Munch Museum completes in Oslo and gears up for autumn opening
Oslo's Munch Museum, designed by Spanish architecture firm Estudio Herreros, has been completed ahead of its official opening on 22 October 2021
![Modern architecture building](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oZWvRVWvr9LiGuQUkVie8E-415-80.jpg)
Its glistening façade reflecting gently on the Oslo seafront waters in Norway, the much-awaited Munch Museum, designed by Spanish architecture firm Estudio Herreros, has just been completed and is gearing up towards its public opening on 22 October 2021. Created to host the extensive body of work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, the building, set in the city’s growing Bjørvika district, cuts a distinctly contemporary figure, while adding a key cultural destination to the global art and architecture map.
Upon opening, the project will be the one of the world’s largest museums dedicated to a single artist. With over 26,700 works in its collection and 11 galleries to play with, the institution will, for the first time in its history, have ample space to display Munch’s work – including his large-scale murals (such as, The Sun, completed in 1909, which stretches nearly 8m). The exhibits will also include several versions of Munch’s iconic painting, The Scream.
Located a stone’s throw from another Oslo waterfront landmark, the Snøhetta-designed opera house, the museum stands 13 storeys tall. Clad in perforated, translucent aluminium that was selected specifically for its ability to reflect the colours and weather changes of the Oslo skies, its sharp-looking, geometric shape is mirrored elegantly on the fjord’s surface. Meanwhile, higher up, an outdoor terrace allows visitors to take in the landscape and the cityscape beyond. A restaurant is located on the 13th floor.
The building boasts strong sustainability ceredentials, created as part of the city’s FutureBuilt programme (an ‘Oslo-wide initiative to halve greenhouse gas emissions across the city’, explain its creators). Recycled materials were used where possible, and energy-saving techniques throughout help lower the scheme’s overall carbon footprint.
Come October, the programme of events at the museum will launch with concerts, literature readings, performance and art workshops; all this on top of the permanent and temporary exhibitions within. The aim is to embed the museum in its community and the wider new cultural district of Bjørvika around it. The first show there, ‘Tracey Emin/Edvard Munch: The Loneliness of the Soul’, is set to explore Munch’s influence on Emin.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter + Free Download
For a free digital copy of August Wallpaper*, celebrating Creative America, sign up today to receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories
Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).
-
‘Hedonistic and avant-garde’: Rabanne’s Julian Dossena on the legacy of the chainmail 1969 bag
Paco Rabanne’s 1969 chainmail handbag encapsulates the late designer’s futuristic, space-age style. Current creative director Julien Dossena tells Wallpaper* about the bag’s particular pleasures
By Jack Moss Published
-
Postcard from Paris: Olympic fever takes over the streets
On the eve of the opening ceremony of Paris 2024, our correspondent shares her views from the streets of the capital about how the event is impacting the urban landscape.
By Minako Norimatsu Published
-
The Mercury Prize nominees for 2024 have been revealed
Charli XCX, The Last Dinner Party and Beth Gibbons are amongst this year's nominees
By Charlotte Gunn Published
-
Kunstsilo sees a functionalist grain silo transformed into Norway’s newest art gallery
Kunstsilo’s crisp modern design by Mestres Wåge with Spanish firms Mendoza Partida and BAX Studio transforms a listed functionalist grain silo into a sleek art gallery
By Clare Dowdy Published
-
Aarestua Cabin brings old Norwegian traditions into the 21st century
Aarestua Cabin by Gartnerfuglen is a modern retreat with links to historical Norwegian traditions, and respect for its environment
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pioneering tablet maker reMarkable’s Oslo headquarters is a space for ‘better thinking’
reMarkable’s Oslo head office, featuring areas to retreat, ruminate and collaborate, is a true workspace of the future
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
This Norway cabin was designed as a minimalist, coastal escape
This Norway cabin by Erling Berg is made of local timber that frames its scenic Risør views through large openings and outdoor areas, creating a cool summer escape
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
This Oslo house is a suburban cabin in the woods
An Oslo house designed like a retreat, Villa Nikkesmelle by Gartnerfuglen, offers the perfect balance between urban and rural
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Restored former US embassy in Oslo brings Eero Saarinen’s vision into the 21st century
The former US embassy in Oslo by Finnish American modernist Eero Saarinen has been restored to its 20th-century glory and transformed for contemporary mixed use
By Giovanna Dunmall Published
-
Tommie Wilhelmsen’s cabin on Norway’s wild coast frames the experience of the landscape
Tommie Wilhelmsen has completed a new cabin close to the city of Stavanger, a retreat in the heart of a historic coastal landscape
By Jonathan Bell Published
-
Aurora 2.0 is the perfect woodland retreat to take in the Northern Lights
Aurora 2.0 by architect Snorre Stinessen in Norway is an architectural retreat with a spectacular view of nature and the Northern Lights
By Ellie Stathaki Published