Culture belongs to citizens: Snohetta on building opera houses for everyone

For centuries, opera houses have stood as monuments to high culture — grand stages where art, wealth and prestige converge. But for architect Kjetil Traedal Thorsen, the opera houses of the 21st century should be as much a part of everyday civic life as they are destinations for the arts. Thorsen is the co-founder of Snohetta, the Norwegian contemporary architecture firm behind an opera house that opened in Shanghai last week and another scheduled to open in Busan in 2028. It also designed the N