Hasta La Ideas

News: Norwegian studio Snøhetta has won a competition to design a waterside opera house in Busan, South Korea.

Just like the celebrated opera house the architects designed in Oslo, the proposed building will have a slanted roof that extends down to meet the ground, allowing visitors to climb up to a rooftop public square. Here, marble panels will cover the ground surface and a rooftop restaurant will offer a view towards the mountains.

The curved walls of the building will be glazed and lifted at two corners to create entrances on opposite sides.

The auditorium will be positioned at the heart of the building and will be lined with sound-absorbing cherry to enhance acoustics. Other proposed spaces include a foyer, a function room, a VIP room, rehearsal rooms, a restaurant and a staff canteen.

The Busan Opera House is set to open in 2018.

Read about the Oslo Opera House by Snøhetta in our earlier story or see all our stories about Snøhetta.

Here’s some more detailed information from Snøhetta:

Busan Opera House

The Opera today not only represents our cultural identity, much more than that, it is there to form, shape and create our growing cultural awareness and manifestation. We set increasingly stronger demands to the institution; it is no longer just a passive playground for the elite but can become interactive, democratic, giving as much as it takes, responding to our ambitions and expectations. The Opera house can become the most essential cultural expression that we have in our developed urban societies.
The Opera in Busan is a place to meet, a place to be together in our common cultural context.

The Busan Opera house relies on our current experience of contemporary opera buildings, including the interactive attraction of an open and inviting typology.

Some of the functions, especially its one level and horizontal functional layout is based on Snøhettas experience of designing easy flow and communications within such a building.

The form of the Busan Opera house is derived from its own context and culture.

The basis for the lay-out refers to Kun (Heaven) meeting Kon (Earth) which again meet Kam (Water). The classical trigrams of these elements both describe this site exceptionally well, whilst they refer to the historical and philosophical relationships that are of great importance to Korean culture. The slight bending of the surfaces in Snøhetta’s design are the bars of the trigrams slightly deformed to touch and meet each other in a subtle manner.

The geometry of the building consists of two opposing curves. The lower arching curve bridges the site and anchors the project in the ground. The upper embraces the sky and the Opera is created within the interplay of these surfaces, where the earth touches the sky and the mountains touch the sea. The four corners of the building connect the city and the cultural landmark to the sea. Two of these corners are lifted to form an entrance from the city and an entrance from the sea. These entrances are linked in a continuous public space, flowing around the Opera house and out into the public plaza. The upper plane is lifted on the opposite diagonal to accommodate the programmatic volume and to create an exterior plane that both arches down to the City and the sea at the same time as it peels upwards to meet the sea and the sky.

The compactness and sustainable elements of the project have great importance on economy, sustainability and long-term maintenance of the building.

Building upon the typologies we have previously developed in Oslo the Opera in Busan is changing earlier perceptions of the relationship between opera institutions and its users and the public. By designing an open, inviting and participative building typology, Busan will mark the entrance into a new era of global contemporary architecture reflecting today’s values of equality and democracies, effectively contributing to civic and cultural life on a broad level.

Snøhetta will remain loyal to our contextual and landscape oriented designs also in the future, because we believe this typology to be the most relevant connector between a contemporary public and a contemporary architecture.

Details – unpacking the box:

Soft wrapping: Spanning between the two public planes and enveloping the public functions is the soft flowing skin, offering protection and transparency to the foyer within and linking the ground plane to the roof plane in an unbroken movement. The facade is constructed of panels of glass and marble supported on a two way system of cables spanning between the upper and lower surface. The glazed panels allow for transparency and view in the more vertical sections. The Marble panels form the pedestrian surface rising to meet the roofscape above.

Auditorium: The Opera hall is conceived as a musical instrument. Precisely formed to resonate with the operatic acoustics and resonance. As with the foyer wall the auditorium is to be constructed from solid panels of Cherry wood. The less reflective and with deeper tones, these continuous surfaces envelope and surround the public in an ever changing weave of surfaces, designed precisely to reflect and resonate with the performance on stage. The choice is made for solid materials to maximise the acoustic performance. Particularly the side walls and balcony fronts change in profile and angle to best reflect and resonate with music and performance. Centrally placed above the Parterre is the main lantern. Not in use during performances, this provides an ambient light before and after performances.

