Visualization © CDR Studio
Visualization © CDR Studio
Visualization © CDR Studio
Visualization © CDR Studio

NMAAD Oslo Competition

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The National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is a proposal for an international competition. CDR Studio’s proposal creates a space for the co-mingling of art and everyday practice of life and for rethinking well-tread Norwegian cultural touchstones (relationship of the individual to Nature), not as cliché, but as a retooling.

Except for the corner held by the Nobel Peace Center, a void in the Oslo city fabric is created by the trace of the old railway loop, coupled with the chasm of below-grade highways. The cityscape is conceived of as a positive force pushing into the building mass. Programmatic elements such as an after-hours library/café with a view of the city and a bookstore create a street frontage. A forecourt creates a new public space, a crescent-shaped plaza, which is conceived of as an urban carpet connecting up to the vertical landscape of the museum connection. It is a space that is both inside and outside; individualized and communal; a singular cultural form and a shared event. It is an extension of the Oslo fjord itself.

Three distinct volumes define the museum massing: the exhibition wing, the curatorial/educational wing, and a totemic core, which can support the museum’s logistical needs and a future government office tower. Paths through the museum connect street axes across the site. The mesh “mitten” skin of the building is a triangulated pattern made of recycled aluminum, offering a cohesive matrix that responds to local conditions. Each coffer creates a lens, looking back onto the fjord and the city.

Other Projects by CDR Studio Architects PC

American Museum of Natural History Discovery Room
New York
Pier 62
New York
NEXUS Robbins School Competition
Trenton
Eileen Fisher Store + Showroom
New York
Snowmass Residence
Snowmass