bergen welcomes snøhetta-designed faculty of fine art, music and design

multidisciplinary architecture firm snøhetta has completed the new faculty of fine art, music and design (KMD) at the university of bergen in norway — the second largest cultural building in the city after the 1,500-seat grieg concert hall. the firm’s new 14,800 sqm cross-disciplinary faculty is organized along two axes, one internal, dedicated to students and staff, and one external, open to visitors. these axes cross each other in the 1,300 m2 and 19,000 m3 project hall, one of the most prominent and dominant features of the building.

surrounding the 52-meter-long project hall, one will find 32 workshop-cum-display spaces

in an effort to free students and staff from limitations by surfaces and materials, snøhetta’s KMD building has been designed to both foster creativity and to withstand harsh treatment, which is inevitable in an art school. surrounding the 52-meter-long and 24-meter-wide project hall, one will find 32 commodious workshop-cum-display spaces. these spaces are equipped with specialized infrastructure and heavy machinery for woodwork, ceramics, metalwork, plaster, printmaking, textiles, 3D modelling and printing, video, sound art, and photography.

900 seawater-durable crude aluminum elements protrude from the wall at varying distances

in regards to its materiality, the building is a clean-cut, environmentally friendly and durable building focused on materials that will withstand the rainy norwegian climate and a high degree of rough use, wear, and tear. the pre-fabricated raw aluminum elements that clad the building’s exterior compose a puzzle of depth, breadth and length. the crude aluminum surfaces will gradually age and naturally oxidize, heightening the variations in colors and textures.

the firm used materials such as pine wood block flooring, birch veneer, and raw aluminum