TRONDHEIM

Concept

to:en is a proposal for a new museum in the heart of Trondheim that brings together the city’s Art Museum and the Museum of Decorative Arts within a single institution. The building acts both as a cultural anchor and as an open urban platform where art, craft, history, and everyday civic life intersect. Its name, derived from the Norwegian phrase meaning “two-in-one,” captures the ideas of fusion, duality, and ongoing transformation.

Architecture

The museum is organized as two interwoven ring-shaped volumes that form a continuous loop, allowing visitors to move without a prescribed beginning or end. At its core stands a vertical glass tower — a luminous and orienting element that reinterprets the mythic tree Yggdrasil. This spatial system supports non-linear circulation, flexible exhibition layouts, and multiple readings of the collection, turning each visit into an individual narrative.

Urban Integration

Strategically located within Trondheim’s cultural and pedestrian network, the museum links the riverfront, historic center, theaters, parks, and neighboring institutions.