TATLIN NEWS #45

THE FIFTH ELEMENT | Oslo, Norway | SN Ø HETTa | NEW OPERa HOUSE | Photo by Snohetta, Erik Berg, Jaro Hollan, Trond, Nina Reistad | Text by anna Lengle The love of nature that Sn ø hetta architects experience is reflected in the bureau’s name (Sn ø hetta is one of the most beautiful moun- tains in Norway); the authors demonstrate their admiration of the northern landscape in the new project, the building smoothly extend- ing the coastline, as if rising from beneath the water. Discussions on the construction of the Na- tional Opera House in Oslo lasted longer than its actual design and construction: for about a hundred years the authorities discussed the possibilities and expenditures. Respect to the natural beauty has in many ways accounted for Sn ø hetta having been chosen as winners of the competition and became a recipe of its success. The laconic and rigid silhouette reveals the Nordic character of the building, which obviously has influenced the design. This quintessence of the Scandinavian charac- ter and the spirit of the northern nature ex- poses a kind of a standard of Norwegian ar- chitecture. The area of the object equals to four stand- ard football grounds, and having undertaken to develop a huge territory, the architects fo- cused on the monumental approach. The im- age of the theatre has been prompted by its location, rather than the purpose of the build-

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