Design Proposals for Nobel Center Presented Today

The Nobel Center is established in the spirit of the Nobel Prize; its vision is to work for the good of humanity. By awakening interest in and disseminating knowledge about the Nobel Prize, the Nobel Laureates and their efforts to a global audience, the Nobel Center aspires to sow the seeds of future achievements for a better world. The Nobel Center’s mission will be to promote creativity and new thinking, thereby contributing to finding solutions to the major challenges of our time and of the future.

Stage one of the international architectural competition includes an overall design concept for Nobel Center explaining how the building will relate to the surrounding urban and marine setting on Blasieholmen. The proposals are anonymous and assessed by criteria in the competition brief. To their aid, the jury has specialist reference groups from various areas of expertise.

The jury will not comment on any proposal until November 2013 when two to five proposals have been selected to proceed to the second stage of the competition upon which the names of the finalist architects will be revealed. Thus, the finalists will have the possibility to participate in public discussions regarding the design of the future Nobel Center. The second stage of the competition includes further refinement.  

A winning proposal will tentatively be presented in April 2014. It will then make basis for the detailed planning process.  

The jury that assessing the competition proposals consists of eleven individuals who possess a broad range of specialised knowledge of value to the Nobel Center. The composition of the jury is presented in its entirety below. 

The entries are available at Nobelcenter.se and in a public exhibition at the Nobel Museum in Stockholm. Free admission on Tuesdays 5–8 pm, for other hours and more information please visit the website of the Nobel Museum.

Presentation of Jury Members and Participating Architects

Members of the Jury:
Lars Heikensten, Ph.D. (Chairman), Executive Director, The Nobel Foundation
Olov Amelin, Ph.D., Museum Director, Nobel Museum
Lars Drangel, M.Sc.Eng., Ramsbury Property AB
Gunnar von Heijne, Ph.D., Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm University
Marika Hedin, Ph.D., Museum Director, Vasa Museum
Karolina Keyzer, Architect, SAR/MSA, City Architect of Stockholm
Anders Nylander, M.Sc.Eng., Former Managing Director, Atrium-Ljungberg
Harriet Wallberg, MD, Ph.D., Member of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet
Per Wästberg, Writer, Member of the Swedish Academy

Professional Judges:
Elizabeth Hatz, Architect SAR/MSA, Lecturer, KTH, Architecture
Inga Varg, Architect SAR/MSA, Partner, Rosenbergs Arkitekter

Participating Architects:
Kim Herforth Nielsen, 3XN Architects, Denmark
Bjarke Ingels, BIG Bjarke Ingels Group A/S, Denmark
David Chipperfield, David Chipperfield Architects Gessellschaft von Architekten mbH, Germany
Johan Celsing, Johan Celsing Arkitektkontor AB, Sweden
Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal, Lacaton & Vassal Architectes, France
Lene Tranberg, Lundgaard & Tranberg Arkitekter A/S, Denmark
Marcel Meili and Markus Peter, Marcel Meili, Markus Peter Architekten AG, Switzerland
Rem Koolhaas and Reinier de Graaf, OMA, Netherlands
Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, SANAA, Japan
Kjetil Thorsen, Snøhetta Oslo A/S, Norway
Gert Wingårdh, Wingårdh Arkitektkontor AB, Sweden

Press Contacts:
Annika Pontikis, Public Relations Manager, Nobel Foundation, annika.pontikis@nobel.se, telephone +46 8 663 14 70, mobile +46 70 454 76 72

For the competition brief as well as presentations of the architects, information about the project, press photos and more, visit: Nobelcenter.se

For information about the exhibition at the Nobel Museum:

Helena Wallemo, Press and Marketing Manager, Nobel Museum, helena.wallemo@nobelmuseum.se, mobile +46 70 494 40 09
Nobelmuseum.se

© The Nobel Foundation, 2013. Nobel Prize® and the Nobel Prize® medal design mark are registered trademarks of the Nobel Foundation.