Forest Finns are a mythical minority of Finns who migrated to Sweden and Norway during the 17th century. The minority cultivated the demanding method of slash and burn farming and lived under demanding circumstances isolated from the majority of the population. Forest Finns typically lived in small communities consisting of smoke cabins arranged around a courtyard. The forest and smoke were the most fundamental natural elements in Finnforest culture. The communities lived in the smoke from the smoke cabins and the forest provided everything, a place to call home and food on the table, which made the Finnforest relation with nature very unique. Wood was the most essential material for the Forest Finns in both building, living and agriculture.

The new museum building for the Norsk Skogfinsk Museum is a big building for a small minority, preserving and continuing the long forgotten culture and providing information about the Forest Finns to the public. The new museum building communicates the Finnforest way of living and the relationship to nature through its memorable architecture and interprets the building tradition of the Forest Finns through contemporary wood construction.