With the Grain HUMBLE RESPECT

An historic grain silo in the Norwegian city of Kristiansand is to become home to a new art museum and cultural quarter, a smart recycling bin powered by solar energy is being devised while Nissan and Studio Hardie have teamed up on an all-electric mobile office.

Norway is to become home to a new art museum and cultural quarter based in and around an historic grain silo.

Barcelona-based Mestres Wage Arquitectes and MX_SI Architectural Studio teamed up to beat off competition from 100 rivals to win a contest run by the city of Kristiansand.

The 1935 grain silo is regarded as one of the finest examples of functionalism in Norway and won the country’s most important architectural award.

It has now been reimagined as a new home for the Tangen Collection of Norwegian modernist art.

The competition jury stated: “The project demonstrates a crystal-clear combination of architectural self-assurance and humble respect for the silo building and its newly assigned task.

“The project balances elegantly between, on the one hand, total loyalty to the silo building’s qualities, and on the other, an imaginative attitude to the inherently sculptural and special experiences it affords.

“With a few uncompromising cuts into the silo’s interior, a subdued yet monumental volume with controlled top-lighting opens up and gives the whole museum a strong and unique character.”

Project planning will begin this year with the new museum due to open in 2020.