Eight Finalists Announced in the Competition for a New Museum Building at Kistefos

In autumn 2024, the Kistefos Museum Foundation invited 28 carefully selected architectural studios to participate in a pre-qualification process to design a new building for the museum, a new landmark building in terms of design and sustainability.

The shortlist of teams for the second stage of the competition includes the following architects (in alphabetical order):

-BIG (DK)
-Christ & Gantenbein (CH)
-Ensamble Studio (ES)
-Jensen & Skodvin / Hølmebakk Øymo (NO)
-Kengo Kuma and Associates (JP)
-Lina Ghotmeh – Architecture (FR)
-Snøhetta (NO)
-SO-IL (US)

After receiving a complementary briefing, the eight shortlisted studios will begin work on their proposals. The announcement of the winner is expected in early autumn 2025.

"This group of exceptional architects will now compete to create a museum that both preserves and enhances Kistefos Museum’s identity.

We have extensive experience in commissioning site-specific artworks for the sculpture park, and in the same way, this new museum building will need to relate to the landscape and history of the site.

The building will not only serve as a gallery but will be a work of art in itself."

Kari Roll-Matthiesen, Director.

Kistefos Museum. Photography by Laurian Ghinitoiu.

Kistefos Museum, set in a unique woodland and riverside landscape, has forged its identity over the past 30 years by integrating art, architecture, nature and people.

Its extensive sculpture park houses pieces by renowned artists such as Yayoi Kusama, Claes Oldenburg, Olafur Eliasson and Pierre Huyghe. In addition, The Twist building, a kind of bridge-gallery, houses the contemporary art collection.

A short walk away is an industrial heritage museum that preserves the last intact wood pulp mill in Scandinavia, built by the Sveaas family in 1890, and now offers additional space for art, meditation and industrial history.

The competition is being coordinated by Malcolm Reading Consultants (MRC), specialists in international architectural competitions in the museum sector. MRC is currently involved in international project competitions such as the Queen Elizabeth II National Memorial Master Plan (London) and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art extension (Kansas City).

They recently organised the global competition for the renovation of the Dallas Museum of Art and the selection process for the welcome project at the National Gallery (London).

"Gifted with an atmospheric setting, a growing reputation and cachet in the art world, Kistefos Museum is becoming increasingly known both nationally and internationally as a cultural destination.

The new gallery will provide a state-of-the-art flexible home for Christen Sveaas’ notable collection and create a dramatic presence in the landscape, while also being an exemplar of sustainable design and practices.

We are delighted to help shape the future of Kistefos Museum and to extend their mission for commissioning outstanding contemporary design."

Malcolm Reading, Chairman, Malcolm Reading Consultants.