MEET THE GUEST | Patrick Lüth, Partner and Managing Director Snøhetta, Norway
The third edition of the SHARE Forum in Slovenia will take place on 25th of April 2023, at the Intercontinental Ljubljana Hotel. “Sustainable facades: Design and technology,” and “Large-scale development projects” are the main themes that will be explored during the program of the International Architecture and Technology Innovation Forum.
SHARE Slovenia 2023 will provide attendees with access to knowledge and new opportunities for collaboration. National and international renowned speakers, innovators in architecture and building technologies will provide the audience with insightful technical details of large-scale projects as well as inspirational visions.
MEET THE GUEST | Patrick Lüth, Partner and Managing Director Snøhetta, Norway
Architect Patrick Lüth has been managing the Snøhetta Studio in Innsbruck since 2011. He is responsible, among other things, for the Swarovski projects “Crystal Worlds Evolution” and Manufaktur, an innovative building for production and creative collaboration, for the design study for a new museum quarter in Bolzano, the master plan for a new city quarter in Budapest, the conversion of the site of an old tobacco factory in Verona, the winning design for the university campus and building in Klagenfurt and for hotel and tourism projects.
About Snøhetta
For 30 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original trans-disciplinary approach, integrating architectural, landscape, interior, graphic design and product design its projects.
Operating in 7 cities in 6 countries, including Oslo, New York, San Francisco, Innsbruck, Paris, Hong Kong and Adelaide, the practice currently employs more than 280 staff members of 30 different nations.
WORK | Projects of Snøhetta
“Under” – Europe’s First Underwater Restaurant
Located at the southernmost point of the Norwegian coastline, where the sea storms from the north and south meet, the project is situated at a unique confluence. Marine species flourish here in the both briny and brackish waters to produce a natural abundance in biodiversity at the site. The Snøhetta-designed restaurant also functions as a research center for marine life, providing a tribute to the wild fauna of the sea and to the rocky coastline of Norway’s southern tip.
Photo © Snøhetta
Half-sunken into the sea, the building’s 34-meter-long monolithic form breaks the surface of the water to rest directly on the seabed five meters below. The structure is designed to fully integrate into its marine environment over time, as the roughness of the concrete shell will function as an artificial reef, welcoming limpets and kelp to inhabit it. With the thick concrete walls lying against the craggy shoreline, the structure is built to withstand pressure and shock from the rugged sea conditions. Like a sunken periscope, the restaurant’s massive window offers a view of the seabed as it changes throughout the seasons and varying weather conditions.
slovenia.share-architects.com-speaker-patrick-luth-4
slovenia.share-architects.com-speaker-cover-patrick-luth-1980x1080px
The project underscores the delicate ecological balance between land and sea and draws our attention to sustainable models for responsible consumption. By focusing on the coexistence of life on land and in the sea, Under proposes a new way of understanding our relationship to our surroundings – above the surface, under the water, and alongside the life of the sea.
Norwegian National Opera and Ballet | Winner of Mies van der Rohe Award
The building is as much landscape as architecture and thus fosters public awareness and engagement with the arts. Generous windows at street level provide the public a glimpse of the scenery workshop activities. The building still finds an audience with public who are not opera, ballet or orchestra fans. The cafes and gift shop, with their access to the waterfront are destinations which offer opportunities to generate revenue for the institution while providing a general public amenity. Care was taken with the design of these components so that they are seamlessly integrated into the overall character of the building’s bold design.
Photo © Snøhetta
The materials, with their specific weight, colour, texture and temperature, have been vital to the design of the building. Snøhettas architecture is narative. It is the materials which form the defining elements of the spaces. It is the meeting of the materials which articulates the architecture through varied detail and precision. In the operahouse, three main materials were specified as early as the competition entry: White stone for the ‘carpet’, timber for the ‘wave wall’, and metal for the ‘factory’. During the continued work on the project, a fourth material, glass, which allows for the exposure of the underside of the ‘carpet’, has been given specific attention.
