Olso Operahuset - collage and architecture

The idea for the Snøhetta firm initially
began in Oslo, Norway, in 1987, with the
idea of bringing architecture and landscape
architecture into the same design process.
By 1989, the design competition for
the Egyptian Library of Alexandria sparked
a collaboration between Kjetil Thorsen of
Snøhetta and Craig Dykers in Los Angeles.
After much discussion, Dykers and his
L.A. team decided to work with the current
members of Snøhetta on the competition,
and after five weeks, they had produced the
winning design.
After the competition, the group
decided to form a new share holding
company by the name of Snøhetta Arkitektur
Landskap AS, with 8 partners. Today
Snøhetta has two principles, Craig Dykers
and Kjetil Thorsen.
Operating out of their two locations,
Oslo and New York City, the firm still believes
in the strong relationship to landscape as
well as collaboration amongst the design
team and the client.
It took many years for the construction
of a new opera house to be approved by the
Norwegian government, but after many years
of fighting, approval was give in 1999. A design
competition was held for the project and was won
by the firm Snøhetta. Construction began on the
Oslo Opera house in 2003 and the project was
completed in 2008.
The project is located in the old harbour
area of Bjørvika, and looks out over the Oslo
Fjord. As it appears to rise out of the water, it
serves as a landmark, showcasing Norway as an
arts culture. The building itself is also the first in
the new urban development project for the area.
The Opera House primarily hosts
the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, having
approximately 300 shows and 250,000 guests
per year.
The design of the Oslo Opera House
contains three individual elements that together
comprise the entire building: the wave wall, the
factory, and the carpet.
The wave wall represents the threshold
found between the “here” and “there”, or the sea
and the land. Snøhetta recognized the location in
the harbour as a meeting point between Norway
and the rest of the world. The wave wall in
the atrium represents the meeting of the
public and the art displayed in the theater
space. The materiality for the space atrium
and performance hall is oak, mainly to help
acoustics in both spaces.
The factory is the area in which all
operations necessary for performance
would happen. This includes workshops,
practice rooms, locker rooms, gym area, and
support offices. This area is separated from
the public space and clad in metal panels
to distinguish it from the area where art is
performed.
The last element is the “carpet”, made
of Italian marble, which makes up the roof
and surrounding surfaces. The goal behind
the carpet element was “togetherness” and
the ease of access by all. Snøhetta also saw
this carpet as giving monumentality to the
building.
Oslo
Operahuset
Snøhetta
Oslo Operahuset
Oslo Operahuset
(Oslo Opera House)
Architect: Snøhetta
Location: Bjørvika, Oslo, Norway
Client: Ministry of Church and Cultural Affairs
Project Area: 38,500 square meters
Project Year: 2004-2007
“The building is the first component of the urban
transformation of the Bjørvika area, starting
a change from run down harbour area to a
modern part of Oslo.”
-Snøhetta
Oslo, Norway
Monica Whitmire, Savannah Dewitt, Carly Coates

The building is approached by way of a footbridge to the north of the
building. The bridge leads into an open plaza that leads one directly
to the main entrance located on the northern façade. The entrance is
tucked under a sloped section of the plaza that extends up to connect
with the rooftop. Occupants enter into a large lobby where the “wave
wall” is located.
Oslo
Opera
House
Bjørvika
Ground Floor Plan
The opera house is set as the focal point for someone approaching from
the mouth of the fjord. It stands alone at the water’s edge in front of an
urban backdrop, surrounded by many paths for transportation but quite
separated from other built context.
North Elevation
Roof Plan
South Elevation
The sloped, traversable rooflines of the
building (or the “carpet”) seem to mimic
the sloping ground line where the city
meets the water. The plaza itself even
dips down into the water, symbolizing
a give-and-take relationship between
the urban and natural conditions.
Public / Viewing
Rehearsal Space
Hard Workshops
Soft Workshops
Public
Semi-Private
Private
The opera house is divided into
sections based on program. In their
plans for the building, the designers
decided early on that they wanted
to use industrial material to
designate the work space, or
“factory”, from other spaces within
the building. It seems that the
designers also designated program
quadrants with the addition of
certain walkways. The north-south
corridor, which is referred to as
the “opera street”, separates the
public and performance spaces
from the offices, workshops, and changing rooms. The eastwest
oriented loading dock in the “factory” section of the building
separates the work spaces into hard workshops (for scenery) to the
north and soft workshops (costuming, makeup, etc.) to the south.
East-West Section
Sectionally, the building seems to alternate tall, open spaces
with stacked floors. It incorporates several multiple-levelheight
spaces that the more concentrated spaces open into,
so that no space ever feels completely contained.