23.05.2025
SLA exhibits New Nordic City Nature at Oslo National Museum
Today, the exhibition “New Nordic – Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place” opens at the National Museum in Oslo. SLA and Dyvik Kahlen have made a specially designed pavilion for the museum square – that takes visitors from the Michelin kitchen out into the urban realm. Its roof and landscape are planted with native, edible species from Oslo’s shores and forests, and offers a taste of New Nordic City Nature.
The cross-disciplinary exhibition explores how New Nordic Cuisine evolved into a global phenomenon in dialogue with parallel movements in architecture, design, craft, photography, and art. Rooted in the local landscape and place-based ingredients, the New Nordic food movement reflects a growing societal interest in ecology, nature, and place identity – an evolution the exhibition brings into focus.
As part of the exhibition, SLA and Dyvik Kahlen Architects have created a pavilion on the museum plaza, where local and edible plant species play a central role.
“The New Nordic food movement revolutionized Nordic cuisine. In the same way, New Nordic City Nature is reshaping how we design our cities. That’s what we want to show with this pavilion,” says E.C. Forfang, Lead Designer and Associate Partner at SLA.
The pavilion consists of four main elements: a long wooden shelving structure, a large roof, a beach landscape, and a forest landscape. The planting features local species from Oslo – many of them edible, and among those used in New Nordic cuisine.
The pavilion’s roof hosts coastal vegetation found along Oslo’s shores and islands – including sea kale, angelica, and wild garlic. The other side of the pavilion is a hilly landscape that covers a root cellar. Its vegetation is inspired by the Oslo forests and includes rowan, heather, pine, and ramson.
“Just as the food movement has shown the value of the local and rooted, we aim to do the same in the urban realm – with nature as co-creator. It’s not just about aesthetics, but about building places that strengthen biodiversity, make our cities more resilient to climate change, and support people’s connection to nature.”
— E.C. Forfang, Lead Designer and Associate Partner, SLA
Throughout the summer, the pavilion will host a rich program of events, including foraging tours, lectures, and meals prepared by renowned chefs. The events aim to provide opportunities for learning, experience, and reflection.
“This pavilion doesn’t just look back at the past 20 years – it also points ahead. In many Norwegian cities, urban space design is still marked by old habits, with little room for local and wild nature. Here, we hope to inspire a new kind of urban nature – more sensuous, more place-specific, and more life-giving,” says E.C. Forfang, Lead Designer and Associate Partner, SLA
The exhibition “New Nordic – Cuisine, Aesthetics and Place” is open to the public until September 14th, 2025.
Find the full event program and learn more about the exhibition at Oslo National Museum’s website.
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SLA inaugurates UAE Pavilion Landscape at Osaka 2025 Expo
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