houses in Lovozero needs about thirty million rubles. Municipal authorities have approved the idea, but there is no money for the project in the local budget. "It comes down to finding investors. I discuss options for shared construction, a mortgage. After all, the Sami street is not only an open-air museum, but also the new home to the Sami. This can be houses for large families of our nation or veterans-herders, who spent all their lives in tundra," Valentina Sovkina says.
The authors of the Sami street project are confident in embodiment of the international project to build national Sami houses, as recently governors of the Murmansk region and Finnmark (Norway) signed another framework agreement which provides the continuation of active cooperation, including life of indigenous people of the North.
Evgeniya Volkova, «7x7»
