Archinect - News

Snøhetta’s new innovation hub will feature Bangkok’s largest elevated garden

2023-02-23T11:08:00-05:00

Snøhetta has revealed its design for a new large-scale mixed-use development in Bangkok. Designed in collaboration with A49 Architects and SHMA Landscape Architects, the 2.7 million-square-foot Cloud 11 development is described by the team as “a hub for innovation and tech companies in the city and provides the area with a large, green public space” as well as a node for “artists, makers, and tech entrepreneurs.”

Image credit: MIR for Snøhetta

In addition to a series of pocket parks, the project will house the largest elevated garden in Bangkok. Described by the designers as an “urban lung,” the park doubles as both a calming space for users and a response to the city’s ecological challenges including air pollution and lack of green space.

Image credit: MIR for Snøhetta

“We have had the opportunity to not only create a building, but a new neighborhood in the center of Bangkok,” said Snøhetta founding partner Kjetil Trædal Thorsen. “An urban artifact providing a thriving place for cult...

Cornell Tech celebrates Roosevelt Island Campus phase one completion

2022-02-24T14:33:00-05:00

Cornell Tech, Cornell University’s urban campus for technology research and education, has announced the completion of the first phase of its Roosevelt Island campus development in New York City. This news comes following the recent completion and opening of the Snøhetta-designed Verizon Executive Education Center and the Graduate Roosevelt Island Hotel in 2021.

The first three buildings at Cornell Tech, which opened in September 2017 include the Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center, designed by Morphosis Architects, the TATA Innovation Center, designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and The House, designed by Handel Architects and developed by The Hudson Companies and Related Companies.

Previously on Archinect: Snøhetta completes two new buildings for Cornell Tech campus in New York

The Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center is the campus’s first academic building offering a variety of spaces designed to support different learning modes, while incorporating advanced sustainability features and comm...

Snøhetta's new Düsseldorf opera house design looks to create a cultural hub

2021-10-04T13:54:00-04:00

Snøhetta is set to unveil its latest design for an expanded international opera venue that it hopes will create a new, state-of-the-art cultural hub In the heart of one of Germany’s most artistic cities.

The proposed Duett Düsseldorf will replace the city’s existing 1,300-seat Opernhaus Düsseldorf with an extended program and added mixed-use towers that seamlessly integrate into the historic Hofgarten park below.

Image: © MIR

Emerging from a “forest-like” foyer entrance bifurcated by a transparent glass shell, visitors are welcomed to the horizontal volume by a sculptural wooden core topped off by three cantilevered floors culminating in a fourth-floor café that provides concert-goers with up-close views of the rehearsal spaces for both the orchestra and choir. The volume is completed by a 6,000-square-meter (32,300-square-foot) roof garden that can be adapted to serve as an event space for communal functions and offers the public 360-degree views of the city.

Image: © Plomp

This is ...

Snøhetta completes new extension and landscape for the Ordrupgaard Museum in Denmark

2021-08-16T17:43:00-04:00

Snøhetta has unveiled a new extension and landscape design for the Ordrupgaard Museum in Denmark.

Originally built as a three-winged, neo-classical country mansion during World War I, the museum was expanded by a modern glass and black lava concrete extension in 2005, designed by Zaha Hadid. Snøhetta’s design creates a holistic and continuous path throughout the museum and its surrounding park and gardens, linking Hadid’s intervention with the museum’s original building and permanent collection. This project comprises landscape interventions along with five brand new, subterranean exhibition spaces.

The Ordrupgaard Museum is located north of Copenhagen and houses Northern Europe’s most comprehensive collection of French and Danish art from the 19th and early 20th century.

Out of the new exhibition spaces, two create a continuation of Hadid’s extension, and the remaining three are dedicated to one of the museum’s main attractions: its extensive and permanent collection of French im...

Snøhetta and HGA selected to design new Parnassus Research and Academic Building at UCSF

2021-07-16T16:40:00-04:00

Snøhetta and HGA are teaming up to design the new Parnassus Research and Academic Building (PRAB) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF).

