Väven

Umeå’s cultural centre on the Ume River was built for the city’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2014. The façade consists of glass and aluminium louvres at different angles, like a weave that changes in the light. The building brings together a library, a women’s history museum, stages and a hotel.

Umeå was chosen as one of the European Capitals of Culture for 2014, and the city wanted a new cultural centre by the river. Snøhetta and White arkitekter were given the commission together, and the building opened in 2014. The name Väven, the weave, refers to the way different activities are woven together in the building and to the pattern of the façade.

The building has several floors with large open spaces. The façade is clad with louvres of glass and aluminium set at different angles, giving a pattern that recalls a weave or birch trunks. Inside are the city library, the Women’s History Museum, stages, a cinema, offices and a hotel. Stairs and openings link the floors, and windows look out over the river.

Väven has become a centre of Umeå’s cultural life and part of a larger transformation of the city’s riverside. The building shows how a collaboration between a Norwegian and a Swedish practice could create a contemporary cultural centre in a northern setting, and how one building can bring together many public functions.

• Contemporary architecture
• Snøhetta
• White arkitekter