Snøhetta and White Arkitekter’s cultural building in Umeå Sweden, Väven, is nominated for the Kasper Salin Prize. Since 1962, the Swedish Association of Architect annually awards the Kasper Salin Prize to a Swedish building or group of buildings of high architectural quality. The winner will be announced November 28th. 

Väven is part of an urban development project:the City between Bridges. The new development is seen as an important catalyst for Umeå’s urban regeneration, and aims to create a cultural area along the river Ume. 

View from southwest during summer. The design builds on the fluid flow of activities and experiences. Internal and external spaces merge and overlap.

Väven is a new cultural center located in Umeå's city center, next to the town hall park on the Ume river. The new development is seen as an important catalyst for Umeå's urban regeneration, and will help prepare the city for the for the European Culture Capital festivities in 2014.

Designed by Snøhetta in collaboration with White Arkitekter AB, this new building will weave (hence the name väven, meaning 'weave' in Swedish) multiple cultural programs and activities together, providing a stage for performing arts, exhibitions, study and leisure. Part of the building lies on a site defined by the existing city grid while the rest occupies part of the quayside, a zone characterized by transient activity and flexibility of use. The design takes its cues from the building's intended use and the characteristics of the site. Väven unifies various public functions in one complex building.

The overall experience emphasizes a whole made of many parts, giving the building a human scale and breaking down the barriers between internal activities and public space. 

View from southwest during the winter Christmas Market. The facades are a series of reflective glass ribbons woven together to form the skin of the building, and resembling the many birch trees for which Umeå is known.

Main Entrance from Storgatan.  The foyer of the auditorium will serve as a second proscenium opening to the park as well as the new river promenade on the quayside.

Interior view of the new library

level 2

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Construction progress, Sept 2013

Construction progress, March 2014

All Images © Snøhetta

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