The approximately $700 million project will anchor a redesigned west end of the campus. The building is being accompanied by extensive site improvements in the surrounding area and a new hospital planned for the east end of the Parnassus Heights campus. Together, these projects are part of phase one of the Comprehensive Parnassus Heights Plan, a sweeping multi-decade revitalization of the campus.

The PRAB project will replace UC Hall, UCSF’s oldest building at Parnassus Heights, which was built in 1917. Preliminary plans for the building call for a 270,000-square-foot space with wet labs, computational labs, modern classrooms, and a nursing school, all supported by open spaces and other public realm improvements. 12,000 square feet will be set aside for education, allowing graduate students to work in labs and attend classes under ...

Snøhetta designs library-inspired pop-up store for reMarkable

2021-05-20T16:24:00-04:00

Snøhetta has designed a new type of retail experience or “a better place to think” in collaboration with Norwegian tech company reMarkable, whose next-generation paper tablet was named one of the best inventions of 2020 by Time Magazine. Responding to the rise and proliferation of online retail, Snøhetta has met the need of consumers who want to see and experience products physically. In the store, reMarkable’s acclaimed tablet can be used in an environment cultivated to truly experience the product.

The pop-up store was opened in December 2020 and sits in the middle of Oslo’s central fashion district in Øvre Slottsgate. The opening was a bold move during the pandemic, manifesting the significance of providing holistic retail experiences.

Snøhetta’s design for reMarkable. Photo by Calle Huth

“Although consumers are becoming increasingly digital in their shopping habits, especially during the pandemic, we see the value of letting our customers experience that wow moment of writing o...

Snøhetta designs mixed-use building on former airport in Hong Kong

2020-12-09T11:42:00-05:00

Snøhetta has designed a mixed-use building in Hong Kong, named Airside. Commissioned by Nan Fung group, the 176,000-square-meter structure is located in the center of the former Kai Tak airport. A 200-meter tall tower set atop a podium fit with roof gardens and urban space at ground level, the development will be Snøhetta's first in Hong Kong.

"We are proud to be working on an urban project of this scale with such a strong determination to offer an inviting space for the people of Hong Kong. As Snøhetta’s first built project in Hong Kong, we hope that this building will serve as a place for both commercial activities and recreation for many years to come," said Snøhetta Managing Partner Robert Greenwood in a statement.

The Kai Tak Airport was formerly the international airport of Hong Kon from 1925 to 1998. It is currently growing into a new Central Business District that, according to Snøhetta, is due to be a fresh focal point of urban development and commerce.

The five volume bu...

Snøhetta unveils playful design for the El Paso Children's Museum

2020-10-06T08:44:00-04:00

After winning the competition for the new El Paso Children's Museum, Snøhetta has unveiled its playful and adventurous design for the city's new educational center. The 70,000 sf museum is set within the heart of El Paso's Downtown Arts district. Through an unorthodox use of geometries, the building distinguishes itself from the rest of the local skyline.

The rectilinear base is wrapped in glass, allowing for plenty of natural light and interior views for the public on the outside. A succession of barrel vaults add a rhythmic quality to the structure that seems to represent a "cloud-like crown."

Outdoor public amenities such as streetscapes, gathering areas, and gardens have also been introduced to the new museum to take advantage of El Paso's sunny climate. At the eastern end of the building, a terraced "discovery garden" creates a series of outdoor rooms, each with one-of-a-kind atmospheres to explore.

The first floor includes free exhibitions and a cafe accompanies by the entranc...

Snøhetta's city hall in South Korea connects the government with the people

2020-10-01T11:51:00-04:00

Following an international architecture competition, Snøhetta together with local partner Tomoon Architects and Engineers have won the bid to design the new city hall in Cheongju, South Korea. The new facilities embrace an ethos of community and integration between the government and its citizens.

