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上海大歌劇院正式開幕！Snøhetta 操刀黃浦江畔白色摺扇造型，打造 24 小時全天候開放城市文化客廳

Isabella Alveberg, CEO of Snøhetta, has had an unusual path. She moved from cybersecurity into architecture, becoming the first non-designer to lead the firm in its then 30-year history. Since taking the role in 2018, she has mixed a practical tech background with a clear focus on design that serves a purpose.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Norwegian_National_Opera_and_Ballet_Helge_Skodvin_1_21a901ae9b.jpg" alt="Norwegian National Opera and Ballet_Helge Skodvin 1.jpg"><figcaption>Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>Snøhetta is known for projects like the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. It works across architecture, landscape, interior, product, graphic and digital design. With Isabella at the helm, the firm has grown to eight cities, from Oslo to Hong Kong, while deepening its commitment to sustainable and community-focused work. While most CEOs in the field come up through design ranks, Isabella's background has helped the company tackle old problems: outdated business models, undervalued creative work, and a competitive race to cut cost.As a woman in a male-heavy space, her rise to Snøhetta’s top role signals a broader shift toward more diversified leadership in a profession overdue for inclusion. Her philosophy of “ethical profitability" - balancing financial health with social and environmental good - lines up closely with what Snøhetta has always stood for.Breaking the Blueprint: The Power of an Outsider’s Lens Isabella’s move to Snøhetta started in 2016. After 30 years in IT—15 of them at Microsoft Norway, then leading Avast Software—she hit a familiar wall after being passed over for a senior job in a male-dominated industry. Instead of stopping there, she took a mentor’s advice to heart: “Don’t be defined by barriers that others set for you. Define your own barriers that you want to break through.”<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Isabella_Alveberg_Group_CEO_Snohetta_AS_78a8169a31.jpg" alt="Isabella Alveberg Group CEO Snøhetta AS.jpg"><figcaption>Isabella Alveberg. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>Her first step wasn’t toward architecture but inward. Before leaving Avast, she set up Women@Avast, a mentorship program uniting ten standout women to defy the glass ceiling she’d repeatedly encountered. The initiative became a revelation for Isabella. When Snøhetta approached her in 2018, the fit felt right. “Snøhetta is a place where my brain is challenged every single day, but also my heart works every day, because I feel that what we’re doing is purposeful,” she said.Her tech background brought unexpected strengths. She knew how to navigate complexity, streamline systems, and run teams across countries. Architecture faced many of the same sticking points she had already overcome in IT: stagnant business models, creativity sidelined by cost pressures. Free from the constraints of design dogma, she reframed success: not just numbers, but as spaces that uplift communities and actually help the people who use them.Bridging Legacy and Innovation: Earning Trust in a Creative Dynasty Taking over Snøhetta’s leadership meant inheriting a creative dynasty.&nbsp;The previous co-founder had led for 30 years and left behind landmarks like the Oslo Opera House, and Isabella faced a daunting task: earning trust without unravelling that legacy. She called the six-month handover a “dating period," the CEO’s leap of faith in entrusting its legacy to an outsider. “He was handing over his baby to somebody who didn’t know at all what happened with that,” she later recalled.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Norwegian_National_Opera_and_Ballet_Helge_Skodvin_78c264e2c2.jpg" alt="Norwegian National Opera and Ballet_Helge Skodvin.jpg"><figcaption>Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>Without any formal training in design, she positioned herself as a facilitator, concentrating on making the operational side stronger so the 350-person team could focus on the work. She cleaned up support processes and sharpened how the global studios worked. The founder had voiced a fear of being “being bureaucratized"; Isabella proved that clearer systems could free people up rather than hold them back.The pandemic became her proving ground. When studios closed in 2020, her tech experienced helped the firm switch quickly to digital ways of working. Projects stayed on track, morale held steady, and her leadership cemented trust across the organization. Beyond logistics, she also worked on creating a sense of psychological safety so people