Oslo Opera House

As part of the design for the Oslo Opera House (voted best cultural building 2008) by Norwegian architects Snøhett, local artists were invited to design panels on the building. Textile artists Astrid Løvaas and Kirsten Wagle created aluminium panels based on old weaving techniques, the panels are formed of a series of complex convex and concave shapes. The three dimensional pattern adds depth and interest to the monolithic panels and creates an interesting series of shadows and reflections.



I saw weaving technology similar to their inspiration at the Technical Museum in Berlin. The cards with a series of punched out holes were fed into an automatic weaving machine and this is what created the woven pattern.