Kunstsilo

When it opened in May in the small coastal city of Kristiansand, Kunstsilo breathed new life into a deteriorating 1935 grain silo, and the Scandinavian art scene. Visitors enter into the awe-inspiring museum and cultural center through an open room where sections of the original silo cylinders have been cut away, unveiling a basilica-like central space. “This radical intervention reveals the expressive power of the original building,” says lead architect Magnus Wåge of Mestres Wåge Arquitectes. “The silo becomes a sculpture that the museum is organized in and around.” Some views open to the sky, with glass and concrete used to preserve the existing structure. The works housed within the building, which is on track to achieve a major Norwegian sustainability certification by the end of the year, comprise the world’s largest collection of Nordic Modernist art, including Norwegian painters Johannes Rian and Reidar Aulie. Kunstsilo also hosts family-oriented workshops and concerts as well as temporary exhibitions, including a solo show this September spotlighting contemporary British artist Edmund de Waal—a first for Norway.

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