In the autumn of 2024, the Kistefos Museum Foundation invited 28 architectural firms to participate in a prequalification process to design a new site-specific standalone gallery. Scheduled to open in 2031, the new museum building will house the art collection of the museum's founder, Christen Sveaas. The gallery will join Kistefos' sculpture park, which features 55 works by international artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Olafur Eliasson, Fernando Botero, and Anish Kapoor, as well as an industrial museum and BIG's award-winning art gallery, The Twist. Additionally, a new visitor center, designed by the Oslo-based architectural firm Lund Hagem, is set to open in 2026.
Built on the grounds of a historic pulp mill, the Kistefos Museum is located in a wooded, riverine landscape an hour north of Oslo. The competition brief called for an original design that exemplifies sustainable practices that resonate with the museum's natural surroundings. As Museum Director Kari Roll-Matthiesen stated, "The building will not only serve as a gallery but will be a work of art in itself." The shortlist of teams advancing to the competition's second stage includes both established and emerging international architects (listed alphabetically):
- BIG (Denmark)
- Christ & Gantenbein (Switzerland)
- Ensamble Studio (Spain)
- Jensen & Skodvin / Hølmebakk Øymo (Norway)
- Kengo Kuma and Associates (Japan)
- Lina Ghotmeh Architecture (France)
- Snøhetta (Norway)
- SO-IL (United States)
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From the Tar Pits of Los Angeles to the Forests of Finland, Discover 8 Conceptual Museum Designs from the ArchDaily CommunityThe eight finalist firms will now receive a further briefing and begin developing their concept designs. The winner is expected to be announced in early autumn 2025.
The competition is being managed by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC) in London, which is currently overseeing international design competitions for the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Masterplan in London and the expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. MRC also recently organized the global competition for the reimagining of the Dallas Museum of Art and the selection process for the welcome project at the National Gallery in London. Among the finalists, Lina Ghotmeh was recently selected to redesign the British Museum's Western Range, BIG won the competition to design the New Sankt Lukas Hospice in Denmark, and SO-IL's housing project 450 Warren in Brooklyn was named ArchDaily's Building of the Year in the housing category.
