Oslo Opera House

The Oslo Opera House rises from the fjord like a slab of white marble and glass, and its genius is that the public can walk right up its sloping roof to the top, treating the building as a piece of landscape. Opened in 2008, it transformed the waterfront and became the modern emblem of the city.

Background

The Opera House is home to the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and stands in the Bjørvika district at the head of the Oslofjord. It opened on 12 April 2008 and holds 1,100 rooms in a total of 49,000 square metres. The main auditorium seats 1,364, two smaller stages take 200 and 400, and the main stage measures 16 by 40 metres. Its sloping outer surfaces are clad in Carrara marble and white granite, and it is the largest cultural building raised in Norway since Nidaros Cathedral was finished around 1300. It won the World Architecture Festival Cultural Award in 2008 and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture in 2009.

Source: Wikipedia, "Oslo Opera House"

What you'll find

• The walkable roof - the sloping marble roof you climb for a view over the fjord and city.
• The waterfront setting - the building rising straight from the water.
• The foyer and oak interior - the warm wooden hall inside the cool marble shell.
• Performances - opera and ballet in the main auditorium.

When to go

Year-round; the roof is open day and night, best at sunset over the fjord or floodlit in the dark. A performance or guided tour lets you inside.

Before you go

The free experience is the roof and exterior; the interior and performances are separate. The waterfront around it is a modern, still-developing district rather than historic. It is a short visit unless you attend a show, but an uplifting one.

Nearby

Akershus Fortress and the Munch museum are alongside on the waterfront; the central station is next door.

Key facts