Norway
Norway’s Munch Museum plan attracts more criticism
Opera house director suggests full-size model to assess impact
By Clemens Bomsdorf. Web only
Published online: 16 December 2009
COPENHAGEN. Opposition to the design of the proposed new Munch Museum on Oslo’s waterfront is increasing. Jørn Holme, the new head of the Norwegian directorate for national heritage, has joined the critics, saying that he dislikes the plan and could stop the project. “The new museum would be twice as high as buildings usually are in that area. It would disturb the visual experience of the part of [Oslo] where medieval and the later parts meet,” Holme told The Art Newspaper, adding that he expects to solve the problem in a dialogue with the city of Oslo. One option would be moving the museum to another site. In March, Spanish architecture practice Herreros won the competition to build the new museum. It is scheduled to open in 2014 on the waterfront, close to the Oslo Opera House.
Tom Remlov, general director of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, has indicated his opposition to the new building. “The proposed size and location looks set to affect our new opera [house] adversely. Due to its height the Munch Museum may be so dominant that it simply takes too much attention,” he told The Art Newspaper. Remlov suggests building a full-sized model of the planned museum to assess its visual impact.
“Ten billion Norwegian Krone ($1.7bn) have already been spent on the development of this reclaimed part of our city, and so the cost of making such a model is negligible by comparison; we are talking about a building that’s meant to last for centuries,” he told us.
Submit a comment
All comments are moderated. If you would like your comment to be approved, please use your real name, not a pseudonym. We ask for your email address in case we wish to contact you - it will not be
made public and we do not use it for any other purpose.
Want to write a longer comment to this article? Email letters@theartnewspaper.com