Spanish practice [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] and Norwegian architects [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] with [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] have won two separate competitions to design a museum and library respectively in Oslo, Norway.

The buildings are both to be located next to the Oslo Opera House, completed by Norwegian architects [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] early last year [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Top image: Herreros Arquitectos’ design for the Munch museum, called
Lambda. Above: Diagonale library design by Lund Hagem Arkitekter with
Atelier Oslo.
More information on the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
Here’s some more information from the competition organisers:
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Spanish and Norwegian winners of the architect competitions
Spanish and Norwegian architect offices are the winners of two
separate architect competitions in Bjørvika, Oslo. Herreros Arquitectos
came out on top in the Munch competition with their entry “Lambda”,
while Lund Hagem Arkitekter AS and Atelier Oslo AS were ranked as
number one in the Deichman competition with their
environmentally-friendly concept entitled ”Diagonale.”
“I would like to thank the architects for their excellent
contributions and HAV Eiendom for a well-organised architect
competition,” says Oslo’s Chief Commissioner Erling Lae. “I am also
delighted that so many citizens have visited the exhibition. We will
now ensure that the winning proposals evolve into new premises for the
Munch/ Stenersen Museum and the Oslo Main Library, and that we develop
Bjørvika to become Oslo’s new cultural district.”
The panels of judges have ranked three and four entries respectively
in the two separate competitions, and both juries have been unanimous
in their decisions. The Munch/Stenersen ranking is as follows:
Munch
1. ”Lambda” by Herreros Arquitectos (Spain)
2. ”Yin-Yang” by REX Architecture (USA)
2(?). “Girls on the bridge” by Christ & Gantenbein (Switzerland) and Lie Øyen Arkitekter (Norway )
“The positioning and the sophisticated style of the building has
resulted in “Lamda” standing out as a beautiful and modern museum. It
is both elegant and iconic in all it’s simplicity,” says jury foreman
Helle Søholt.
The Deichman ranking is as follows:
Deichman
1.”Diagonale” by Lund Hagem Arkitekter and Atelier Oslo (Norway)
2. “Meeting place/diversity/openness/exploration” by Schmidt Hammer Lassen (Denmark)
4(?). “Intermezzo” by Snøhetta (Norway )
4. “Between” by David Chipperfield Architects (Great Britain) and Norske Div. A Arkitekter (Norway )
The Deichman-jury has also given two special mentions. The 2 projects are;
“Body & Mind” by kister scheithauger gross architekten und stadtplaner GmbH in coorperation withanOther Architect (Germany)
“Open Minds” by a-lab (Norway)
“Besides being the highest-scoring candidate with respect to the
environment, the urbane ’Diagonale’ provides a very good solution for
the library. The concept has enormous potential that can result in a
highly innovative library,” says jury foreman Berit Kjøll.
Since 12th March, when the exhibition of competition entries was
opened to the public, over 16,000 people have visited the hall of art
behind the National Museum in order to see for themselves the
illustrations and models of the 39 entries.
“There has been a tremendous amount of public interest, and we hope
and believe that the winning entries will be well received. We are very
pleased that two such broadly-composed panels of judges should have
come up with two clear winners,” says Eva Hagen, Managing Director of
HAV Eiendom.
The final decision regarding which buildings will be chosen for the
two cultural institutions rests with the Oslo City Parliament.
HAV Eiendom is a wholly-owned company of the Port of Oslo Authority,
and is the City of Oslo’s development company for urban planning of the
Bjørvika area. Company activities comprise the planning, renting and
managing of property, as well as the buying and selling of real estate
in Bjørvika. It owns most of the property in the area – approx. 15.6
hectares. The development of HAV Eiendom’s sites in Bjørvika will
extend over several years. Progress will be co-ordinated with the
agreed removal of the Port of Oslo Authority’s harbour-related
activities from the area.
LAMBDA by Herreros Arquitectos
The focus of this urban project is centered on the necessary
relationship between the desired areas and the existing city in the
unique context configured by the fjord, coastlines and geographical
features that condition it. We are not proposing a site with isolated
phenomena.
