news reviews Photo: Iwan Baan / The National Museum What: The new National Museum opens on 11 June and has been merged by the former institutions The National Gallery, The Art Industry Museum, The Museum of Architecture, The Museum of Contemporary Art and National Exhibitions Where: Brynjulf Bulls plass 3, Oslo Architect: Klaus Schuwerk Gross area: 55,000 m² Exhibition area: 13,000 m² Long before the opening, the new National Museum has been the subject of massive criticism. Many have called for a more open, vibrant architecture. Perhaps you have imagined something similar to Snøhetta’s popular opera building. But the National Museum is an institution of a completely different type. This is not a place for great arias or powerful, theatrical cultural experiences. This is about quiet immersion and reflection. The National Museum will be a bank of remembrance for our collective memory. With that as a starting point, I have a feeling that the building has something closed and bunker-like to it. The building’s horizontal and inward-looking character not only conveys the function, it forms an effective contrast to the vertical town hall and the hectic commercial activity at Aker Brygge. I also like the idea of the third floor, the so-called Lyshallen, as a large reading lamp in the Oslo night. See pictures of the building from different angles: Hiding behind Vestbanen That said, there are several things I wonder about at our new signal building. The interaction with Vestbanestasjonen in particular is far from optimally resolved. It deserves praise for not dominating the surroundings, but a certain hierarchy is probably still in place. WELL HIDDEN: It is as if the station building from the 1870s prevents passage into the National Museum, writes news’s art critic. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB That our most important cultural institution formally shrinks and hides behind a small station building from the 1870s, appears strange. It is as if the romantic west railway building somehow prevents passage into the new museum. WHERE DID THIS GO? Where is Richard Serra’s powerful steel sculpture that stood outside the Museum of Contemporary Art, asks news’s art critic. Photo: Morten Thorkildsen / The National Museum Here we touch on another clear weakness: The architecture does not convey where to go to get in. The problem is not that the National Museum resembles a fortress, but that it is apparently impregnable. Sculptures could, for example, signal what kind of house it is. Where is Richard Serra’s mighty, rust-red steel sculpture that stood outside the Museum of Contemporary Art all these years? It could bring life and warmth to the space in front of the museum. If you are in doubt about what kind of institution you are dealing with, the museum’s hideous logo is not very helpful either. If you can decipher the crippled letters, you will be left with a word that makes little sense. DISPUTED LOGO: The National Museum’s logo has received a lot of criticism. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news «NAM» is just a strange invention to escape the word museum, which one probably thinks has a dusty and not very youthful sound. Stunning The entire building – from the large building volumes down to the individual slate – is constructed over the horizontal rectangle. The entrance area, the café’s window opening and the rectangular holes in the façade are all reflexes of the building’s basic shape. From some angles, this appears to be consistent and implemented, while in other places it tilts over into the directly monotonous. THE ARCHITECT’S COMFORT: The wild wine is on its way up the wall outside the entrance. You can need a lot of this plant, writes news’s art critic. Wild wine is also known as “the architect’s comfort”. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news The back of the museum is, for example, similar to any commercial building, where the rows of office windows form monotonous bands against the stone wall. The new National Museum is at all characterized by a distinct formality. It is true that the master shows up in the limitations, but here one may have limited oneself a little too much. The building is characterized by a poor utilization of what the design world has to offer. If you choose to confine yourself to straight, square volumes, why not vary between vertical and horizontal rectangles, or to a greater extent also use squares, in order to give the architecture some long-awaited contrasts? LOOKS LIKE AN OFFICE BUILDING: The rows of windows form monotonous bands against the stone wall and make the building from behind most reminiscent of a commercial building, writes news’s reviewer. Photo: Heather Ørbeck Eliassen / news It is strange that an art museum does not use geometry more musically. Wild wine has already been planted on the gray walls. This plant, which has been nicknamed the architect’s consolation, may be needed a lot. A fabulous urban space news’s art critic Mona Pahle Bjerke about the entrance and the urban space between the buildings. When you finally find the main entrance, it does not appear to be very inviting. The expression is closed and dismissive. But the space in front is very nice. It is beautifully embraced by the old and the new building. Here, an effective contrast arises between Vestbanen’s arched architecture and the National Museum’s strict rectangular character. This is set to be a very good urban space. SOLAR WARM BENCH: In the summer it will be nice to sit on a sun-warmed slate bench and watch life in the courtyard. