Snøhetta: Arctic Nordic Alpine

Modern architecture as a tool for maintaining a quality life on the blue planet. This is the theme of the exhibition titled ARCTIC NORDIC ALPINE / In Dialogue with the Landscape, which will be open from August 26 to October 13, 2021, at the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery in Prague. The exhibition will showcase the work of the world-renowned studio Snøhetta, which significantly contributes in the fight against climate change through its sustainable approach, with its buildings becoming a model for the world. The exhibition will be accompanied by a rich accompanying program and a publication.

The exhibition was originally created for the Berlin Gallery Aedes & Aedes Architecture Forum in collaboration with Zumtobel to mark the 40th anniversary of the gallery's founding and the 70th anniversary of the company's establishment in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg. The Innsbruck branch of Snøhetta, led by architect Patrick Lüth, is responsible for preparing the exhibition and the new Zumtobel Group Campus & Light Forum, which the company has committed to the idea of sustainable long-term development in Dornbirn and its surroundings. This complex, along with the presentation of the already completed section, is also part of the catalog, which will be published in a Czech-English version thanks to the support of the ARCTIC NORDIC ALPINE project by the EEA and Norway Grants. Thanks to Norwegian grants, another significant representative of the studio, Jette C. Hopp, will also give a lecture at the Faculty of Art and Architecture in Liberec in October.

The project ARCTIC NORDIC ALPINE showcases modern architecture in a dramatic, predominantly Norwegian or mountainous environment. It features pioneering projects from the internationally recognized architectural and design studio Snøhetta from Norway, which has prepared the exhibition. These include, for example, the Svart Hotel in Svartisen, a visitor center in the Svalbard archipelago, a museum quarter in Bolzano, and the Opera for Oslo, for which the studio received the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2009. These buildings demonstrate that architecture can be one of the means to mitigate the impacts of climate change, thanks to their design and modern innovative solutions that are environmentally friendly. "Architecture, as we perceive it, probably has the task of creating a better living environment on Earth for human and other beings," says co-founder of the Snøhetta studio, Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on August 26 on the occasion of the The European Association for Architectural Education conference, with the personal participation of landscape architect Jenny B. Osuldsen, one of the directors and partners of the office. The ARCTIC NORDIC ALPINE exhibition will be open until October 13.

Snøhetta has been designing some of the most significant public and cultural projects in the world for over 30 years. The studio began its career in 1989 with an award-winning competition project for a new library in Alexandria, Egypt, and gained fame with the National Opera and Ballet building in Oslo and the National September 11 Memorial Museum in New York. Snøhetta designs architecture, landscape architecture, interiors, but also product and graphic design. Since its inception, it has maintained its transdisciplinary approach, evidenced by a long list of realizations where landscape and architecture are in harmony from the earliest possible stage. Snøhetta is currently involved in various projects in Europe, Asia, Oceania, and America. Global work thus provides each designer with valuable cultural and economic insights and creates conditions for the studio's continuously evolving capabilities and knowledge. It currently employs 280 people and, in addition to its office in Oslo, has studios in Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Adelaide, and San Francisco.

In the past decade, the Snøhetta studio has also completed Powerhouse Kjørbo and Powerhouse Montessori buildings under the Powerhouse concept. The Powerhouse Telemark complex is a response to Kjetil Trædal Thorsen's warning that architects "must prepare for catastrophic situations," which is accompanied by a commitment that the studio will continue to design only carbon-negative buildings. This means that these buildings will generate more energy over their lifespan than they consume. "For the next 10 years, the Snøhetta studio intends to focus on building a carbon-neutral product portfolio. In twenty years, we will achieve carbon neutrality for all projects."

Director of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery, Dan Merta, presents a long-term collaboration with the studio: "For the first time, we presented architectural projects from the Snøhetta studio in 2009 during an exhibition showcasing Czech architect Martin Roubík (1949-2008), who was part of the broader circle of founders of this world-renowned studio. The Opera building was primarily perceived as a sculpture, as an icon of the newly transforming former docks. It became a symbol of the conversion of this industrial site, which transformed into a laboratory of architecture and urbanism within a decade. However, the Opera also has another dimension: with its topography and morphology, it began the transformation of this brownfield into a fully-fledged public space. A cultural sanctuary as the gospel of the transformation of shared space."

Landscape architect Jenny B. Osuldsen will lecture on the opening day at the Faculty of Architecture at ČVUT in Prague-Dejvice as the first keynote speaker during the EAAE conference. Osuldsen has been a professor at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås since 2014 and a visiting professor in the master's program in sustainable urban design at Lund University in Sweden. Her presentation will kick off the first theme of the conference, which is the Role of the Architect.

Jette C. Hopp has extensive experience with complex projects both in Norway and internationally, and regularly lectures at conferences and universities. She was the team leader for the construction of the Dharhan Museum in Saudi Arabia and the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. She led a major international project focused on sustainability: Astana Expo 2017 "Future Energy" in Kazakhstan, Lingkong Soho Shanghai, and Elbtower in Hamburg, as well as innovative environmental projects in Norway like Powerhouse One Trondheim and Powerhouse Kjørbo Sandvika, which is the first energy-positive building in the world.