At the northern edge of Norway, where mountains meet the Norwegian Sea, a new museum is taking shape almost directly on the shoreline.

Called simply The Whale, the forthcoming cultural and scientific center is being built in Andenes, on the island of Andøya, around 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. Designed by Danish architecture studio Dorte Mandrup, it will open to the public on June 4, 2027.

The location is part of the story. Andenes is considered one of the world’s most remarkable destinations for year-round whale watching. Just offshore lies Bleiksdjupet, a deep underwater canyon where nutrient-rich waters create an unusually active marine ecosystem and attract whales close to the coast.

Rather than compete with this landscape, Dorte Mandrup designed the building to become part of it.

A vast curved concrete shell rises gently from the terrain, covered with natural stone and local vegetation. Visitors will be able to walk across the roof itself, turning the museum into a viewpoint over the archipelago, with the midnight sun in summer and northern lights during darker months. Large windows inside frame the ocean and surrounding mountains, while parts of the existing rocky terrain actually enter the building.

But The Whale is not intended to be a traditional natural history museum.

Across approximately 1,800 square meters of exhibition space, science will meet art, sound, architecture, and immersive storytelling. Visitors will explore how whales communicate, behave, evolve, and move through marine ecosystems, alongside the much more complicated history of humanity’s relationship with them.

The project began as a local idea in 2014, with Dorte Mandrup winning the international architecture competition five years later. Exhibition design is being developed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates in collaboration with Tamschick Media+Space.

Perhaps the most interesting part comes after the museum visit. Step back outside, look toward the Norwegian Sea, and the subject of everything you have just learned might actually be swimming somewhere beyond the glass.

Photos Courtesy of: © The Whale, Dorte Mandrup A/S. Rendering by Mir, Bergen.