They will design Norway’s pavilion in Frankfurt
In 2019, Norway will be the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. As Guest of Honour, Norway will have a 2300 m2 indoor pavilion. In January, NORLA, in collaboration with The Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture (DOGA) and The Norwegian Architectural Association (NAL), announced an open plan and design contest for the design of the pavilion. 66 applications were approved for further judgment. The results of the competition have now been released.
The contest was held with the aim of finding a concept and design for the pavilion that offered the best solution for an optimal experience. The pavilion should capture the attention of the public, the book industry, the journalists who are present, and those who are experiencing the Book Fair through traditional and social media.
“The Frankfurt project is an important platform for profiling Norway and for the export of Norwegian art and culture. There will also be good opportunities to showcase our other industries. The pavilion is the most visually important part of the project and will receive a great deal of international attention. This is a great profiling opportunity not only for the winning team, but also for Norwegian design and architecture in general,” says Minister of Industry Torbjørn Røe Isaksen.
The contest winner: “Norge forteller”
The winning project was the proposal “Norge forteller”. The architects will further develop their idea in collaboration with NORLA. In the proposal, the great hall is organized like a gallery and visualized like a world of books and ideas that represent what is “Norwegian”.
“The jury was fascinated by the idea, the concept and the description of the beautiful landscape that combines the dreamy with the concrete. The project is executable and has a playful and welcoming style that creates more opportunities for concretization and implementation. We look forward to working with and developing ‘Norway Tells’ with the architects,” says Halldór.
The architect firms: LCLA and manthey kula
The winning draft was developed by two architect firms: LCLA and manthey kula.
LCLA office works at the intersection of architecture, landscape architecture and visual arts. LCLA is headed by architect Charlotte Hansson and architect and landscape architect Luis Callejas. Projects range from buildings, scenography design, master plans, gardens, installations and vast landscapes. Their completed projects include the largest public swimming facilities in Colombia as well as private commissions and scenography designs. Their works have been exhibited recently at the first Chicago Architecture biennial, the Venice biennial, the Lisbon triennial and the Oslo Architecture triennial. In 2013 LCLA office was awarded with the Architecture league of New York prize for young architects.
manthey kula is a Norwegian architecture firm led by architects Beate Hølmebakk and Per Tamsen. The office has carried out several projects, including work for National Tourist Routes in Norway (Nasjonale turistveger). manthey kulas’ works are featured in a number of international exhibitions and biennials and are represented in several architectural collections. The office is currently working on a large architecture/art project for Karlstad Municipality in Sweden and was recently engaged in the drawing of the collective exhibitions for the new Munch Museum and in designing the national memorial at the Utøya quai in collaboration with the Belgian landscape architect Bas Smets.
Additional purchasing and honorable mention
The jury has chosen to purchase aspects of the following contest proposals:
“Sehnsucht” by Rodeo Architects, “Folkebiblioteket” by Kastler/Skjeseth Architects and “Lysning og grotta” by 3RW Architects. Honorable mentions are given to “Norske stemmer” by Mikado Architecture and “Opna” by Atelier Lønseth and Asp Architecture.
The Jury
The jury that assessed the submitted proposals consisted of the following:
Halldór Guðmundsson. Jury president and project manager for the Frankfurt Project
Margit Walsø. Director of NORLA
Architect MNAL Ingerid Helsing Almaas. Senior advisor at Design og arkitektur Norge (DOGA)
Arkitekt MNAL Espen Røyseland. Appointed by Norske arkitekters landsforbund (NAL)
Stian Hole. Author and illustrator
Gisle Nataas, architect MNAL, Norske arkitekters landsforbund, was jury secretary.
Kai Reaver, architect MNAL, Norske arkitekters landsforbund, also assisted in the jury’s work.
You can read more about the competition’s criteria as well as the jury’s decision and recommendation in the jury report. You can find the jury report (in Norwegian) digitally here.
The competition results were made public during a prize ceremony on June 26th at DOGA.
