Renzo Piano is perhaps most famous for designing museums—typically white and pristine—but he has also long proved that he can’t be typecast. The architect’s latest surprise is in Oslo, where his new home for the Astrup Fearnley Museet, a privately owned museum of contemporary art, opened in September. Straddling a series of canals in a revitalized waterfront neighborhood, the structure features rugged aspen-wood siding, thin steel columns with cable riggings that recall sails, and a curving roof that brings to mind a thrown fishing net. The institution itself isn’t exactly an advertisement for Scandinavian culture; the collection focuses largely on American artists such as Jeff Koons, Cindy Sherman, and Christopher Wool. But pending political support, the museum may one day be joined by another devoted to the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch, making the area a new cultural center for the city. Regardless, Piano has helped capture the essence of the Nordic setting. “Places talk,” he says of his approach to architecture. “You have to be careful and listen.” afmuseet.no