In 2014, Snøhetta was announced as one of two winners in a competition to design new banknotes for the Norwegian Bank. Now, after 2 years of development, the first bills have been produced and are nearly ready to begin full circulation.
To coincide with the occasion, Norges Bank has released a series of videos explaining the design and production process. Check them out below.
The new notes follow the chosen theme of “The Sea”, with front sides featuring realistic depictions on nautical scenes conceived by graphic design studio Metric Design and Terje Tønnessen, and backsides displaying the pixelated motifs created by Snøhetta.
“Titled ‘The beauty of boundaries’, the design celebrates the country's coast as a fundamental element of its identity, heritage, and industries. The cubical pattern constructs the coast, the horizon, and the motive; just as humans construct our societies on the coast,” explain the architects in a press release.
The new currency will rolled out in several stages, beginning with the 100- and 200-krone notes on May 30, 2017. The 50- and 500- krone notes will follow approximately one year later, with the 1000-krone note to be issued last, in autumn 2019. Given the complex production process, these dates are subject to potential delays.
Learn more about the design of the banknotes in this four part series produced by Norges Bank, featuring interviews with Snøhetta designers Henrik Haugan and Moa Nordahl (in part 3):
Part 1: Why do we need new banknotes? (3 min)
Part 2: Why was “The Sea” chosen as the theme for the new banknotes? (6 min)
Part 3: What’s behind the choice of motifs for the new banknotes? (8 min)
Part 4: The long road from design proposals to actual banknotes (10 min)
You can learn more about the new bills and the rollout schedule, here.
News via Snøhetta, Norges Bank.
