SNØHETTA, at The Scandinavia House

Some of you may know that my mother was Norwegian. All of you should know by now that New York is literally a babel of many languages, and a mall of many nations; there is no surprise in discovering a "stranger" every day here in New York. Yet I do try to get people to refresh themselves by taking a break from the mad rush of every day life; I try to get many New Yorkers themselves to just slow down and take a closer look at all the "familiar" strangers around them.

So, one day last week I took a friend to see an exhibit of extraordinary architecture of Snøhetta at the Scandinavia House, at 58 Park Avenue at 38th Street. Walking in we were greeting by the very welcoming expanse of the restaurant Smørgas Chef, which is now in its most appropriate venue, although it's in many locations about town, ranging from Stone Street to Greenwich Village.


But let's take a look up stairs on the third floor ... at the new opera house in Oslo:


It almost appears to be wading in the water! But that is also a terrific recapturing of the common waterfront for the residents of Oslo for whom that area had been a disheveled and forbidding spot. In fact, as the structure seems to dip its wide toe into the sea, we are reminded that the water in Norway is considered common property. No one can "own" beach or waterfront. This building, in accord with Snøhetta's green ethos, supports that mood entirely.

"In 1987 the landscape architects Inge Dahlman, Berit Hartveit and Johan Østengen contacted landscape architects Alf Haukeland, and architects Øyvind Mo and Kjetil Trædal Thorsen to join together to make a collaborative studio. The idea was to incorporate architecture and landscape architecture into one design process. The studio was placed above a “brown” beer hall in Storgata in Oslo where they used to hang out. The beer hall is called "Dovrehallen" which means the "Dovre’s Hall". Dovre is the mountain area where Snøhetta is the highest peak. The collaborative took the name Snøhetta Arkitektur & Landskap."

But their very first real big contract came almost as soon as their firm was established, after they won the competition for the design and construction of the library in Alexandria, Egypt. It was conceived and executed with the aid of an American from California, Craig Dykers, who is now, with Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, one of the two principals.


The New Library of Alexandria also hosts a number of institutions:

• The Academia Bibliotheca Alexandrinae (ABA)
• Arabic Society for Ethics in Science & Technology (ASEST)
• The Anna Lindh Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, the first Euro–Med foundation based outside Europe
• The Institute for Peace Studies (IPS) of the Suzanne Mubarak Women for Peace Movement
• The HCM Medical Research project (located in Shallalat premises)
• The Jean-Rene Dupuy Center for Law and Development
• The Arab Regional Office of the Academy of Science for the Developing World (ARO-TWAS)
• The International Federation for Library Associations (IFLA) Regional Office
• The Secretariat of the Arab National Commissions of UNESCO
• The Middle Eastern and North African Network for Environmental Economics (MENANEE)

Already receiving over 800,000 visitors a year, it seems also a force for peace as well as learning.

So, what does all that mean to us New Yorkers? Don't we have a great library too?

Well, the New York Public Library doesn't include anywhere as many separate organizations, although Library employees once ran a Co-operative General Store in the building's basement. The store opened June 9, 1920, and carried everything from stockings to sardines. It sold groceries and general merchandise, canned and fresh foodstuffs, produce, tobacco products, even clothing and sewing notions.

And while it may not attract quite so many people to itself during a year, it's busiest year was 1929-1930 when as many as 800 to 1000 people would be in the main reading room (now known as the Rose Reading Room) at any one time - with people standing in line waiting to get a seat. In fact, the busiest day in the library was December 30 when 8,939 books were requested.

And you know what?! Norbert Pearlroth, the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Researcher from 1923 to 1975, found all the information for the newspaper feature using the huge collection in the Library's Main Reading Room. A speaker of several languages with a prodigious memory, Mr. Pearlroth came to the Library each day, and relied on serendipity to find his amazing facts. It's estimated that he reviewed 7,000 books each year (that's 364,000 in 52 years)!

Whew! Believe it or not!

Yet, this is just a little digression. I'm not bringing up Snøhetta's wonderful work just to point out the wonders of our glorious library. It is a fact that Snøhetta has done work around the world, but its two headquarters are in Oslo - and at 25 Broadway in New York City. Why? Because they have been awarded the commission to design the Museum Pavilion that will serve as the entrance to the Memorial Museum:


The Memorial site is conforming to the master plan that was drawn up by Daniel Liebeskind, for which he won the design competition (not for the Liberty Tower he put in there that has been replaced by David Child's tower - which simply has more rentable space).

So, the world is coming together, slowly but surely. Be patient - have faith: it will be built!