Oslo's iceberg opera house wins Mies van der Rohe prize

Oslo's opera and ballet house has captured the Mies van der Rohe Award, also known as the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture.

The massive white building, resembling an iceberg jutting out into Oslo's fjord, was designed by Norwegian company Snøhetta.

The $4.2 billion-kroner ($766 million Cdn) centre, which opened last April, is the largest cultural building created in 700 years in the Scandinavian country.

"The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet in Oslo is more than just a building," said jury chairman Francis Rambert in a news release Wednesday.

"It is first an urban space, a gift to the city. The building can be considered a catalyst of all the energies of the city and is emblematic of the regeneration of its urban tissue."

The €60,000 ($95,755 Cdn) prize is given every two years to a building constructed within the European Union during the previous two years.

Known as Operahuset in Norway, the building has become a tourist attraction in the city.

Its sloping roof slides into the water's edge, and visitors can walk freely over the building and the roof.

The 38,500 square-metre building has an auditorium that seats 1,350.

The winning building was selected from a short list of five finalists selected from 340 projects proposed by members of the Architects' Council of Europe (ACE), national architectural associations and an advisory committee.

The prize honours German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, who died in 1969.

A pioneer in modern design, Mies van der Rohe preferred to create open spaces, using materials such as steel and plate glass.

His iconic buildings include the Toronto-Dominion Centre in Toronto and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C.