Ever since its inception above an Oslo beer hall in 1989, Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta has long drawn inspiration from the dramatic natural landscape surrounding the city in which it originated. The studio’s name itself is entwined with the native terrain: Snøhetta is named after the highest peak in the Dovrefjeil mountain range in the heart of Norway. Furthermore, the original name of the studio, “Snøhetta Arkitektur Landskap,” represents the firm’s founding idea: that architecture and landscape design could be combined into a single process, creating buildings that are at one with the natural environment.
© Snøhetta
The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco
In the subsequent 25 years, Snøhetta transformed from an avant-garde group of eight partners to a global practice with well over 100 employees — but its connection with the landscape, established all those years ago in Oslo, remains undiminished. The approach has spawned a plethora of contemporary designs inspired by nature at home and abroad, from the sloped terrain of the Norwegian National Opera House to the positively glacier-like proposal for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, Oslo
Considering that the firm closed out last year with arguably its best month ever, things are only looking up for Snøhetta, whose latest projects show signs of stylistic evolution while maintaining the core elements of its original philosophy. Here, we take a closer look at three of its recently unveiled proposals, fresh off the proverbial drawing board of this increasingly renowned architectural studio, and examine just how the firm is marrying earth and sky with their distinctive brand of Scandinavian modernism.
1) New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary
Beating out competition from a star-studded line-up of firms including Jean Nouvel, David Chipperfield and Mecanoo, Snøhetta was awarded joint first place with SANAA for its proposal “Above The Horizon,” which unites the Liget museum and gallery within a sculptural, prismatic form. The museum is part of a large cultural master plan on the periphery of Varosliget, one of Budapest’s main parks, which will include museums for ethnography, architecture and photography.
The proposal reads as an extension of the surrounding terrain, with a vast inhabitable roofscape reminiscent of Snøhetta’s concert hall in Oslo. Viewed from ground level, the twin peaks of the museum appear as low-rise pyramids, which have been cut into to allow natural light to permeate the exhibition spaces within.
A key space within the complex lies at the intersection between the two angular forms, as the architects explained: “the center point of the building symbolizes the meeting of light and earth at the horizon, simultaneously resolving practicalities of daylighting and embodying gravity at the meeting of the Ludwig Museum and the New National Gallery.”
2) The French Laundry, Napa Valley, Calif.
We previously shared a glimpse Snøhetta’s design for the complete renovation of The French Laundry, a joint effort with California-based Envelope A+D and Tim Harrison of Harrison, Koellner, LLC as kitchen designer. As the pioneering restaurant enters its second decade, the firms will tackle the challenging brief to modernize the famous restaurant while maintaining its historic, iconic identity. Spending hours in the kitchen of Head Chef Thomas Keller for research purposes, Snøhetta’s Craig Dykers soon realized this area of the building was key in creating “an architecture of connection, energy, and authenticity.”
In the courtyard that marks the restaurant’s entrance, green spaces are preserved and reinforced with new boundary treatments, punctuated with an aperture that frames a key view of the restaurant’s iconic blue door. Natural landscaping is given priority, maintaining the picturesque aesthetic associated with the restaurant and the wider Napa Valley region. Meanwhile, the wraparound glazing of the new kitchen block reveals a glimpse of the chefs as they go about creating their three-Michelin-Star cuisine.
The kitchen itself incorporates custom vaulted ceilings that evoke “a white linen tablecloth being gently unfurled across a table,” while also concealing the many mechanical systems above the workstations. Innovative materials facilitate the chefs’ culinary undertakings, including super-compact, incredibly robust Dekton worktops with a white-on-white palette that engenders a “sense of promise and the potential of a fresh start.”
3) New Governmental Quarter, Oslo, Norway
Similarly noted upon its unveiling, Snøhetta’s proposal for the unification of Norway’s governmental departments seeks to maintain and reinforce the “Youngstorget” public square in the heart of the capital, placing it at the center of a new master plan that unites public and private programs at ground level. Precipitated by the tragic bombing of Norway’s government quarter in 2011, the unconventional competition yielded six shortlisted entries – including those by Bjarke Ingels Group and MVRDV – from which the final design will be derived and developed in collaboration with students from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design.
Rising above the city like three shards of ice, the new office towers are situated above an existing arcade, which will accommodate new shops, cafés and other public amenities. The square itself is preserved as a vital public space, a venue for public demonstrations, markets, festivals, and national celebrations.
In keeping with their original mission, Snøhetta is proposing that “a clear priority for green mobility is made” by closing Akersgata and Møllergata to private traffic and increasing accessibility for pedestrians and cyclists. To the rear of the towering trio of buildings, generous slices of parkland with trees and grassland are integrated with the urban fabric, with waterways running through both external and internal spaces of the development.
Taken together, these measures work towards the creation of “a socially, economically and environmentally sustainable governmental quarter.”