A grain silo, designed in 1935 in the city of Kristiansand in Southern Norway, has been rehabilitated and transformed into an art and culture center inaugurated in 2024.
Preserving and modernizing heritage value is the guiding principle adopted by the architecture studios Mestres Wage, Mendoza Partida, and BAX Studio. In May 2024, the Kunstsilo museum opened its doors in Kristiansand, Southern Norway, on the small island of Odderøya, which once housed a naval base. It is a former grain silo, built in 1935 by Arne Korsmo and Sverre Aarsland, leading figures of the Norwegian Functionalist movement. This listed monument could store up to 15,000 tons of grain. Today, the three studios have successfully transformed it into a contemporary art museum spanning 8,850 square meters and rising to a height of 38 meters. In its six months of existence, the Kunstsilo has become the new seaside art destination, alongside the Kilden performing arts center and the Knuden cultural school.
ARCHITECTURAL ICON
The structure consists of about thirty cylinders, a stair tower, and a storage building made of wood and concrete. In the 1930s, this grain silo was the first functionalist building in Kristiansand and the second in the entire country, after the one in Vippetangen in Oslo harbor. Following its closure in 2008, the city council decided to preserve it.
In 2015, businessman Nicolai Tangen donated his art collection to his hometown and proposed turning the silo into Kristiansand's new art museum. Plans to transform it into an exhibition space began in 2019, with an opening five years later.
The Kunstsilo houses the Tangen Collection, the world's largest private collection of Nordic modernist art. The inaugural exhibition, "Passions of the North," showcased 600 works from the more than 5,500 donated by Nicolai Tangen. The organizers aimed to demonstrate the diversity of modern art and that it was not simply about new forms, colors, and figures, but also about engaging with the major historical events of the era.
The museum also holds the Sørlandet collection, on regional crafts and artists, and the Christianssand collection, the first in the city, created as early as 1902.
SPACIOUS AND BRIGHT
Through its simplified language, the building's architecture uses large surfaces, straight lines, and geometric shapes that stand out in the urban landscape. "A cathedral-sized hall, 21 meters high, carved out beneath the silo's cylinders, becomes the heart of the museum – the silo hall," the architects explain.
The exhibition spaces now cover 3,300 square meters, showcasing regional and digital art, culinary experiences, concerts, conferences, debates, and family workshops. They surround the silo hall on the second, third, and fourth floors.
The ground floor houses a central space, including the museum shop, the auditorium, and the café on the silo quayside. The fifth-floor rooftop also hosts open-air exhibitions with panoramic views of the city and the sea.
Besides wood and concrete, glass is another important component of the building, creating visual and functional connections between the interior and exterior. The glass cylinder that crowns the silos is intended to serve as a "beacon" for the city of Kristiansand.
UPCOMING EXHIBITIONS
For its 2024-2025 season, Kunstsilo presents an exhibition of the British artist Edmund de Waal, known for his work in ceramics and his literary works, in dialogue with the sculptures of the Danish master of ceramics Axel Salto (1889-1961).
In the first half of 2025, Norwegian photographer Mette Tronvoll will exhibit her portfolio, which includes both vintage, well-known, and new photographs. Digital art will round out the program, highlighting artists working with technology, in collaboration with Lumen Art Projects and the Lumen Awards.
KUNSTSILO.NO