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news Despite the modest entrance area, it is a nice experience to step into the dignified and low-key foyer. The brown oak panel plays tastefully against the gray natural stone and gives the feeling of something solid and lasting. GOOD INTERACTION: The brown oak panel and the gray natural stone play well together. Photo: JAVIER ERNESTO AURIS CHAVEZ / news Daylight falls sparingly but beautifully through the glass in the main entrance and through the store department’s large windows. However, the chocolate brown wood makes the room appear a little dark. Although the ceiling height is good, the foyer is also characterized by a slightly oppressive room experience. This is probably due to the fact that here too there is a lack of vertical shapes to lift and open the room. Dizziness The huge screens, where changing images and different messages pass by so you can become completely dizzy, break the serene architectural expression. ADVERTISING: These screens meet visitors on arrival at the National Museum. Everywhere else in the public space we are surrounded by visual expressions that convey a desire, which wants us something: that we should buy or do different things. Art is an important counterweight to all this. It is therefore very wrong to welcome an art museum in this advertising-like way. If such screens are necessary, I do not understand why they have to convey so much information at once. Can’t you rest a little in one thing at a time before moving on? A wonderful place to get lost LABYRINT: The whole museum is like a labyrinth of halls, corridors and stairs. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news The directional confusion outside the building is in full bloom when you enter. The whole museum is like a maze of halls, corridors and stairs. Here it is really easy to get lost. But what a wonderful place to go in circles! Mona Pahle Bjerke walks through the new National Museum in search of famous treasures. In one hall after another, the history of art and design unfolds. The museum manages in a very good way to show its incredible collection in its entire width. Although the halls are quite similar, all the wonderful art gives life and warmth to the rooms. The different halls also have different colors and slightly varied lighting, which creates a nice variety. See pictures of the most famous works of art: Edvard Munch’s paintings «Madonna», «Dance of Life» and «Scream». Photo: NATIONAL MUSEUM / Reuters Harald Sohlberg «Winter night in Rondane». Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB A copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous “Mona Lisa” of unknown origin. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB The Baldishol tapestry is one of the National Museum’s most important works. Tapestry in tapestry technique with wool yarn from somewhere between 1040 and 1190. Photo: Geir Olsen / NTB Hans Gude and Adolph Tidemand’s famous “Brudeferd i Hardanger” from 1848. The dragon vase from the Ming dynasty. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Overwhelmed and proud I have been a faithful guest in the old museums throughout my adult life, right up to the closed doors. It was a very emotional reunion with all these art treasures I know so well. The new group exhibitions also offer a lot of things and works of art I have never seen before. Here we really see the great enrichment of having a new and larger museum. All in all, the exhibitions are set up very professionally and thoroughly. You are completely overwhelmed by – and proud of – the scope of what the museum has to offer. In the department of crafts and design, they have created nice, small environments that give life to the art. The vibrant red medieval hall is set to music with contemporary music and shows stave church portals, medieval wooden sculpture, church chairs and the magnificent Baldishol carpet. I am both excited and moved by the impressions. LITTLE SUCCESSFUL: Not all exhibition architecture is equally successful. Here, oversized plinths and the powerful shadows created by the dramatic lighting, take complete focus from the Roman busts. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news Best as an outdoor sculpture SHADOWS: The light hall works best from the outside. Inside, shadows are drawn of the building structure on the translucent cladding. Photo: Rolf Petter Olaisen / news Lyshallen, which is so magnificent from the outside, is not quite as exciting as the exhibition hall. Shadows of the building structure appear on the translucent cladding. It is not difficult to see that this hall, which is reserved for changing exhibitions, for example, can become a spectacular arena for specific, monumental installations. But perhaps it is not quite as suitable for group exhibitions. It quickly becomes chaotic when you have little opportunity to hang things on the walls. The messy exhibition “I call it art” shows this weakness with all possible clarity. Timeless and classic FORMSVAKE SEAT FURNITURE: Unfortunately, the museum has replaced much of the architect-designed furniture with its own solutions, says news’s art critic. Photo: Javier Ernesto Auris Chavez / news The architect had intended this building as a powerful «total work of art». He has designed every little detail from the poster systems to trash cans and benches. Unfortunately, the museum has replaced much of this with its own solutions. In many cases it has not been very successful. The weak seating in the exhibition halls is a glaring example. They radically break with the architecture and are very unattractive. All in all, there are many things about the building that could have been different, but the architect has managed to give his museum a timeless and classic feel. I think many of those who have criticized the architecture and called the building a bunker-like fortress will be more lenient when they see what treasures it actually holds. Swipe to see the difference between 2017 and 2022 Vestbanetomta from 1947 to 2022 Vestbanen when it was a train station. 1947. Swipe on for newer photos. Photo: The National Library 1959.19972004 Photo: Heiko Junge / SCANPIX 2017 Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB 2022 Photo: Iwan Baan / The National Museum
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Review: The National Museum – Culture
