Renzo Piano: Light is essence

Astrup Fearnley, Norway`s leading museum for contemporary art, opened the doors to their new “shelter” today, ten years after the initial sketches. Renzo Piano is the architect (or has he said himself: “Oh it`s not me I jut did some sketches”) and the result is stunning. Renzo, who were elaborating on how houses has evolved from mere shelters to homes, has built a home for Astrup Fearnley`s formidable art collection: a home he hopes can last for centuries. Constructed in glass, steel and aspen the museum figures as an enormous sleeping giant next to the fjord. Yet it was the invisible that was of interest to the architect: “The most important materials are those we can`t see. Like light in a museum; vibrations in an Opera.”

The new Astrup Fearnley Museum