Roof Level: The upper surface is a plane of reflection and contemplation set apart from the bustle of the ground. Open and accessible to all, the roof level enjoys un-rivalled views to the mountains and the ocean. This marble surface, punctuated by a grove of flowering trees is the setting for the Fly Tower Restaurant.

Level 4: The top level is dedicated to the administration. These areas enjoy views out to the rooftop atrium garden and direct vertical communication to both the Front and Back of house areas. In front of house there is a public access to the second balcony at this level.

Level 3: This level houses the Academy, rehearsal rooms and staff canteen. This allows for the contact and synergies between the rehearsals areas and the Academy. Direct vertical communication links these areas with the performance space, support areas and changing facilities.

Level 2: Here you find the VIP room. This level provides public access to the first balcony and is the location of the balcony restaurant and bar.

Level 1: This level is the location for the Function room. These facilities enjoy the views out over the foyer and direct access to the first balcony seats.

Level 0: This level is the location for main front of house foyer, restaurant and public entrance to the Parterre. The foyer space wraps around two sides of the building towards the sea. The foyer is entered either from the city side drop off, Parkside or from the Seaside board walk. The foyer provides entrance to all the main public facilities. The main conference hall provides a flexible space that can be utilised for all conference and banquet activities, as well as providing a 2nd stage option with flexible seating and stage possibilities. At level 0 Back of house contains the large rehearsal rooms, performance support, stage, stage making areas. All areas are connected to the main back of house corridor, loading dock and staff entrance.

Level -1: Back of house these levels are the location for the dressing rooms and orchestra rehearsals room. All areas connect directly by vertical communication to the stage and performance areas above. The Exhibition centre is located on this level with a direct entrance to the main foyer above. The public cloakrooms and toilets are located at this lower level.

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The rippled timber core of this reindeer observation pavilion by architects Snøhetta mirrors the curves of the surrounding Dovre Mountains in Norway.

Above: photograph is by diephotodesigner

Named the Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion, the building is used as an education centre by charity the Wild Reindeer Foundation.

A rectangular steel frame contains the pavilion and a glazed wall lines the observation area.

Norwegian ship-builders constructed the curved timber centre from pine beams, which were milled using digital models and then pegged together.

Visitors to the pavilion can sit on the wooden form, where they are warmed by a suspended furnace.

Earlier this year Snøhetta also revealed their proposals for an extension to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art – see more stories about the firm here.

Photography is by Ketil Jacobsen, apart from where otherwise stated.

Here’s a bit more text from Snøhetta:

Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion

The Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre Pavilion is located at Hjerkinn on the outskirts of Dovrefjell National Park, overlooking the Snøhetta mountain massif.

The 90m2 building is open to the public and serves as an observation pavilion for the Wild Reindeer Foundation educational programmes. A 1,5km nature path brings visitors to this spectacular site, 1200 meters above sea level.

Background

Dovrefjell is a mountain range that forms a barrier between the northern and southern parts of Norway. It is home to Europe’s last wild reindeer herds and is the natural habitat for many rare plants and animals. A long history filled with travellers, hunting traditions, mining, and military activities has left its mark on this land. In addition to the natural and cultural landscape, the Dovre mountains also holds significant importance in the Norwegian consciousness. National legends, myths, poetry (Ibsen) and music (Grieg) celebrate the mystic and eternal qualities of this powerful place. The founding fathers of the Norwegian constitution are ”agreed and faithful, until the fall of Dovre!”

Architectural idea

This unique natural, cultural and mythical landscape has formed the basis of the architectural idea. The building design is based on a rigid outer shell and an organic inner core. The south facing exterior wall and the interior create a protected and warm gathering place, while still preserving the visitor’s view of the spectacular panorama.

Considerable emphasis is put on the quality and durability of the materials to withstand the harsh climate. The rectangular frame is made in raw steel resembling the iron found in the local bedrock. The simple form and use of natural materials reference local building traditions. However, advanced technologies have been utilized both in the design and the fabrication process. Using digital 3D-models to drive the milling machines, Norwegian shipbuilders in Hardangerfjord created the organic shape from 10 inch square pine timber beams. The wood was then assembled in a traditional way using only wood pegs as fasteners. The exterior wall has been treated with pine tar while the interior wood has been oiled.