We propose a dynamic, fruitful conversation with the surroundings, a
proposal that selects the appropriate uses, scales and densities that
in turn articulate the spatial forms of occupation, the dimensions and
treatment of the public space and its sustained growth towards the
future.
The first guideline of our proposal is a sequence of connected
public spaces that are strongly characterized and sufficiently large to
formulate a dialogue between the scales of the architectonic features
of the area, thus integrating them into a general, readable system.
Secondly, we will detail the built programs to corroborate with the
suggested locations of the Master Plan: we locate the museum in the
B-11 lot and then the housing programme in lots B-4 and B-5,
maintaining a steadfast suggestion to stagger the heights of the
buildings towards the sea.
For the residential area we have chosen an organization of blocks
which are parallel to the city and slightly displaced with each other
in order to ensure continuity of views and visual richness of urban
perspectives which are rounded off in a square resolving the transition
on through to the Museum.
The Museum is developed with slight verticality, choosing a posture
which shows a double attention towards the fjord and towards the city,
standing respectfully to the east of the opera house, thus extending
and completing its silhouette.With these decisions we confidently
intend to work on the visibility and perception of the set of
buildings, from the city, to the fjord, to the high areas from which
the history of Oslo will be understood in one coherent image.
The ground plan takes on great importance in our project and we
imagine the set of the public space + ground floors of the building as
a plan with great dynamism and leisure, commercial and productive
activity, designed in detail and intensely “naturalized” and
accessible, which attracts a flow of users which is not limited to
residents and tourists.
This will be the base for the new central nature that we want to
stamp on Bjørvika and which explains our efforts in rounding off the
system of public spaces generated with a unique action in the islands
and the beach which open onto the fjord, and providing these privileged
places with landscaped and programmed attractions so as to ensure that
they are used intensively by the public.
It is worth saying now in advance that we leave the small island on
the south of the Museum free, which may become a complementary enclave
to the museum, and the Snelda island for which we propose a sporting
and hedonistic program related to contact with the sun, the wind and
water understood as urban water park or a natural park. In the
peninsula adjacent to the opera, we maintain the plan of locating a
beach, a tourist port and bus stop for the buses which will serve the
museum, the port and the water park.
DIAGONALE by Lund Hagem Arkitekter and Atelier Oslo
The Diagonale solution for the new Deichman Library proposes:
To divide the site into three buildings. By doing this, we give each
building a human scale and integrate the project into the city.
To place the Library on the site towards Operaallmenningen. Library
visitors are offered the best views towards the city, the fjord and the
surrounding green hills of Oslo; and the shortest connection to public
transport.
To make the Library visible to the public. The top of the library
cantilevers out to announce its presence to the visitors arriving from
down town Oslo and the Central Station. At the same time the view to
the opera is secured by a large cut in the volume.
To create entrances to the east, west, and south. Big cuts in the
facade mark the entrances on three sides of the building, inviting the
public coming from all parts of the city. The same cuts give views into
the different environments of the library.
To create a spectacular interior. The core of the new Deichman
library is based on light and space and continuous diagonal views
established between the library interior and the surrounding
streets/square. Through atriums and openings in the different floors
the library is united with the city outside.
To communicate with the city. The façade diffuses the sunlight,
giving a calm feeling to the interior. At night, the building will glow
and change appearance as a reflection of all the different activities
and events inside the library.
What happens with the winners and the ranked consepts in the Munch/Stenersen- competition and the Deichman-competition?
Friday 27. th of March 2009 the winners and ranked projects of both
competionons were announsed publically. The jurys verdicts are now
written into two juryreports. Both reports will be public after the
Easter-holiday.
The jurys verdicts will be sent to HAV Eiendom AS as the employer of
the competitions. The board of HAV Eiendom will handle the jurys
decitions and will then send all the ranked projects (3 in the
Munch-competition and 4 in the Deichman-competition) to the Port of
Oslo. HAV Eiendom is owned by 100 % by the Port of Oslo. When the
board of Port of Oslo also has handled the ranked proposals, all of
this will be forwared to the Municipality of Oslo. This will happen
April the 20.th.
The town counsil of the Municipality of Oslo makes the final decition of what projects that is going to realized.

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Posted by Rose Etherington from dezeen.com