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ARMANDO MONTILLA

Images Courtesy of:

SNØHETTA

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Armando Montilla [AM]: You have just received the Mies Van der Rohe European Prize for Architecture for the design of the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet House in Oslo. That same project has received other notable prizes, including the British Insurance Architecture Award and the Travel + Leisure (T+L) Design Award. How is your studio and team handling this international attention? Is Snøhetta bound to brand itself as part of the ‘Star System' in architectural practice?

Craig Dykers [CD]: It was of course a tremendous honor to receive the Mies Van der Rohe Award, though we have received many awards in the past, it is always a boost for the entire office to receive such recognition. This particular award, along with the Aga Khan Prize which we won for the Alexandria Library in 2004, is awarded after the jury has had the opportunity to visit the actual building as opposed to deliberating photographs and graphic representations.

Awards such as these are a great incentive to continue our practice and enhance the spirit of the work itself. In regards to questioning what you have called the ‘Star System' in architectural practice; the answer really depends on what the definition of ‘Star System' is. I think this notion is not based on the architecture produced. The definition is often made by observers of the architect's branded image accompanied by a certain character, which is more of a personality-cult driven thing, as opposed to being about the actual architecture. We have been pressured by these issues, to change the name of our practice in order to use some of our own names in order to identify persons rather than ideas, but this is not really who we are. We prefer to remain a non-denominational architectural practice.

AM: Snøhetta first engaged in international practice after winning the Competition for the Alexandria Library in 1989. This project marked the beginning of Snøhetta's establishment as a practice. It must have been challenging to undertake such a large enterprise for a very young architecture firm. How did Snøhetta meet this challenge? Is winning an international competition such as this one the best way to reach global recognition for a new design firm in your opinion?

CD: The competition for the Alexandria Library was held in 1989, and in fact we were then just a disparate group who put together in a space of six weeks the project for the competition entry. In a way the project was quite ambitious, but our naiveté prevented us from walking away from such a project once we won the competition. Because of the complexities it involved, particularly regarding the context, many other more established firms would probably have stepped aside, since it didn't seem so wise at the time to remain with it. The long design and construction span was mainly due to the events of September 11 that caused the project to delay its completion by about one year.

The planning of the project really took about three years and following the construction of the project there was a chance for us to more carefully establish our practice. I would say that yes, an international competition of such caliber can serve to establish a practice, it is just one way to do so. When looking at established and well-known architects, it is generally true that they have either enjoyed the gift of nepotism or they have worked for someone famous before establishing themselves on their own. There are studies that have examined this when looking at the history of such established practices. In our case, we did not have the capability or connections or the money cushion to get to where we are today. Without the trigger of the Alexandria Library Competition we would probably have had an entirely different evolution.

AM: Snøhetta places great emphasis on collaboration. The firm integrates architecture, interior design, and landscape design in all of its projects in an interdisciplinary manner; It calls itself "an integrated landscape, architecture, and interior design practice." Snøhetta counts a great number of landscape architects, interior designers, and product designers in its studio. Is this work method the consequence of the Scandinavian integrationist design view?

CD: Actually we prefer the term ‘trans-disciplinary.' This term can be understood in the rather transitional stage where a specific state or even gender perhaps, changes from one point to the next – as in transsexual. We believe that disciplines of thought are bound to cross over one another, creating a rather dynamic field for innovation. We do place considerable importance on team work and to the integration of what we do into a range of fields. We have established collaborations with teams of engineers, product designers, artists, authors and an array of other professions, which allow us to experience their point of view and for them to experience ours. That's what I mean by trans-disciplinary. It is perfectly natural for us to have a big team of landscape architects working hand-in-hand with architects, as we see a total integration of what we all do together. This idea does however take constant maintenance and takes time to truly develop.

AM: You consider each site for a project "a unique point of departure for its design" when many internationally-acclaimed architects count solely on the concept to guide the building's image. How do you integrate the context & landscape into the design of a high-rise tower, particularly in the case of the Gateway Complex in Ras Al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates , which Snøhetta now contemplates building.

CD: I do believe that so-called iconic architecture can give a special emphasis to the site; even those so-called star architects whose work does rely on the fabrication of a special signature image would not ignore the context that surrounds the building. The idea of ‘couture' architecture does enjoy the power of image, but that does not isolate the building from the ground where it stands. Particularly in the context of a high-rise building, it is perfectly feasible to utilize the surroundings and the physical context as the generator of the design. This is what we have done with Ras Al-Khaimah. There is no ‘generic' sense in any project; buildings are really specific to their surroundings. It is really not only the physical surrounding but also the psychological implications of what a site represents in the mind of the people who experience it.