For smooth operation and open communication between departments, administrative spaces are consolidated under one roof. The design addresses the currently scattered nature of governmental offices by bringing all parties into one holistic space.

The roof and facade are formed with a combination of translucent and opaque panels to convey an ethereal quality that connects the inner-workings of the "machine" to the public on the outside. Moreover, photovoltaics provide a renewable source of energy while the the laminated glazing throughout provides an ample offering of natural light.

The new building wraps around the existing city hall, which...

Snøhetta's recently completed HQ for adventure travel company features a "green curtain" of climbing plants

2020-08-26T16:10:00-04:00

Snøhetta has recently completed a four-story timber office building for international trekking and adventure travel company ASI Reisen. The structure combines timber frame construction with solid wooden elements intended to optimize the use of materials and allow for the largest amount of open floor area within the new office.

"With its resource-saving timber construction and sophisticated sustainable energy concept, the new ASI headquarters marks an inspiration for responsibly constructing our homes and office spaces for the future. At the same time, the new office space offers a pleasant and modern working atmosphere for its employees," said Patrick Lüth, Managing Director of Snøhetta’s studio in Innsbruck in a statement.

The defining feature of the structure is its "green curtain" of climbing plants that grow on a suspended metal frame. Fit with 17 different warm weather and evergreen plant species, the green curtain functions as a heat shield and provides shading to the exterior...

Snøhetta completes pentagonal glue-lam hiking cabins in Norway

2020-06-22T14:36:00-04:00

After the original Tungestølen Tourist Cabin was destroyed by Cyclone Dagmar, a devastating windstorm that swept over Norway on Christmas 2011, glacier hikers lost a treasured destination. Luster Turlag, a local branch of the Norwegian National Trekking Association, and a small local village, came together to collect funds to rebuild and initiated an international design competition that Snøhetta won back in 2015.

Snøhetta's design consists of nine new cabins, each pentagonal in form, made with glue-lam frames, covered in sheets of cross-laminated timber (CLT), and clad in ore pine. The exterior facing walls of the cabins Have a beak-like shape to combat strong winds rising from the valley floor.

The main cabin houses a space designed for collective meals around various wooden tables. The highest point of the main cabin measures just under five meters, creating an expansive communal space fit with panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

The remaining cabins contain dorms and a...

Henning Larsen, Studio Gang, and Snøhetta shortlisted for Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota

2020-05-20T17:29:00-04:00

The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation has named Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, and Snøhetta as the finalists for a forthcoming $100 million research and interpretive center dedicated to the nation's 26th president.

Slated for a 60-acre site located in the Badlands of North Dakota, the forthcoming library complex was initiated by the state's legislature in 2019 and fundraising is currently underway to help push the project into design and construction, The Bismarck Tribune reports.

Regarding the project, Michael Sørensen, Partner and director of Henning Larsen’s New York office writes, “We’re deeply honored to be part of this historic opportunity and are looking forward to immersing ourselves in the majesty of the Badlands,” adding, “For us, the architecture and the landscape must embody the spirit of the Badlands, the spirit and sanctity of place – now, tomorrow and for generations to come." The Henning Larsen team includes landscape architects Nelson Byrd Woltz Lan...

A Snøhetta-designed "peace bench" is designed to help UN leaders talk it out

2019-10-17T14:30:00-04:00

Snøhetta's new bench design for the United Nations, entitled The Best Weapon after Nelson Mandela's historic adage: "the best weapon is to sit down and talk," was commissioned by the Nobel Peace Center and is currently installed at the organization's headquarters in New York City.

The project seeks to "pay tribute to past Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their efforts to bring people together to find effective solutions for peace," says Snøhetta in a recent press release.

Image courtesy of Snøhetta

Unveiled back on July 18th, Nelson Mandela Day, the installation is currently being transferred from New York City to its permanent home near the Nobel Peace Center and the Oslo City Hall. Snøhetta worked in collaboration with Hydro, a fully integrated aluminum company, and outdoor furniture manufacture Vestre, to design the work, achieving a six-and-a-half meter-long installation made from anodized aluminum.

