With an expected completion date of March 2019, the 18-story, 80-meter-tall-plus building in Brumunddal, Norway known as the Mjøsa Tower will soon become the world's tallest wooden structure, a coveted title among those designers who favor wood over more traditional tall building materials... View full entry
What had the land done to deserve being fissured? Local residents protested that they were traumatized enough by the killer’s passage among them not to suffer a daily reminder of it, thronged by tourists. Some families of victims refused the use of their loved ones’ names, which are already enshrined on a modest monument—a suspended silver ring, in the woods—on Utøya. Last month, Norway officially canceled the project. — The New Yorker
Memory Wound, a bold proposal by the Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg, won a government competition for a memorial dedicated to the seventy-seven victims of a massacre committed by Andres Breivik on July 22, 2011. The artist's design called for cutting a channel across the Sørbråten... View full entry
The Global Seed Vault, built in the Arctic as an impregnable deep freeze for the world’s most precious food seeds, is to undergo a multi-million dollar upgrade after water from melting permafrost flooded its access tunnel.
No seeds were damaged but the incident undermined the original belief that the vault would be a “failsafe” facility, securing the world’s food supply forever. Now the Norwegian government, which owns the vault, has committed $4.4m (NOK37m) to improvements.
— The Guardian
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... View full entry
Snøhetta has designed a “boat tunnel” that would allow ships to run beneath a mountain in Norway. With a whopping $272 million price tag, the mile-long tunnel would enable ships to safely avert the dangerous waters off the Stad Peninsula.150 feet tall and 118 feet wide, the tunnel would be... View full entry
What is the architecture of forward-thinking climate change? One example is the Svalbard Seed Vault, which when full will house roughly 3 million different species of plants in anticipation of a future that may be hotter, drier, or simply climatically different than the one we inhabit now.This... View full entry
Called Lysningen or ‘The Clearing’, it has been designed by the Bergen-based architects 3RW. [...]
“It is actually much better than I had thought,.” [Jørgen Watne Frydnes, the general manager of Utøya,] said. “The frame around the woods and the silence of nature, makes it feel like a well.”
— thelocal.no
On July 22, 2011, on the island of Utøyah, a lone gunman named Anders Breivik attacked a youth summer camp run by the Norwegian Workers’ Youth League (AUF), killing 69 people. Today, on the fourth anniversary of the attack, a memorial to the victims officially opens on the island. Known as... View full entry
One lucky soul will get to enjoy an unforgettable night in one of Oslo's most iconic destinations later this month: the topmost floor of the JDS-designed Holmenkollen ski jump will be turned into a cozy, fully furnished Airbnb penthouse for the winner of a recent online contest.From the contest... View full entry
Nominated for best animated short at this year's Oscars, the Canadian-Norwegian film tells the story of two modernist architects' three daughters, who long for a bicycle.Director Torill Kove previously won an Oscar in 2007 for "The Danish Poet". View full entry
Oslo’s city council approved a plan for a new Munch Museum on the waterfront in a vote on 22 October. A new building designed by the architecture firm Herreros will be constructed at a cost of 2.8m Norwegian kroner. [...]
The long-delayed project has hit a number of political hurdles since the architects were first chosen in a competition in 2009. Some critics feared the dramatic design [...] would deprive the city’s relatively new landmark opera building of the attention it deserves.
— theartnewspaper.com
Previously: Winners for Oslo's New Library and Museum Competiton Announced View full entry
Sunday, October 12:A classic American look, feng shui notwithstanding: Investigating the impact of wealthy Chinese immigrants on suburban Seattle's real estate boom.Saturday, October 11:Indiana Ponders Abolishing Licensing for Architects: Part of a state-wide reconsideration of more than "... View full entry
Norges Bank, the central bank of Norway, asked eight different designers to submit their proposals for the redesigned currency, to be put into circulation in 2017, and the winning design features images by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta on one side and Oslo-based graphic design firm The Metric System on the other. — theatlantic.com
More details and designs also on Bustler. View full entry
Taking place on the island of Sandhornøy in the Arctic Circle region of Norway, SALT will host its opening festivities this weekend, starting August 29 to September 1. Founded in 2010 by acclaimed curator Helga-Marie Nordby and cultural entrepreneur Erlend Mogård-Larsen, SALT celebrates the rarely traversed arctic landscape and promotes Norway's contributions to art and design history. — bustler.net
This weekend's events include traditionally inspired architecture designed by Rintala Eggertson Architects.Find out more on Bustler. View full entry
After success in Oslo and Tokyo, the Norwegian Icons: Important Norwegian Design exhibition is ready to make its U.S. debut in New York's Openhouse Gallery starting May 23.
Highlighting Norway's contribution to mid-century Scandinavian design, the selling exhibition will showcase over 500 high-end designer objects created by 44 Norwegian designers between 1940-1975.
— bustler.net
The objects will be arranged with iconic Norwegian artworks, including those by renowned artist Edvard Munch. Works will be presented so as to showcase the artists' various roles in shaping the traditions of Norwegian design and architecture during the 20th century.Find more event details on... View full entry
"E = mc²" by Swedish firm Wingårdhs was the winning solution in an invited competition to redesign the Forus West building of major energy company Statoil in Sandnes, Norway.
Statoil will now further develop its plans for the new building based on Wingårdhs’ proposal and clarify significant regulation issues before further progress is done.
— bustler.net
From 48 applications worldwide, the invited teams consisted mostly of Norwegian names and a few famous ones: Snøhetta (NO); Foster + Partners (UK) with Space Group (NO); and Helen & Hard (NO) with SAHAA (NO). OMA (NL) was also invited but withdrew shortly before the competition deadline, much... View full entry