The pavilion is a robust yet nuanced building that gives visitors an opportunity to reflect and contemplate this vast and rich landscape.

Project name: Tverrfjellhytta
Adress: Hjerkinn, Dovre Municipality, Norway
Building compleeted: June 2011
Client: Norwegian Wild Reindeer Centre

Architect: Snøhetta Oslo AS
Landscape Architect: Snøhetta Oslo AS
Interior Architect: Snøhetta Oslo AS

Design Team leader: Knut Bjørgum landscape architect
Snøhetta Team: Kjetil T. Thorsen (Partner in charge, Principal architect), Erik Brett Jacobsen, Margit Tidemand Ruud, Rune Grasdal, Martin Brunner (Architects) Heidi Pettersvold.(Interior Architect)
Structural engineer: Dr.Techn. Kristoffer Apeland AS, Trond Gundersen
Floor area: 90m2/900sf
Cost: 4,0 mill. NOK (Total construction cost pavillion)
Main contractor: Prebygg AS
Subcontractor, steel: Lonbakken AS
Subcontractor, glass: Skandinaviska Glassystem AB
Contractor, wood: Djupevaag Ship Builders AS

See also:

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Naust paa Aure by TYIN tegnestue	Holmenkollen ski jump by JDS Architects	Opera House Oslo by Snøhetta

Norwegian architects Snøhetta have unveiled their design for an extension to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA), which will double the gallery’s exhibition and education spaces.

A glass-fronted gallery along Howard Street will create a new entrance to the museum on a part of the site currently occupied by a fire station.

From here a five metre-wide pathway will lead up a set of stairs and across a public square towards Natoma Street.

The new buildings will be over 15 metres taller than the existing SFMOMA building, which was completed by architect Mario Botta in 1995.

Read more about Snøhetta’s competition-winning entry in our earlier story on Dezeen Wire.

More stories about Snøhetta on Dezeen »
More stories about galleries on Dezeen »

Here are some more details from the press release:

SFMOMA unveils preliminary designs for its expansion

Expansion Will Double Exhibition and Education Space

Design Transforms SFMOMA and Neighbourhood
Opening New Routes of Public Circulation and Access
With New Entry and Pedestrian Promenade

May 25, 2011—The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) today unveiled the preliminary design for its expansion that will double the museum’s exhibition and education space while enhancing the visitor experience and more deeply weaving the museum into the fabric of the city. The new building will both transform the museum and enliven the city by opening up new routes of public circulation around the neighbourhood and into the museum. Completion is projected in 2016.

Developed by architectural firm Snøhetta in collaboration with SFMOMA and EHDD of San Francisco, the over 225,000-square-foot expansion will run contiguously along the back of the current building and extend from Howard to Minna streets, allowing for the seamless integration of the two structures. The new building will provide SFMOMA with a greater public profile and an openness that will welcome visitors and project the museum’s role as a catalyst for new ideas, a center for learning, and a place that provides great art experiences for Bay Area residents and visitors.

On its east side, the building will feature a sweeping façade and an entrance in an area that is currently hidden from public view and largely unused. This will be achieved through the creation of a mid-block, open-air, 18-foot-wide pedestrian promenade running from Howard Street through to Natoma Street that will open a new route of public circulation through the neighbourhood and bring Natoma Street, currently a dead end, to life. The public promenade will feature a series of stairs and landings terracing up to an entry court that extends from the new east entrance, providing additional public spaces.

The building also introduces a façade on Howard Street that will feature a large, street-level gallery enclosed in glass on three sides, providing views of both the art in the galleries and the new public spaces. At this time, the museum is also exploring the creation of a number of outdoor terraces, including one on top of its current building. The Snøhetta building will rise fifty feet higher than the Botta building, and its roofline will be sculpted to frame the skyline of the buildings beyond it to the east when viewed from Yerba Buena Gardens. The new entrance will be accessible from both Howard and Natoma streets and will align with the new Transbay Transit Center being built two blocks east of the museum. This entry will complement SFMOMA’s current Third Street entrance, which will be revitalised to enhance visitor flow and access.