True to its purpose the bench is elevated at both ends, bringing together those ...

Snøhetta reveals chair made of recycled plastic from local fish farming industry

2019-02-06T15:53:00-05:00

Snøhetta has unveiled the S-1500 chair, made from 100% recycled plastic and steel from the local fish farming industry in the North of Norway. Presented during Stockholm Design Week, the chair has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the market.

A collaboration between the international architecture firm and the furniture manufacturer Nordic Comfort Products, the chair's design is modeled off of Norwegian modernist Bendt Winge’s classic R-48 chair from the late sixties. Due to it production technique, the marbled pattern of each chair is unique, telling the story of the plastic's journey as fish nets to furniture.

S-1500 is part of a two year research project from the firm, aimed at employing waste material in new and sustainable ways. In order to reduce the need to produce new, virgin plastic, the project views waste as a valuable resource and instead builds up a local, circular economy by employing runoff from a local industry.

It is the first of several differ...

Snøhetta completes Swarovski's luminous crystal manufacturing facility in Austria

2019-01-30T20:49:00-05:00

Snøhetta's new Swarovski Manufaktur in Wattens, Austria brings creative design, rapid prototyping, and technical production under one porous roof.

To enter the Manufaktur, visitors first walk through a bridge from Campus 311, a new office location in an old factory building that has an interior with a dark color palette. Visitors then walk into the brighter interior of the Manufaktur, which features white walls and light birch wood panels that cover the floor and a sculptural platform on the second floor.

Photo © David Schreyer.

In designing the building, Snøhetta drew inspiration from the ephemeral elements of a crystal, like incorporating natural daylight. “Crystals only come to life with light, so for us it is the intense presence of that daylight that is the most important aesthetic aspect of this building,” said Patrick Lüth, Managing Director of Snøhetta’s Studio in Innsbruck.

The self-supporting, white steel ceiling consists of a r...

Snøhetta's Outdoor Care Retreats offer respite to patients at Norway's largest hospitals

2019-01-07T19:19:00-05:00

Hidden in lush forests that are within walking distance from two of Norway’s largest hospitals, the Outdoor Care Retreat is a group of secluded wooden cabins that offer patients a relaxing space to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of nature. Designed by Snøhetta on behalf of the Friluftssykehuset Foundation, the cabins let patients get a break from rigorous treatment routines. Plus, a change in environment can help long-term hospitalization feel a little more manageable.

The Friluftssykehuset Foundation initiated the Outdoor Care Retreat project and developed it with the Oslo University Hospital's Department of Psychosomatics and CL-Child Psychiatry and Snøhetta. The Norwegian Minister of Health and Care Services opened the first Outdoor Care Retreat at the Oslo University Hospital, Rikshospitalet last June. A week later, another Outdoor Care Retreat opened near the Sørlandet Hospital Kristiansand in southern Norway.

Outdoor Care Retreat in Kristiansand. Photo © Ivar Kvaal.

Outdoor Car...

Snøhetta's custom-made cutlery set is now available for you to buy

2018-11-15T15:44:00-05:00

Known for their innovative designs and mesmerizing buildings, Snøhetta has created custom-made cutlery for restaurant Barr in Copenhagen. Collaborating with design brand Table Noir, Snøhetta designed the pieces based on the holistic design experience that compliments the restaurant. Having already designed restaurant Barr's interiors as well as creating the visual identity for the Noma Restaurant Group, Snøhetta's vision was to highlight the restaurant's conceptual expression.

Image © Table Noir

Located in North Atlantic House, Barr focuses on food and drink that are traditional to the region along the North Sea. Its name, meaning "barley" in old Norse, reflects executive chef Thorsten Schmidt's passion for regional food and drink through its history and culture.

Image © Table Noir

Emphasizing on its tactile feel and physical experience while dining, "the cutlery is not merely defined by aesthetics or functionality; it actually enhances the enjoyment of the food and thus elevates th...

