Autorizzazione Tribunale di Roma n. 378 del 30/09/2005
 
Rivista bimestrale - Anno V - n.18 - Primavera 2009
ARCHITETTURA DEL 2000  







The glacial white of an iceberg raises up in contrast of the colour of the North Sea: the New Opera takes place between the sea and the snow of Oslo. The Opera Hose takes its form between the mountains of the Norwegian capital city and the gulf’s quiet waters that, with their movements, seem to leave on the sand this extraordinary building by the architect’s group called “Snøhetta” (inspired from the name of the highest peak of the Dovre system). Realized with white Carrara marble and glass, this building is meant to represent in a more elegant way the shape of an iceberg translating its substance into the form we can now admire, with the clear intention of making it compatible with the natural landscape and the other buildings. Its most characteristic feature is a marble “ribbon” that encloses the entire edifice separating the internal rooms on the higher level by the sea

ice on the lower one, in order to create panoramic terraces and other furnishing elements. This is something stupefying if we think that the building of this edifice is comprehended in the realization of a residential and commercial complex in the former harbour district of the Bjøzvika peninsula called “fjord city”. The first sensation we feel when we enter is like walking in the heart of an iceberg: the wide foyer is entirely made in glass and steel in order to let the mild Norwegian light penetrate. The internal areas are divided by a corridor called “opera street”, along this corridor we can see the hypnotizing “wave-wall” (which is the envelope that contains the three auditorium halls, symbolizing the dividing line between the ever-moving power of the sea and the eternal stasis of the earth). The visitors of the New Opera of Oslo can easily notice the intertwining of modern architecture and the elements of the secular Norwegian traditions. Furthermore, the New Opera House is a high technology agglomerate. For example it is completely isolated from the outside this fact guarantees some of the best reverbs in the world. In addition to this we should mention the enormous studies aimed at a total isolation from humidity, and at the draining and stability of the covering floor which is stressed not ont only by the snow but also by the traffic.


traslation: Daniele Mastropietro



Back