INABA Wins Art Competition for Concert Hall in Stavanger, Norway

Californian practice INABA has just been selected to design a permanent artwork for a new concert hall in Stavanger, Norway from a field of six invited international teams. The project "Skylight" is a collaboration of INABA in Los Angeles, Buro Happold and MTWTF in New York, and Ljusarkitektur in Stockholm.

The new concert hall, designed by Oslo-based Medplan AS Arkitekter, will be located at the heart of the city’s planned arts district, positioned centrally among several buildings dedicated to music performance. Skylight will be completed by the building’s scheduled opening in 2012.

Project Description from the Architects:

The 8m diameter and 13m tall cylindrical structure will hang from the top of the hall’s five-story high lobby and be visible from the adjacent public plaza, surrounding neighborhoods, and city harbor. Clad with translucent exterior panels, Skylight will emit artificial light digitally composed to act as a programming beacon for the center’s events. It will respond to the region’s extreme atmospheric conditions by creating a range of luminous effects including extended twilights in winter and surreal auroras in summer. The lighting is also designed to change in hue and intensity in sync with performances, forming distinct patterns during arrival, theater calls, intermission, and closing.

Organized by KORO Public Art Norway, the competition jury commented that Skylight “plays on the familiar and the unknown… The shape itself carries few references or ways of being specifically interpreted. What is recognizable lies in the light… As you move around the foyer the volume will change as your eye traverses … to the other side.”

Project Details:

Project: Skylight
Client: KORO Public Art Norway
Location: Stavanger, Norway

Project Team:
INABA, Los Angeles: Jeffrey Inaba, Darien Williams, Karin Nelson, Yasmeen Khan, Micael Duran, Eugene Park, Sorayos Tang Chuenchomphu, Kristoffer Miller
Buro Happold, New York: Cristobal Correa, Jeff Thompson
MTWTF, New York: Glen Cummings, Aliza Dzik
Ljusarkitektur, Stockholm: Kai Piippo, Clara Fraenkel