The Nobel Center Proposal by David Chipperfield Architects

Nobel Center / David Chipperfield Architects — The Nobel Center Proposal | © David Chipperfield Architects

David Chipperfield will design in the years to come the new home for the Nobel Prize in Stockholm. The building is situated as a ‘solitaire’ in a prominent water-edge position on the peninsula Blasieholmen, next to the Swedish National Museum, strengthening Blasieholmen as an even more prominent cultural destination.

Nobel Center Technical Information

Architects^1-5: David Chipperfield Architects
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Typology: Cultural Center
Competition: 2014
Gross floor area: 18,980 m2
Client: Nobelhuset AB
Images: © David Chipperfield Architects

The building’s shape subtly accentuates the tripartite division of base, middle and top. Beyond form and figure, the façade takes up an important role through its lightness and transparency as it makes the life of the building part of the city and as such supports its public and civic nature.

– David Chipperfield Architects

Project Photographs

Project Description by the Architects

The Nobel Prize may be considered the most significant prize for outstanding human achievements in science, literature, and the furtherment of peace. Since 1901, when the first awards were presented, it has been associated with integrity, autonomy, and freedom, fostering the ideals of a just and peaceful world. The new Nobel Center serves not only as a setting where the admirable past of this prestigious award is brought together in one place but also as a foundation for a new era in which the achievements and ideals of the Nobel Prize will become an active and lively source of inspiration for generations to come.

The building is situated as a ‘solitaire’ in a prominent water-edge position on the peninsula Blasieholmen in the center of Stockholm next to the Swedish National Museum. The new building gives the Nobel Prize a home for the first time in its history, strengthening Blasieholmen as an even more prominent cultural destination.

In its position, the Nobel Center creates a new south-facing public garden and establishes a cultural forum together with the National Museum.

The ground floor is open and freely accessible, extending the city into the building and vice versa, underlining the public nature of the building. With its flexible exhibition areas, a bookshop, and a café-bar facing the garden, the entrance hall welcomes both the citizens of Stockholm and tourists to start their journeys through the Nobel World, which comprises of an exhibition, education, conference, and hospitality.

Situated on the fourth floor, the auditorium represents the architectural highlight of the building, introducing the structure that gives all floors an iterative simplicity – designed to serve as both a place for scientific conferences and a place for hosting the future Nobel Prize Ceremonies for Sciences, Literature, and Economics. The main restaurant and bar are situated on the top floor, establishing a unique venue that strengthens the public character of the Nobel Center.

The building’s shape subtly accentuates the tripartite division of base, middle, and top. Beyond form and figure, the façade takes up an essential role through its lightness and transparency as it makes the life of the building part of the city and, as such, supports its public and civic nature. Like a dress, the façade – made of thin vertical bronze fins placed in varied densities – envelopes the building.

Depending on the time of the day and the activities taking place within, the building acquires a sense of dynamic openness and a calm solidity. The choice of materials for the building not only reflects the dignified noblesse of the inner city area but establishes, in a metaphorical sense, the new Nobel Center as a shining beacon of light in Stockholm, akin to the role of the Nobel Prize.