snøhetta 05-11-2024

Snøhetta is a transdisciplinary practice that encompasses architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, art, product design, graphic and digital design, often integrating a combination of interests across its projects. The firm shares its name with a beautiful, remote, and historically significant mountain in central Norway.

Founded in 1989, Snøhetta grown to over 350 employees from 40 nations across nine regional studios spanning from Oslo to New York, Innsbruck, Paris, San Francisco, Adelaide, Melbourne, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen.

Since winning the competition for the library in Alexandria, Egypt, three themes have been central to Snøhetta’s work: an intensive investigation of context to develop a strong concept as the foundation of design, a focus on culture—ranging from high culture to everyday life—and a commitment to social aspects, leading to a comprehensive understanding of sustainable construction. While larger projects often receive the most attention, Snøhetta works across a wide range of scales and project types, from something as small as a bird’s nest or beehive to large-scale urban master planning. Rather than offering complete solutions, these projects reflect a shared attitude, acting as samples in a series of contextual explorations rather than finalized masterpieces.

A key motivation in Snøhetta’s work is creating spaces where people can connect with each other and the world around them. This approach is driven by dialogue and diversity, which empower their process.

Transpositioning in Architecture: Collaborative Design in Architecture

Why Transpositioning?

„Transpositioning“ is a working method in which participants are invited to step out of their professional roles and switch perspectives with others in the group. This approach fosters a universal way of communicating across cultures and disciplines. It promotes the positive benefits of stepping outside one’s comfort zone, challenges narrow-minded thinking, and encourages holistic approaches. In this lecture, we will introduce projects that emphasize open exchanges between roles and disciplines, where architects, landscape architects, interior architects, and designers collaborate in an integrated process.

„Snøhetta is a place nobody is from, but anyone can go to.“