AM: The quality of public spaces generated by some of your projects, particularly by the Oslo Opera, is often praised by international architecture critics. Perhaps more importantly, the public has really embraced those spaces as their own. Many American cities, including Miami, could benefit from having more successful public spaces. Do you think that Miami's Biscayne Bay waterfront can be treated similarly to a fjord in Oslo, particularly in terms of the architecture and the appropriation of land/designed spaces by the people? How do you integrate landscape, climate, and design in order to engage the public?

CD: I am not quite familiar with Biscayne Bay, but while Miami was one of the last places on my list to visit, I was surprised to find that I was quite nicely impressed by the city when I went there to collect the T+L (Travel and Leisure) Award recently. I loved the ethnic component of Miami, and even the way things were a bit spontaneous in terms of street life. Many stereotypes we have been bombarded with through the media about Miami are completely wrong. It is a very exciting place and I look forward to visit there again. About the aspect of waterfronts, what it is interesting to me is that waterfront development often seems to be afraid of the water, stand-offish to its presence in a direct way. Psychologically humans tend to be intimidated by water although we were born within a water-filled environment, our bodies are almost entirely water and we tend to enjoy looking at it. Aside from swimming and boating, we don't often engage in a meaningful way with the water surrounding us. What we did in Oslo was to break that fear, and to propose spaces that allowed people to wander around at the very edge of the water with no hesitation. That is one of the factors that have made the project so successful. Taking advantage of the fantastic water experience there was crucial to people's relationship with the building. It would be great to be able to embrace the waterfront in Miami in a committed manner, participating fully of the water environment in a non-intimidated way.

AM: Speaking more specifically about the quality of public space in Snøhetta's projects, as well as the issue of collective memory, Snøhetta's award of the commission to design and build the September 11 Museum Project - at New York City's new World Trade Center Site - imprints a very high responsibility on Snøhetta's design for this particular building, in terms of dealing with the fragility of a site, which has been marked by a terrible memory. How do you see this challenge to your team? Can you tell us about your personal experience in regards to this project?

CD: There is a rather long narrative of this project. It has been touched by a number of coincidences. First of all, what happened in New York on September 11, 2001, had a direct impact on our work, since it was the main reason the Alexandria Library Project was delayed. Second, on a personal level, on that very day I was to fly to Dallas from Oslo, with a plane change scheduled in New York City for 9am. We never landed in New York. The order was given to close the airspace over the US. I was able to get a glimpse from my airplane window of the Towers and the New York skyline under a cloud of smoke – without knowing what was really happening – we later landed in Gander, Canada, a small town where 8,000 passengers were received until the airspace opened again. When we were awarded the project in New York, we knew immediately we had to set up an office in the city, and the project is now progressing at a terrific speed. The construction documents are about to be issued, and we are happy with the challenge. We believe it is interesting that the building will live next to a memorial, when normally these cultural projects are detached from the actual architectural surroundings. We hope it will be well-received by the people of New York - as it has happened in Oslo – and we look forward to seeing the reaction around to the project.

AM: Kjetil Thorsen was quoted by a Spanish newspaper saying that "he has been impressed about the quality of public spaces in Barcelona, having learned a lot from them." Perhaps you can - with his permission - comment on this statement; What can we learn from Barcelona? Do you think it is possible to skip the uniqueness of an urban context and copy a public space model from one city to the next?

CD: Actually this was a feeling we all shared when receiving the Award in Barcelona. What is meant by this statement is that we have all admired how the city has made a conscious effort to implement a high quality in the planning of their open spaces, and this is something to be praised. In North America urbanism seems to prioritize the use of the car, in Barcelona there has been a planning initiative, which really favors the pedestrian experience, despite the traffic. However in reality, no public space can be copied from one place to the next, ignoring the specificities of the physical surroundings.

AM: You have just edited a book called Snøhetta Works, a review of the 20 years of production of the firm. This must have been quite an enterprise. How would you compare your architectural practice to your recent editorial production?

CD: This was quite an enjoyable experience, though it has not been our first publication. We have had about three of them, the first of which was published by a rather obscure Norwegian publishing house in a minority language, New Norwegian. We really stayed away from publishing for a while, actually for a good number of years. The pressure on us was intense though, to publish again, and so we decided to edit this book in order to provide all the information that was constantly being requested from us. We treated the project as any other architectural project we were involved with, at the level of team work and with the same complexities. As I said, editing the material and producing the book was a very satisfying experience for us, and we hope it would be for all of those who will enjoy this publication.

For more information on Snøhetta visit: www.snoarc.no