The internationally-acclaimed architecture firm Snøhetta has recently been selected to design two new art spaces in Australia and United States. Snøhetta will create the new Heysen Art Gallery in Adelaide- a rammed earth structure blending into the landscape and housing the works of renowned artists Hans and Nora Heysen. The studio was also selected to lead the expansion and re-design project for Dartmouth College Hopkins Center for the Arts, a vital creative hub for the New England Region.
Snøhetta has been commissioned for the design of the Shanghai Grand Opera House in Shanghai, China, following an international design competition. Aiming to attract a broad audience for traditional, classical, and experimental performances, Snøhetta has developed the architectural, landscape, interior, and graphic design for the sweeping complex in collaboration with Shanghai-based architects ECADI.
Oslo councilors have voted to halt the Snøhetta-designed “A House to Die In,” located in the grounds of painter Edward Munch’s former house and workshop in western Oslo. The recent vote, reported by Norwegian newspaper The Local would appear to put an end to the 8-year collaborative process between Snøhetta and Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard.
A House to Die In has become the most controversial building proposal in recent Norwegian history, due to its architectural form and how it honors the legacy of one of Norway’s most famous artists.
This article was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "Inside the Design of Norway’s Most Controversial Building."
The sun is setting fast over a half-frozen hill about five miles west of Oslo. Named Kikkut after a now-demolished villa, the site neighbors Ekely, the old estate of Edvard Munch (itself now half razed), and save for some graffiti-covered detritus and an early crop of spring wildflowers, its peak is totally barren. Squinting northward to Munch’s Winter Atelier some 500 feet in the distance, it’s hard to believe this is the proposed site for A House to Die In: one of the most controversial building proposals in recent Norwegian history.
The brainchild of Norway’s enfant terrible artist Bjarne Melgaard, the proposal for “A House to Die In” is a luminescent, UFO-like living sculpture that doubles as a studio and home for Melgaard and his parents. With financial backing from two of the most powerful property developers in the country, the Selvaags and Sealbay A/S—longterm friends of the artist who also supplied the plot of land on the outskirts of the city—the Oslo-based Melgaard approached local Norwegian firm Snøhetta in 2011 with his idea for a combined artwork, studio—and final resting place.
The result of an 8 year collaborative process between Snøhetta and Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard, “A House to Die In,” is now on display at a new exhibition Tjuvholmen in Oslo, Norway.
Organized by the architects and artist with Selvaag Art Collection, the exhibition shows the artistic process of designing the unique home and studio that is currently seeking approval for its construction. To be located on the grounds of painter Edward Munch’s former house and workshop in western Oslo, the sculptural proposal has prompted discussion over how it honors the legacy of one of Norway’s most famous artists.
Snøhetta have revealed designs for Europe's first underwater restaurant in the coastal village of Båly, in Norway. The structure, which also houses a marine life research center, teeters over the edge of a rocky outcrop, semi-submerged in the ocean. Built from concrete, the monolithic structure will come to rest on the sea bed five meters below the water's surface; here, it will "fuse" with the ecosystem of the concealed shoreline. Below the waterline, the restaurant’s enormous acrylic windows will frame a view of the seabed.
Following two years of community engagement, Snøhetta and DIALOG have released the final design for their competition-winning New Central Library in Calgary. Planned for a vibrant intersection between Downtown Calgary and the East Village, the new library aims to fulfill the city’s vision for a “technologically advanced public space for innovation, research and collaboration.”
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The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has topped out its Snøhetta-designed extension, marking the halfway point in the museum’s transformation. Rising behind SFMOMA’s existing Mario Botta-designed building, the 10-story addition will add more than triple the amount of gallery space, 130,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor galleries, flexible performance art spaces and a dramatically expanded education program for students and teachers upon completion in 2016.
More images after the break...
