With its distinctive, expressive architecture, organically located among the landscape of Høvikodden, and with its dynamic use of materials such as glass, stone, natural concrete and copper, the building stirred international attention. When the two young Norwegian architects, Jon Eikvar and Svein Erik Engebretsen, won the Sonja Henie and Niels Onstad architecture competition in 1964, it was their very first architectural assignment. "We tried to embody the idea of a forum where the relationship between art forms could unfold and be experienced".