Snøhetta + DIALOG's new, expanded Calgary Central Library is now open

2018-11-05T15:20:00-05:00

Showing off a dynamic geometric-patterned facade, the new Calgary Central Library by Snøhetta and DIALOG finally opened its doors to the public on November 1. The Snøhetta and DIALOG team was selected to design the new library after winning the Calgary Public Library's international competition in 2013.

Located in a city where more than half of its residents are active library cardholders, the new Central Library was expanded to 240,000 square feet (two-thirds of its original size) to accommodate more visitors and their various library needs.

Photo © Michael Grimm.

The entry plaza doubles as a portal and bridge that re-establishes pedestrian connections across the site. Gently terraced slopes rise up to the building, while outdoor amphitheaters embedded into the terraces allow people to sit and library programs to take place outdoors.

“The entire building volume is enclosed in the same pattern, allowing all sides to function as the ‘front’ of the building. This ...

Norway's new bank notes designed by Snøhetta come into circulation

2018-10-30T14:00:00-04:00

Norway has launched the country's new 50 and 500 kronor notes into circulation. Designed by Snøhetta, the revamped currency will join the graphic 100 and 200 notes launched in 2017 that were also penned by the firm as part of Norway's paper currency redesign.

The Oslo studio's pixellated graphics were selected by the country's central bank back in 2014. The abstract compositions celebrate landmarks along Norway's characteristic coastline, representing the strong relationship between land and sea.

The pixilated patterns, varying for each specific banknote, follow the Beaufort scale, which measures wind speed. For example, on the 50 NOK note the wind is gentle, represented by short, cubical shapes, while on the 1000 NOK note, the wind is strong, represented through sharp, long shapes.

The other side of the banknote features illustrations of traditional and contemporary sailing vessels, seascapes and marine life from the graphic design studio Metric Desig...

Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum selects Snøhetta to lead ambitious expansion

2018-10-18T14:22:00-04:00

The Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha has selected the architecture firm Snøhetta for its recently announced expansion. The ambitious plans will add a new building to join the original Art Deco museum, built in 1931, as well as a later 1994 addition designed by Norman Foster.

Snøhetta's extension will add new galleries to the site, allowing Joslyn to better display and further expand its 12,000 piece permanent collection. In particular, the Museum plans on growing its collection of contemporary art, having been generously gifted over 50 high-profile works by the Schrager family last year. The new addition will further help propel the museum to a new position on the international stage.

"The Museum is one of Nebraska’s greatest assets," remarked Joslyn's CEO Jack Becker. On the selection of Snøhetta, he added that the firm behind the SFMOMA Expansion and the Sept. 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion is "a perfect fit for this project, not only for their visionary design, but also for their commit...

Snøhetta to design Ford's new Michigan headquarters & campuses

2018-06-21T17:36:00-04:00

More details on Ford's adaptive reuse of Michigan Central Station reveal that Snøhetta has been commissioned as the lead designer as part of Ford's $1 billion capital improvements project. Tasked with re-envisioning the company's Headquarters and Research Campus in Dearborn, Michigan, the firm will also design Ford's new urban campus in Detroit’s Corktown neighborhood.

Michigan Central Station renovation rendering. Image: Ford.

The Corktown Campus project, estimated to cover 1.2 million square feet, includes renovating the historic Michigan Central Station, which has been in disrepair for 30 years since Amtrak last used the train station. Spanning 500,000 square feet, the updated building will house Ford and partner company offices along with public spaces.

Michigan Central Station current state of disrepair.

The project also involves developing mixed-use facilities close to downtown Detroit. The plans include restaurant and retail spaces on the ground floor, with residential provis...

Snøhetta designs Planetarium and Visitor Center for Norway's largest astronomical facility

2018-05-02T15:01:00-04:00

In the dense forest of Harestua, located 45 kilometers north of Oslo, Norway, the familiar firm Snøhetta has designed the expansion for the country's biggest astronomical facility. Originally built for the total solar eclipse in 1954, the Solobservatoriet is the largest solar observatory north of the Alps and an active research center, credited for several major advances including the spectrograph and the discovery of solar storms.

