Oslo’s Nasjonalmuseet, or The National Museum, which opened its doors to the public in June 2022, is a building in which two souls coexist harmoniously. Designed by architect Klaus Schuwerk in collaboration with Berlin-based Kleihues + Kleihues, the building houses Norway’s largest collection of art, architecture and design, with more than 400,000 ancient and modern objects spanning 3,000 years of the nation’s history. The duality of the museum is evident not only in the works on display, but also in the nature of the bivalent architectural spaces that define it.

The Light Hall, a translucent marble-clad gallery rising from a long stone base at the top of the building, is a wonderful example of contemporary architecture that attracts the viewer’s attention from the outside, while inside the space is often used for equally alluring temporary exhibitions. In contrast, the ground and first floors have a much more regular, traditional layout, bringing the total net floor area to 54,000 sq. m.
About 15,000 sq. m of parquet were laid using about 15 tons of Ultrabond Eco S955 1K, a Mapei adhesive that is perfect for enhancing the fine oak wood chosen by the architects for sections of the museum. For other parts of the building, Mapei supplied adhesive fillers and cementitious and fiber-reinforced mortars specifically for concrete.

From the architectural design to the choice of suppliers, no detail was too small and nothing was left to chance, with finishes and materials specifically chosen to ensure the museum’s longevity.