Nobel Center in Stockholm

The Nobel Foundation announced the architects that will be invited to participate in the competition to design its new home, the NobelCenter in Blasieholmen, Stockholm.

From a total of more than 140 architects considered by a specially appointed evaluation committee, 12 were selected "for their projects and artistic qualities, and also the experience of working in complex urban environments."

The list is predominantly European, with the exception of the Japanese collective, highlighting big names well known in the current architectural context:

Kim Herforth Nielsen - 3XN, Denmark

Bjarke Ingels - BIG, Denmark

David Chipperfield - David Chipperfield Architects, England / Germany

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron and ASCAN Mergenthaler - Herzog & de Meuron, Switzerland

Celsing Johan - Johan Celsing Arkitektkontor, Sweden

Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal - Vassal Architectes&Lacaton, France

Lene Tranberg - Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter, Denmark

Marcel Meili and Markus Peter - Marcel Meili, Markus Peter Architekten, Switzerland

Rem Koolhaas and Reinier de Graaf - OMA, Netherlands

Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa - SANAA, Japan

Kjetil Thorsen - Snøhetta, Norway

Gert Wingårdh - Wingårdhs arkitekter, Sweden

Within the two-stage competition, the architects' task will be to design the building that will become the new home of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm. The building will house the Nobel Foundation, together with associated activities that the foundation initiates within research, educational efforts, museum operations and digital media. The building will contain public rooms for exhibitions, scientific conferences, meetings and events, as well as a library, restaurant, café and shop. The ambition is that the NobelCenter will become one of Stockholm's main attractions.

"The competition will begin once the majority of the project's financing has been secured. Encouraging discussions are currently on-going with several donors, and we are confident that we will secure the necessary financing to begin the architectural competition and carry out the project during the current calendar year," says Lars Heikensten, Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation. The names of members of the jury will be published in conjunction with the start of the competition.

Source: Nobel Foundation