The otherworldly expansion, headed by the Nordic architecture practice, will add a planetarium to the site as well as other ambitious facilities aimed at providing travelers and students with a place to observe the world's natural wonders.

The centerpiece of the campus, a new 16,000-square-foot planetarium, will appear as a large golden dome engraved with constellations. It is surrounded by an undulating, crater-like ring lushly planted with grass, wild heather, blueberry and lingonberry bushes. It will house an 100-seat viewing cent...

Snøhetta unveils “Svart”, the Arctic Circle's first energy-positive hotel

2018-02-12T20:33:00-05:00

From an underwater restaurant to a black crystalline U.F.O to the AT&T Building update, Snøhetta is coming out with plenty of debatable designs as of late. Most recently, they revealed their concept for “Svart”, described as the Arctic Circle's first Powerhouse-standard, energy-positive hotel. Designed for the tourism company, the Arctic Adventure of Norway, the hotel's name refers to its proposed location at the foot of the Svartisen glacier in Meløy of northern Norway. Svart is also a tribute to the glacier's deep blue ice.

Located in the arctic environment where natural preservation is key, the circular hotel reduces its yearly energy consumption by approximately 85 percent and produces its own energy. Inspired by local vernacular architecture, Svart's design is based on the “fiskehjell” (an A-shaped wooden structure for drying fish) and the “rorbue” (a traditional seasonal house used by fisherman).

In reference to t...

Snøhetta's Saudi King Abdulaziz Center shows signs of life after years of delays

2018-01-05T16:11:00-05:00

After years of delays and a dearth of information, the King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (known as Ithra) in the Saudi Arabian eastern city of Dhahran is finally getting off the ground. The long-awaited culture hub, which is funded by the Aramco oil conglomerate, should be fully open and operational by the summer.

Snøhetta won the design competition for the King Abdulaziz Center for Knowledge and Culture a decade ago in 2008 and beat out rival proposals by Zaha Hadid and Rem Koolhaas.

The Art Newspaper quotes a spokesperson for the museum, saying: "The centre is undergoing its soft opening phase after [it was] officially inaugurated by the Custodian of The Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, on 1 December. We’re ramping up for full operations during the first half of this year."

All images courtesy of Snøhetta.

Snøhetta gives its new Muttrah Fish Market in Oman a playful canopy roof

2018-01-03T15:00:00-05:00

Doors recently opened at the new Snøhetta-designed Muttrah Fish Market in Oman. The 4,000-square-meter facility is an upgrade from the city's older 1960s fish market and offers refrigeration, packaging, storage spaces for fish, vegetable, and fruit vendors, as well as offices, coffee shops, and a restaurant gathered below the dynamically swooping curves of the canopy roof.

From the architects: "Situated at the heart of Muttrah, on Oman’s largest harbor, the new fish market is a tribute to both the past and the future of Oman. The city of Muttrah is known for its long history of commercial trade, its characteristic port, and long-standing fishery traditions."

"Located close to the city’s original fish market, built in 1960, the new market marks a continuity of the region’s trade and fishing traditions, while also fulfilling Oman’s need to accommodate for the country’s growing tourism industry."

Norman Foster vs. Snøhetta — a battle over Postmodernism

2017-11-10T15:04:00-05:00

A week to the day in which Norwegian design firm Snøhetta released their ambitious designs to modernize Phillip Johnson's Postmodern icon — the AT&T building in New York — Norman Foster has come out and added his name and gravity in support of the building protests against the proposed modifications.

In a short, precise and two-edged statement posted on Instagram no less, Norman Foster defends the project, not for its importance to him, or his interests per se but to Architecture's heritage at large — one that would be potentially soiled with Snøhetta's revamp.

Norman Foster Instagram

‘I was never sympathetic to the short-lived Postmodern movement – and this building in particular. However, it is an important part of our heritage and should be respected as such.'

