![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-1.jpg)
Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune
This glowing gallery by Swedish architects Claesson Koivisto Rune sits on a hill in Kumla, Sweden and gives the illusion of concave walls.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-3.jpg)
Gallery Orsta sits on the brow of an artificial hill, with the bottom of the facade following its curvature and the top mirroring this effect with a curved roofline.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-4-1.jpg)
Glass beads were scattered across the facade as it was painted to create a surface that glows as if from within when light is shone on it.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-4-11.jpg)
Three ceiling-height windows and a door sit exactly opposite one another on the four facades to allow direct sitelines through the building.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-4.jpg)
Here's some more from the architects:
Galleri Örsta
art gallery building
Kumla, Sweden
A gallery for modern art, placed in a field. The whole gallery building shines like a traffic sign, when seen from a certain angle.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-6.jpg)
The gallery building
The new gallery building creates a ‘hamlet’ with the adjacent old farmhouses and the owners’ house, together representing three centuries of building tradition.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-7.jpg)
Positioned on top of an artificial hill, as a buffer to the site’s moist soil, the base of the building follows the hill’s topology.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-9.jpg)
The resulting series of curves at the building’s base, combined with mirroring curves in the rooflines, makes the planar facades seem curved – a bit like ‘cinemascope’ screens.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-8.jpg)
The exterior facades
The facades have been painted white and, while still wet, three tons of special reflective glass beads were applied.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-10.jpg)
The glass bead treatment, developed by artist Mikael Pauli, works in a similar way to the reflective component in zebra crossings. If viewed from the same angle as the incident light source, it glows as if lit from within.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claess.jpg)
So, when driving by the building, it appears to flash brightly for a moment.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-13.jpg)
This effect can also be recreated during night.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-14-1.jpg)
If the building falls into the path of car headlights or, as in the attached photos, where two 150 watt lamps – one red, one blue coloured – light the façade from different angles.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-14.jpg)
(We would like to stress that the images have NOT been adjusted via Photoshop or other image manipulation programs - except inbuilt camera software).
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-15.jpg)
The relatively narrow door and window openings, stretching from ground to roofline, make the building’s scale difficult to judge. Appearing smaller at a distance, yet up close it rises to a height of 6.7 metres.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-16.jpg)
Their positions correlate to interior wall positions as well as windows on the opposite side of the building, creating sight lines from one side to the other.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-17.gif)
Click above for larger image
The interior
The elevated position of the gallery building raises the floor level to the same height as the tops of the surrounding crop growth.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-25.gif)
Click above for larger image
The interior is divided in to four differently sized rooms connected with both central cross access and complete side circulation.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-26.gif)
Click above for larger image
Custom designed benches, manufactured in Botswana by Mabeo Furniture, have been added to the rooms recently.
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-27.gif)
Click above for larger image
Project art gallery building
Location Kumla, Sweden
Client Birgitta and Anders Fasth
Design 2009
![Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune Gallery Orsta by Claesson Koivisto Rune](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2010/09/dzn_Gallery-Orsta-by-Claesson-Koivisto-Rune-28.gif)
Click above for larger image
Construction 2010
Project team Mårten Claesson, Eero Koivisto, Ola Rune, Deta Gemzell, Kumi Nakagaki, Jaime Montes
Structure/Materials concrete block masonry walls, stucco with integrated reflective glass beads.
Total floor area 350 m2
See also:
.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Eve bracelet by Claesson Koivisto Rune |
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art by Steven Holl |
More architecture stories |