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Kunstsilo in southern Norway.
Photo: Alan Williams

Historic Grain Silo in Norway Converted to Massive Kunstsilo Art Museum

Designed by Barcelona and Oslo–based firm Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, the sprawling institution is home to the world’s largest private collection of modern Nordic art

By
August 14, 2024

Norway’s charming city of Kristiansand has been in increasingly drawing visitors to its fast-growing cultural quarter, which now includes a harbor-front museum housing the world’s largest trove of contemporary Nordic art. Dubbed Kunstsilo, the new institution, a merger of the Southern Norway Art Museum and the Tangen Collection, occupies a converted 1930s Functionalist grain silo revamped by architecture firm Mestres Wåge Arquitectes in collaboration with BAX Studio and Mendoza Partida. The massive building’s original concrete interiors were reconfigured to create a cathedral-esque main hall, as well as 25 exhibition rooms currently displaying “Passions of the North,” the site’s inaugural show of more than 600 works amassed by financier and collector Nicolai Tangen. At night, a rippling glass crown lights up and provides a poetic beacon for the city.

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

The structure’s former use remains the still visible with 30 grain silos that act as a central navigation point for the visitor. Photo: Alan Williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

The cathedral-esque main hall. Photo: Alan Williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

Kunstsilo’s inaugural exhibition, “Passions of the North,” is drawn exclusively from the Tangen Collection of Nordic art and is inspired by conceptual themes from literary giants such as Thomas Hardy and Virginia Woolf. Photo: alan williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

A spiral staircase provides a striking link between floors. Photo: alan williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

On the top floor, Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, BAX, and Mendoza Partida added a new glass covered bar and event spaces that provides views of the archipelago. Photo: alan williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

Offering panoramic views of the region’s coastline, the Kunstsilo museum showcases three art collections and digital art experiences. Photo: alan williams

Kunstsilo, a new museum of Nordic Art, a opened in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. The 8,500 square-meter building emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art.

Kunstsilo is a new museum of Nordic Art in the peninsula of Odderøya. Photo: alan williams

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Fall Issue under the headline “Northern Light.” Subscribe to the magazine.

Cover: Kunstsilo in southern Norway.
Photo: Alan Williams

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