Teroforma

November 12, 2008

Design Walks // Oslo Opera House

Where’s the Colisseum? No, not the L.A. Coliseum. What we mean is, where are the great public works which by their sheer size and force of vision inspire us to greatness simply to keep pace with the grandeur of our surroundings? While the rest of the world is mired in credit crises, border conflicts, Joe the Plumber and dispiriting nonsense of all sorts, the stolid and sensible Norwegians have taken up the unlikely role of latter day Romans, forsaking lions and Christians for Wagner and Puccini.

The Oslo Opera House opened in April this year and is the seat of The Norwegian National Opera & Ballet. The building lies in the centre of Oslo, on the seafront of the Oslo fjord, and has become the foundation for the urban re-development of this previously derelict area of the capital.

Designed by the Norwegian architecture firm Snohetta (www.snoarc.no), the project is both the result of and catalyst for collaborations between scores of engineers, designers and artists. Seeking to create a public building that would mark Norway out as a cultural nation and highlight the social importance of The Norwegian Opera & Ballet, the result marks a milestone not only in architecture, but also in construction, use of materials and technical innovation. Vigorously debated by many Norwegians during the building process, it has inspired both love and hate, but rarely indifference.

With typical Scandinavian pragmatism, architecture, design and art have been approached from a holistic perspective, with installations integrated into the overall development process. Olafur Eliasson’s light wall (above) is part of the internal structure of the building. Half opaque, half transparent, almost origami- like, his mirrored chamber was exhibited at MoMa this summer. Eliasson and 16 other Norwegian and international artists worked in close collaboration with Snohetta.

From a white marble-clad exterior, the warmth of wood panels (right) declares the boundary between the internal performance structure and the sun-filled atrium. While the dark-wood-clad performance space has gotten much of the attention - and plays host to characters as diverse as Pagliacci and PJ Harvey - the production facilities themselves are designed as a ‘self contained factory.’ Tall south-facing windows allow every bit of the scarce Nordic sun to shine onto the creative machinery of the rehearsal studios as new art evolves below.

A long table near the south-facing window (left) is the scene of languorous lunches during the day and you-need-to-have-booked-in-a-previous-lifetime dinner seatings in the evening. With a scheduled show on almost every night, the Opera House is a workplace for almost 600 people from more than 50 professions.

The Opera House has, like most creations, evolved from open-minded collaboration. It won the culture award at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in October 2008. Jury member Sir Peter Cook said of the Opera House that it “…in its scale, ambition and quality has raised the bar for Norwegian architecture.”

Once jealous, perhaps, of New York’s Guggenheim or Paris’ Pompidou, Norwegians have found a reason to be content. With a new (more secure) Munch museum and a library planned for development in 2009, they know that Rome was not built in a day.

After 7 years in London, Thea Mehl is once again back on native soil in Oslo. When not hanging around opera houses, she is Teroforma’s Creative Director.