The Kunstsilo art gallery has opened within the shell of a 1930s grain silo in the south of Norway, converted by Barcelona studios Mestres WÃ¥ge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partida.
Located on the Odder?ya peninsula in Kristiansand, Kunstsilo is home to the world's largest private collection of modern art from the Nordic region, with more than 5,500 artworks.
The Kunstsilo art gallery has completed in Norway
The goal for Kunstsilo was to preserve and celebrate the architecture of the former grain store, completed by Norwegian functionalist architects Arne Korsmo and Sverre Aasland in 1935.
To achieve this, Mestres WÃ¥ge Arquitectes, BAX and Mendoza Partida set out to place its 30 silos ? which once contained 15,000 tonnes of grain ? at centre stage. It integrates a 1930s grain silo in Kristiansand
The interior of the 37-metre-tall structure has been carved out, creating a grand, "basilica-like" atrium and circulation core that stretches to 21 metres in height.
Around it are the galleries, the majority of which are housed in two adjoining extensions. One of these extensions is a replica of an original volume that had to be rebuilt due to deterioration.
The silo has been opened up to create a "basilica-like" atrium
"The main architectural intervention we did here was to cut out the cylinders in the original building," said Mestres WÃ¥ge Arquitectes co-founder Magnus WÃ¥ge.
"We wanted to put the silos in the centre of the museum and we did t...