While no one would declare the building a masterpiece through and through, it has always stood as more than a building, it has come to signify so much more. Johnson's design radically shifted our view of Architecture; it t...

The architectural community responds to Snøhetta's proposed update to Johnson's AT&T building

2017-11-01T15:17:00-04:00

The news of Snøhetta's renovation of Philip Johnson's iconic postmodern AT&T Building has the architectural world abuzz, with many lamenting the controversial overhaul. There is a petition going around to give the building landmark status—only recently made possible due to the structure's age—in an attempt to save the building's signature base from the proposed glass-curtain treatment. There is also a protest that has been scheduled for this Friday, more details on which can be found here.

Beyond organizing action, many have also taken to twitter to offer up their opinions on the new design met with mixed reviews, both in particular and in principle. Below are some of the responses.

In our own comment sections regarding the plans, Archinect readers had this to say:

"WTF Snohetta" –Koww

"It’s not hard to give the building a respectful upgrade—brighten up the windows and lighting which are dark and obstructed now (can do the same with the nice interior space). Not sure wh...

Philip Johnson's iconic postmodern AT&T Building is getting a makeover from Snøhetta

2017-10-30T16:57:00-04:00

Philip Johnson and John Burgee's 1984 AT&T Building, for many, signaled the arrival of Postmodernism onto the world scene. Now known as the Sony Tower, the 37-story skyscraper's deployment of historicity contradicted the glass and metal modernism of its neighbors, signaling a new architectural era that landed it on the front page of the New York Times, and it's architect, Philip Johnson, onto the cover of Time.

After housing one of world's largest companies for decades, AT&T, facing financial troubles, sold the building in 2002 to Sony who once again, sold the building to the real-estate developer Chetrit group in 2013. After deserting plans to convert the office tower into luxury condos and a hotel, Chetrit group sold the tower to Olayan America in 2016, who has since tapped international firm Snøhetta for the building's renovation.

The building has never been designated as a landmark, and whether or not it shou...

Snøhetta to Make Public the Second-Largest Waterfall in the United States

2017-06-09T12:22:00-04:00

Oregon state, home to some of the nation’s most spectacular gorges and naturally occurring waterfalls, will soon uncover what might become its most compelling ecological landmark. Willamette Falls, of Oregon’s Willamette River, is the United States’ second largest waterfall by volume, and has been blocked from public access for well over a century.

International design firm Snøhetta has been selected to redevelop the 22-acre former industrial site located at the entrance of Oregon City into a public riverwalk. Boasting 60 species of fish, a host of unique flora and fauna and historic basalt topography, the site necessitates a sensitive restoration protocol for the firm, who is working with Portland’s Mayer / Reed and Vancouver’s DIALOG to carry out the project.

“The riverwalk will serve as a portal to the Northwest’s collective history,” announced the firm in a press release, “reviving a former industrial site through its aggregated layers of natural, ecological, cultural, and geologi...

Inspired by a common canning jar, Snøhetta designs a new bar for the Oslo Airport

2017-05-17T12:36:00-04:00

Despite being built just under 20 years ago, a rapid surge in passengers has left the Oslo Airport pretty far past capacity. So a big renovation and expansion is underway, with a first phase just completed this April. Inside the expanded arrivals and departure hall, the Norwegian superstar practice Snøhetta has designed a unique bar and “interior concept”.

Named Norgesglasset after a ubiquitous jar used for picking and storing food, the 65 square meter design riffs on its namesake. 4,000 jar clad the ceiling and back wall. Conceived as one continuous organic form, the back wall rises 4.8 meter from the floor and juts out over the seating area. It’s complemented by a chandelier, also made of the Norgesglasset jars.

The circular bar is surrounded by red chairs that match a red rubber floor and a red couch lining the back wall. The red is a nod to the red rubber gasket on the distinctive jars. Additionally, Snøhetta designed new employee uniforms and menu cards to match the aesthetic.

...