Snøhetta Designs "Peace Bench" for the Nobel Peace Center, to be Unveiled at the UN Headquarters

The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, has commissioned a new art piece. Designed by Snøhetta and created in partnership with collaborators Hydro and Vestre, the “peace bench”, entitled The Best Weapon, will be first unveiled at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City on Nelson Mandela Day, July 18th. The installation will remain at the Headquarters’ plaza through September, when the plan is to transfer it to Oslo and a permanent location near the Nobel Peace Center and the Oslo City Hall, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded annually.

As a symbol of diplomacy and dialogue, the installation pays tribute to the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their efforts to bring people together to find effective solutions for peace. Designed as a partial circle that meets the ground at its lowest point, the gentle arc of the bench pulls those sitting on it closer together. The installation’s singular design gesture embodies an invitation to conversation. Engraved on its surface is Nelson Mandela’s famous quote, “The best weapon is to sit down and talk”, from which the piece derives its name.

“In today’s digitalized and polarized society, sitting down and speaking together might be the most effective tool that we have to find solutions and common ground. We believe in using design as a tool to create lasting symbols that foster fruitful communication,” says Snøhetta founder Kjetil Trædal Thorsen.

The piece manifests the values of the Nobel Peace Center and pays tribute to the humane ideals of Nelson Mandela – ideals of compromise, of dialogue and compassion. “We hope that the bench will encourage people to sit down and talk – to their friends, but also to strangers and adversaries. Genuine conversations are requirements for peace,” says Executive Director of the Nobel Peace Center, Liv Tørres. 

The Best Weapon balances a duality of messages, both as a functional piece that invites conversation and social intimacy, as well as a resilient symbol that anchors the Peace Center’s mission for discourse and peace. The six and a half meter-long installation is made from anodized aluminum from Hydro. Bead-blasted and pre-distressed, the sturdy material will ensure the bench’s longevity, promoting diplomacy and dialogue for many years to come.

About the Nobel Peace Center
The Nobel Peace Center (Nobels Fredssenter) in Oslo, Norway is the museum for the Nobel Peace Prize. As one of Norway’s most visited museums, it presents the Nobel Peace Prize laureates and their work, and communicates the story of Alfred Nobel. The Center is also an arena for topical debates and conversations related to war, peace and conflict resolution. 
https://www.nobelpeacecenter.org/en/

About the Collaborative Partners: Snøhetta, Hydro and Vestre
The installation, entitled The Best Weapon, was designed by Snøhetta. Materials were supplied by Hydro, and final construction of the piece was completed by Vestre. The three companies bring to this project a rich history of past collaborations for social design in the public realm, including Snøhetta and Vestre’s collaboration to design the furniture for Snøhetta’s redesign of Times Square, and Snøhetta’s work on re-imagining Hydro’s visual identity. 

Vestre is a leading manufacturer of sustainable furniture for cities, parks and other outdoor spaces. For more than 70 years Vestre has helped create democratic meeting places around the world where people of different social, cultural and financial identities can come together. This includes Times Square in New York, Aker Brygge in Oslo and Kings Cross in London.

Hydro (Norsk Hydro ASA) is a fully integrated aluminum company with operations all over the world. Present in all parts of the value chain, from bauxite and alumina to rolled and extruded products and recycling, Hydro is the only 360-degree company of the global aluminum industry, serving more than 30,000 customers worldwide.

Snøhetta is an international integrated architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and graphic design firm. For 30 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. In 2018, Snøhetta designed Arch for Arch, a commemorative arch in Cape Town, South Africa, dedicated to the legacy of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

© Lars Tornøe
© Lars Tornøe
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Ingrid Sårheim

Oslo

Anny Li

New York

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About Snøhetta

For almost 40 years, Snøhetta has designed some of the world’s most notable public and cultural projects. Snøhetta kick-started its career in 1989 with the competition-winning entry for the new library of Alexandria, Egypt. This was later followed by the commission for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo, and the National September 11 Memorial Museum Pavilion at the World Trade Center in New York City, among many others. 

Since its inception, the practice has maintained its original transdisciplinary approach, and often integrates a combination of architecture, landscape architecture, interior architecture, product design and art across its projects. The collaborative nature between Snøhetta's different disciplines is an essential driving force of the practice.

Today, Snøhetta has a global presence, with studios in seven locations spanning from Oslo to Paris, Innsbruck, New York, Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and Melbourne.

Snøhetta is currently working on a wide range of international projects, including the Shanghai Grand Opera House, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Dakota, Harbourside redevelopment in Sydney and La Croisette in Cannes, to name a few. 

Recently completed works include Vertikal Nydalen in Oslo, Beijing City Library, the renovation of Musée national de la Marine in Paris, Orionis - the planetarium and observatory of Douai, Airside in Hong Kong, Esbjerg Maritime Center in Denmark, 550 Madison Garden and Revitalization in New York, as well as Volum lamps for Lodes.

Some of Snøhetta's previous projects include Ordrupgaard Art Museum expansion in Denmark, the Cornell University Executive Education Center and Hotel in New York City, Le Monde Group Headquarters in Paris, including the wayfinding and signage, Europe’s first underwater restaurant, Under, the redesign of the public space in Times Square, the expansion to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Lascaux IV: The International Centre for Cave Art, Powerhouse Brattørkaia and design for Norway’s new banknotes.

Snøhetta’s working method simultaneously explores traditional handicraft and cutting-edge digital technology. At the heart of all Snøhetta’s work lies a commitment to social and environmental sustainability, shaping the built environment and design in the service of humanism. Every project is designed with strong, meaningful concepts in mind – concepts that can translate the ethos of its users and their context.

Among many recognitions, Snøhetta has been awarded the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture – Mies van der Rohe Award for the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the Aga Kahn Prize for Architecture for the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2016, Snøhetta was named Wall Street Journal Magazine's Architecture Innovator of the Year, and the practice has been named one of the world’s most innovative companies by Fast Company two years in a row. In 2020, Snøhetta was awarded the National Design Award for Architecture, bestowed by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. In 2021 and 2022, Snøhetta’s Forite tiles won the Sustainable Design of the Year by Dezeen and Best Domestic Design by Wallpaper* in 2022, and the wayfinding system for Le Monde Group Headquarters was acknowledged with Monocle Design Awards. In 2023, Snøhetta won a number of awards for the Esbjerg Maritime Center and was named Architects of the Year at the Monocle Design Awards, in 2024 included a number of awards to Beijing Library and the BIA 2024 Award to Snøhetta and in 2025, Snøhetta was recognized with the OPAL Special Award for Sustainability, among others. 

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press@snohetta.com

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