After long delays and public criticism, Norway’s new consolidated Museum of Art, Architecture and Design is planning to open its doors in one year, on June 11, 2022. The seven year planning and construction process, with several years of the public missing access to many of Norway's most valued treasures, will culminate in a new $723 million art museum on Oslo’s western waterfront debuting next summer.

This largest museum in the Nordic region will combine the collections of Norway’s former Kunstindustrimuseet (the national Museum of Applied Arts, which closed in 2016), the Museum of Contemporary Art (which closed in 2017) and the National Gallery, which included Norway's most prized paintings and an Edvard Munch collection, until it closed in January 2019.

While some artworks will be shown at various locations in Norway this summer, and will tour the country, the new museum will eventually feature more than 5,000 works of art spread over 90 exhibit rooms, and the largest art library in the Nordic region.

One highlight will be a “Munch Room” with a seminal Scream and other works from the museum's Munch collection. Nordic masters and 19th century paintings by artists from Claude Monet to Vincent Van Gogh will also feature in the galleries, along with collections like historic clothing and royal gowns from the old Applied Arts Museum.

The dark facade of the new architecture is topped by a Light Hall – a 2400 square meters exhibition space on the roof, reserved for special shows.