David Chipperfield Architects won the design competition this week to design the Nobel Center in Stockholm and create a physical home for the Nobel Prize.
"I think all projects are important but this project has enormous meaning, not just for the city of Stockholm but even internationally," said David Chipperfield, Hon. FAIA, in a Nobel Center video.
The firm was selected from among two other shortlisted firms, Johan Celsing Arkitektkontor and Wingårdh Arkitektkontor, both based in Sweden. (Those proposals are available here and here.) Announced in March of last year, an initial competition list included: 3XN; Bjarke Ingels Group; Lacaton & Vassal Architectes; Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter; Marcel Meili, Markus Peter Architekten; The Office for Metropolitan Architecture; SANAA; Snøhetta; and Herzog & de Meuron (although a press release notes that that firm pulled out of the competition.) The proposals from those firms are available here.
Sited for a waterfront property next to the Swedish National Museum, the center, or Nobelhuset, will include an auditorium, museum, library, space for conferences, and public garden, as well as a restaurant and cafe. There have been plans to create such a place since the inception of the Nobel Foundation more than 100 years ago, but it kicked into high gear in 2011 with a declaration of intent signed by the foundation and the City of Stockholm. Construction on the center is slated to begin in 2015, and open in 2018.
For more details and images of the Nobel Center, visit ARCHITECT's Project Gallery.