On Howard Street, the glass-enclosed gallery and pedestrian promenade will be located on a site currently occupied by Fire House 1 and its neighbor at 670 Howard Street. SFMOMA is designing, financing, and constructing a new, replacement fire station on nearby Folsom Street, representing a gift to the city of more than $10 million, that will provide the Fire Department with a state-of-the-art facility that will enhance emergency response time.

The planning of the expansion continues as an intensive collaborative process of museum leadership, trustees, visitors, other stakeholders, and the design team. The design of the interior spaces and integration of the two buildings will be unveiled at the end of this year.

Says SFMOMA Director Neal Benezra, “This is a transformative design for the museum, the neighbourhood, and the city. The new resources we are creating for SFMOMA are a response to the incredible growth of our audiences over the past 15 years and increased public demand for the museum’s programming. The welcoming and luminous character of Snøhetta’s design and its embrace of the surrounding neighbourhood further SFMOMA’s role as a center for learning, interaction, and inspiration for the people of San Francisco and the region.”

“Our design for SFMOMA responds to the unique demands of this site, as well as the physical and urban terrain of San Francisco,” says Snøhetta principal architect Craig Dykers. “The scale of the building meets the museum’s mission, and our approach to the neighbourhood strengthens SFMOMA’s engagement with the city. Pedestrian routes will enliven the streets surrounding the museum and create a procession of stairs and platforms leading up to the new building, echoing the network of paths, stairways, and terracing that is a trademark of the city.”

SFMOMA has raised more than $250 million toward a projected $480 million campaign goal for the expansion, including $100 million for the museum’s endowment. The project also encompasses an expansion of the permanent collection, which forms the foundation of the museum’s programming. This past February, SFMOMA launched a multiyear campaign to further strengthen the collection, which has more than doubled in size to 27,000 works since the museum moved to its current home in 1995. In September 2009, the museum also announced that the Fisher family would share its renowned collection of contemporary art with the public at SFMOMA. The museum holds one of the foremost collections of contemporary art in the world and the leading collection of modern and contemporary art on the West Coast.

SFMOMA first announced plans to expand its building in April 2009, spurred by growth since it moved to Third Street in 1995. The move catalyzed incredible growth in the museum’s audiences, educational programs, exhibitions, and collections. Over the past 15 years, SFMOMA’s annual average attendance has more than tripled to some 700,000, membership has grown to 40,000. SFMOMA has also developed one of the strongest exhibition programs in the world, organising groundbreaking shows that travel internationally, including recent surveys of the work of Diane Arbus, Olafur Eliasson, Eva Hesse, Frida Kahlo, William Kentridge, Sol LeWitt, Richard Tuttle, and Jeff Wall.

Snøhetta on SFMOMA
In describing the design concept, Craig Dykers stated:

SFMOMA sparked the dramatic transformation of San Francisco’s South of Market district when it transformed a run-down neighborhood into a cultural anchor for the city in 1995. After 15 years on Third Street, SFMOMA is now further invigorating the city by opening up a place that has been out of sight and out of mind.

SFMOMA’s expansion will enliven the neighbourhood through a generous plan that frees connections between well-known surrounding streets and more hidden urban spaces. The building will encourage people to enjoy the intimate small streets as much as the heavily used thoroughfares of the district. The new building does not push tightly against its property lines; instead it creates new public spaces and pedestrian routes through the neighbourhood along with open views of the surrounding streetscape. By organising the complex configuration of the museum’s expansion site into a unified whole, the new SFMOMA will promote connections to portions of the city that are already becoming more publicly accessible with the construction of the new Transbay Transit Center. Having been a partner to the creation of the cultural hub around Yerba Buena Gardens, SFMOMA will now further enliven the entire neighbourhood as an urban destination.

Formally, the new SFMOMA is designed to engage with the skyline that surrounds it. Its sculptural identity is found in a formal language that embraces and invites the silhouettes of its neighbours to participate in the dialogue of the new urban identity of South of Market. SFMOMA’s new, low slung shape will create a horizon in the skyline that connects rather than segregates the different parts of the city that border it.

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Opera House Oslo by Snøhetta	Petter Dass Museum by Snøhetta	MAXXI by Zaha Hadid