Kunstsilo

The transformation of quay 14 to art silo, cultural quarter and canal city will induce new movements, population, city life and culture in Kristiansand. The project continuous the expansion and reinterpretation of the harbour front to an attractive public space along the waterfront, on the same time maintaining the unique qualities of the harbour.

The new cultural institutions will form strong identities and attractions. Likewise, new attractive public spaces are created adjoining and within the buildings. City life along the harbour promenade is prioritized, the museum and the art school follows suit facing the city fjord and the new canal.

The listed silo is kept in its entirety and its industrial scale continued in the project, an iconic building towards the fjord, a clear identity for Sørlandet Art Museum and the Nicolai Tangen collection. Together with the music hall Kilden, a new art school and a cultural plaza, the area is transformed into a lively cultural promenade for Kristiansand.

Our design strategy adds two proud buildings following the scale of the harbour and the silo: One tall volume adjoining the silo maintains much of the openness and free views, marks the museum from a distance and supplements the floor area in the silo right to the upper floors, thus making efficient use of the historic building. The in between space is a vertical movement in the city’s open space. The compact solution frees most of the site for future buildings and infrastructure.

Two cuts in the mass opens the silo to the public describing the transformation from industry to museum. The main entrance connects the ground floor to the harbour promenade, and a new horizontal plane cuts the circular silos towards a new public terrace, a clear line from a distance as a symbol of the museum taking possession of the silo.

The museum is structured around to perpendicular planes, the vertical circulation space along the exterior wall of the silo, and the horizontal public plane cutting through the middle. The two museums are positioned above each other, two identities with gallery spaces both in the circular silos and with rectangular spaces either in the front in the existing building, or in the rear addition.

Between the two museums spans a public floor, from the terrace overlooking the fjord to views from the new building over the city roofs and the peninsula to the rear. This floor is the museums gift to the public, a spectacular location in the city to eat, drink and enjoy the open air on warm summer nights.

The characteristic cylinders create a dramatic vertical circulation space, the silo itself is on display in the communication area in the new museum.

The cultural school opens up to the plaza, cantilevering the passage from the rear street to the museums. The building is separated vertically in terms of use, horizontally in departments, and can thereby be transformed from a living school to house arrangements, exhibitions, performances and concerts for the public. Taking the concentration of young people into account, the entire plaza is shaped as terraced seating, down to the canal, and as a pyramid, for breaks, work, interaction, waiting and play.