Artistic Centre of Hövikodden, near Oslo, Norway

Abstract

At about 13 kms from Oslo this great artistic centre has been built, which is not only devoted to the exhibition of plastic works of art, but is also involved in the research of all aspects of contemporary art. Its installations include a museum, a theatre, lecture and concert halls, library, study rooms, as well as living quarters for scholarship students and the staff. To achieve their purpose, the architects combined a variety of massive volumes, in which a contrast is achieved between the weightiness suggested by the walls, and the lightness of the roofs. The total design is uninhibited and dynamic, without weakening the sense of unity of the whole. It has been built by the Sonja Henie and Niels Onstad foundation, and it constitutes a true forum for the various arts, and a meeting place for the exchange of influences between very diverse tendencies.