Munch Museum foundation stone

The new museum will be spacious enough to house the City of Oslo’s fabulous Munch collection comprising nearly 28 000 works. It will also house the collections of Rolf E. Stenersen, Amaldus Nielsen and Ludvig O. Ravensberg, and will have the capacity to mount larger international exhibitions.

The foundation stone contains a brooch and a mug from Fredrikstad, a seed from one of the apple trees at Munch’s home and studio at Ekely in Oslo , a twig from one of the cherry trees outside the current Munch Museum at Tøyen in Oslo, a copy of Munch’s will, earth from Munch’s birthplace at Løten, a roof shingle from the historic Vågå Stave Church which inspired Munch’s paintings in the Aula of the University of Oslo, and a smooth stone from the pebble beach at Åsgårdstrand where Munch painted Girls on the Bridge, among other works. All of these artefacts come from places linked to the artist in some way. The foundation stone will be placed in the floor of the new museum.

Major project

The floors of the new Munch Museum will be built both below and above ground level. The building will rest on poles fixed in bedrock that is under water of up to 60 metres deep. The completed museum, with its characteristic tower, will reach 60 metres into the air.

Unlike many other art museums, the main functions of the new Munch Museum are organised on a vertical, rather than a horizontal, plane. The building is comprised of a 13-storey  tower standing on a three-storey base. The closed portion of the tower, which will also be soundproofed, will contain the exhibition rooms, storage rooms and conservation rooms. The open portion of the tower will contain circulation and rest spaces for visitors as well as entryways to the exhibition rooms