The design team initially aimed for an industrial modulrity but that the panels themselve should have greater visual quality. The panels were punched with convex spherical segments and concave conical forms. The pattern was developed by the artists based on old weaving techniques. In all, eight different panels were designed which give a constantly changing effect depending on the angle, intensity and colour of the light playing on them.
Le Monde Group Headquarters
A translucent, dynamic façade and expansive public plaza express the building’s openness to its surrounding context. Indeed, the project itself emerged from a moment when these priorities were called into question. As the Le Monde Group deliberated over architectural proposals for their future home in early 2015, just days after the attacks on Charlie Hebdo Magazine’s headquarters, they ultimately selected Snøhetta and local partner SRA Architectes’ design, opting for a building that remains in open dialogue with the city of Paris and its inhabitants.
Photo © Snøhetta
The concave form of the building bridges over the below-grade railyard, anchored on both sides with two seven-story cantilevering volumes held together by a complex network of steel. Situated below the warmly lit arch of the building, custom designed concrete benches offer refuge from the activity of the busy surrounding area. The site further encourages diverse transit modes and greener mobility alternatives with more than 300 bicycle parking slots and through its immediate proximity to neighboring train station.
Photo © Snøhetta
The building’s pixelated outer skin is composed of more than 20,000 pixelated glass elements in a strictly organized pattern with 772 possible configurations, that give the building a sheer appearance that shifts with the changing weather and light conditions. Each glass element represents one distinct pixel classified on an opacity scale ranging from transparent to fully opaque depending on its placement, allowing for the best views from the building as well as a maximum of daylight penetration. This highly sophisticated pattern references the printed letters of newspapers and magazines and makes up a text-like pattern that can be read more clearly when the 10 000 m2 facade is seen from afar.
Photo © Snøhetta
SHARE Slovenia 2023 | The great line-up of speakers
SHARE Slovenia 2023 has as guests internationally recognized personalities in the field of architecture:
- Peter Murray, Chairman New London Architecture;
- Frans Van Vuure, Director UNstudio, The Netherlands;
- Maurizio Meossi, Associate Director Zaha Hadid Architects, UK;
- Patrick Lüth, Managing Director Snohetta, Norway;
- Ernst Giselbrecht, Founder Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner, Austria;
- Marko Dabrović, Founder 3LHD, Croatia;
- Aljoša Dekleva, co-founder Gregorič Architects, Slovenia;
- Majda Kregar, Founder Ambient d.o.o., Slovenia;
- Andraž Keršič, Co-Founder a2o2 architekti, Slovenia;
- Gregor Turnšek, Parnter JKMM Architects, Finland;
- Roland Bechmann, Director Werner Sobek, Germany;
The event is organized by SHARE Architects, one of the most active events network in the region, in partnership with the Chamber of Architecture and Spatial Planning of Slovenia, with the support of Everest, the partner of the event and Zumtobel, proud partner of SHARE Community.
SHARE Architects in Slovenia
Great Slovenian architects have joined the SHARE Architects network adding value to previous editions in Ljubljiana or promoting Slovenian architecture in Europe. 15 Slovenian personalities in architecture are members of the SHARE Architects Society, an exclusive group within the SHARE Architects network, among the being Matej Blenkuš, Dean Lah, Spela Videcnik, Mojca Gregorski, Nande Korpnik, Tomaž Krištof. SHARE Architects Society has awarded the SHARE OPERA OMNIA AWARDS to Špela Videčnik, Co-founder OFIS arhitekti, for her life’s work and notable achievements in the field of architecture.
SHARE Architects Network – Connecting architects and contractors in Central and South Eastern Europe
Over the past 25 years, SHARE Architects forums have become a key networking platform for architects and constructors in Central and South Eastern Europe. SHARE provides a useful framework for knowledge and understanding of the diversity of modern architectural phenomena. Currently, SHARE Architects events are held in 16 countries and have developed a community of over 50,000 professionals around them.
About Post Author
