On Top – Roofs as Public Spaces

Understanding a cultural building as a public asset that should be open to all citizens, and not only to a population group specifically interested in culture, is an essential approach to design today. Snøhetta implemented this perfectly while creating the Oslo opera house.

Patrick Lüth, managing director of Snøhetta in Innsbruck, described the design and implementation process. As a result, the roof of the entire building is today used as a non-commercial public space, thereby creating a freely accessible urban landscape that provides public space. The building has therefore become a prototype of a democratic stance in architecture.

Snøhetta, the most well-known architectural firm of Norway, was founded in Oslo in 1989. In addition to architects, the team includes landscape architects, interior designers and brand designers. Snøhetta moreover often collaborates with artists such as Olafur Eliasson from Iceland. The pavilion for the London Serpentine Gallery in 2007 was a successful joint project.