OSLO WATERFRONT WELCOMES A NEW ADDITION

Spanish architect Estudio Herreros is responsible for the museum’s design and creation, titled MUNCH. The building is located at Bjørvika on the Oslo Waterfront and will be home to some of Munch’s most notable designs from his career and moments from his life. Munch is widely known as the artist who painted The Scream, and luckily for future visitors, the site will feature one of the two painted versions from 1893 and a pastel version that took inspiration from the sunset overlooking Oslo Fjord. 

The new MUNCH Museum’s production has a controversial history, as it was debated, and subject to potential cancellation in its early stages. The Museum was the development prize for an architectural competition run by the city of Oslo in 2008, where Juan Herreros (now Estudio Herreros) was victorious. Despite this, the city council withdrew support in 2008 due to economic concerns, and in 2011 was voted to be cancelled to instead improve other structures in the area. Luckily, in May 2013, the council decided to revive the project and move it to its current waterfront location with construction underway in 2015.  

As such, this project has been long awaited for the community and art-lovers alike.

“At Bjørvika we will be able truly to exploit the potential of our collection, and partnerships with other museums will enable us to bring works to Norway that have never been shown here before,” said Stein Henrichsen - MUNCH Director.

MUNCH stands sixty metres tall and features a rippled exterior with a curved structure that sits upon a three-story podium. The building features two zones separated by functionality, with the static zone being enclosed to protect the art inside, and dynamic, a translucent space that offers a beautiful view of the city. The building sits parallel to the Oslo Opera House and notably used recycled aluminium panels to form its exterior.  

MUNCH will offer visitors 13 floors and 11 gallery spaces to explore Munch’s work, with many juxtapositions to modernists and contemporary artists. 

MUNCH in Bjørvika is scheduled to open in October 2021.