Skylight by INABA

Architecture and urbanism firm INABA has been selected to design a permanent suspended work in the lobby of a new concert hall in Stavanger. 8 metres in diameter and 13 metres tall, the cylindrical structure will hang from the top of the hall's five-story high lobby and be visible from the adjacent public plaza, surrounding neighborhoods, and city harbor. Clad with translucent exterior panels, Skylight will emit artificial light digitally composed to act as a programming beacon for the center's events. It will respond to the region's extreme atmospheric conditions by creating a range of luminous effects including extended twilights in winter and surreal auroras in summer. The lighting is also designed to change in hue and intensity in sync with performances, forming distinct patterns during arrival, theater calls, intermission, and closing.

Skylight's form is based on a simple cylinder. In working with international engineering firm Buro Happold, INABA determined a cost effective way to suspend the 3-tonne structure by attaching it from one end and allowing it to hang at its angle of equilibrium. The given angle together with the cut-outs in the cylindrical form minimize the installation's weight, while refracting natural daylight into the atrium. At night, the interior surface reflects artificial light (from a programmable LED system), making it visible from the public plaza and surrounding areas.

The firm deleted areas from the cylinder so that the angle of equilibrium approximates the midday angle of incidence of the sun at certain parts of the year, allowing light to channel into the atrium in addition to refracting off the cylinder's interior surface.

The jury commented that Skylight "plays on the familiar and the unknown…The shape itself carries few references or ways of being specifically interpreted. What is recognizable lies in the light...As you move around the foyer the volume will change as your eye traverses...to the other side."

The new concert hall, designed by Oslo-based Medplan AS Arkitekter, will be located at the heart of the city's planned arts district, positioned centrally among several buildings dedicated to music performance. Skylight will be completed by the building's scheduled opening in 2012.

INABA is an architecture and urbanism firm founded by Jeffrey Inaba with current commissions in New York, Los Angeles, Gwangju, and Nevada. INABA recently completed projects for the Whitney Museum of American Art, Storefront for Art and Architecture, and the New Museum.

Project: Skylight
Client: KORO Public Art Norway
Location: Stavanger, Norway
Project Team:
INABA, Los Angeles: Jeffrey Inaba, Darien Williams, Karin Nelson, Yasmeen Khan, Micael Duran, Eugene Park, Sorayos Tang Chuenchomphu, Kristoffer Miller
Buro Happold, New York: Cristobal Correa, Jeff Thompson
MTWTF, New York: Glen Cummings, Aliza Dzik
Ljusarkitektur, Stockholm: Kai Piippo, Clara Fraenkel