This project seeks to address the threatened cultural heritage of an abandoned Soviet mining town, Pyramiden, located on a Norwegian archipelago in the High Arctic. Established in the 1920s, the town was once a self-sufficient “socialist utopia” until its desertion in the late 90s, leaving behind a site devoid of people but filled with all the paraphernalia constituting a modern city.

Pyramiden has recently seen rising popularity amongst Western tourists, seeking to experience first-hand 'post-socialist nostalgia' manifested in its material remains. However, such objects which embody absent-present memories of Pyraminden’s past exhibit an overall ‘lack of care’ – impacted by conflicts between exploitative owners, practices of 'ruin lust' by dark tourists, and a changing environment.

A visitors' complex comprising facilities that archive, preserve, and curate the forgotten paraphernalia of Pyramiden explores different ways in which cultural heritage can be protected. Through transposing, re-framing, and re-purposing various remains, the scheme challenges current conservation practices and questions how architecture can act as an agent to inform attitudes towards preservation.