felt able to try bold new ideas. “Mine is more creating that security within a company where we’re free to be creative, within certain boundaries,” she explains. The mix of backgrounds across the studios has become one of the firm’s strengths.Global Vision, Local ImpactIsabella runs a network that stretches across cultures. Biannual gatherings in Oslo unite teams from eight cities, ending with a symbolic hike up Snøhetta mountain: a simple ritual that bonds 350 people from more than 40 nationalities. Workshops regularly bring in people from outside the firm - artists, philosophers, local residents - to keep ideas fresh.The Beijing Library is one result. It attracted 3.7 million visitors in its first year and hosted 3,400 events, becoming a real community space rather than just a building.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Beijing_Library_Photo_by_Zhu_Yumeng_d6cc1b9dce.jpg" alt="Beijing Library_Photo by Zhu Yumeng.jpg"><figcaption>Beijing Library. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>The same thinking shaped the Times Square overhaul, finished in 2017 under Isabella's leadership. Once a dangerous, congested mess despite its 330,000 daily visitors, the redesign transformed it into a civic gem, carving out 2.5 acres of pedestrian-only plazas between 42nd and 47th Streets. Working with New York City’s Department of Design and Construction and the Times Square Business Improvement District, the team removed curbs, cleared clutter, and added granite benches. Pedestrian space nearly doubled. Injuries dropped 40 percent, and crime fell 20 percent.Rethinking Sustainability: Building for a Carbon-Neutral Future Isabella is blunt about the industry’s fee structure. “Our business model is not based on the input of creativity or value increased by ideas; our business model is based on percentage of the cost." Snøhetta now incorporates social benefits, environmental gains, and community uplift into its approach, dodging the industry’s price-driven competition. Through dialogues with clients, she’s shifting mindsets, positioning quality design as an investment rather than a cost.Her push for sustainability is ambitious. Beyond the 2049 carbon-neutral target, Snøhetta is experimenting with carbon-negative materials and energy-positive buildings. The Beijing Library shows the dual approach: green design choices that also support cultural life, while the business stays healthy enough to take on ambitious work without losing its creative edge.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Beijing_Library_Photo_by_Zhu_Yumeng_1_c0bb398f68.jpg" alt="Beijing Library_Photo by Zhu Yumeng 1.jpg"><figcaption>Beijing Library. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>Empowering Through Diversity: Mentorship and Inclusion in Action Her experience with Women@Avast taught Isabella a key lesson: change requires allies, not just advocates. Isabella has built a mentorship web that pairs seniors and emerging leaders, gender aside, with tailored support for women. Cross-disciplinary circles encourage collaboration, while flexible policies, like parental support and clear advancement paths, have increased the number of women in leadership roles across studios. The firm tracks progress with diversity targets and open discussions. She shares what they learn at industry events, nudging the wider industry toward equity with steady, deliberate steps.Architecture with Heart: Creating Spaces That Serve&nbsp; Isabella describes the firm’s approach as “community-friendly architecture.” “We try and engage with the communities to understand how this building is supposed to function,” she explained, emphasizing that design must prioritize the people it serves. Buildings are treated as places that should improve daily life, not just stand there.Isabella is committed to giving back to communities through design, an approach that stands out in projects like Times Square. Before finalizing the redesign, Snøhetta set up temporary installations - movable seating, pop-up pathways - inviting pedestrians to test and critique them in real time before anything was made permanent. “We try and engage with users regardless of backgrounds, gender, religion, nationality,” she noted, ensuring every voice informs the outcome.<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/Times_Square_photo_by_Michael_Grimm_27b9c20ef7.jpg" alt="Times Square, photo by Michael Grimm.jpg"><figcaption>Tims Square. Photo courtesy of Snøhetta</figcaption></figure>The work also aims to be regenerative: spaces that give more than they take. Public green roofs, multi-use community rooms and integrated art turn buildings into assets for the neighborhood. “Buildings don’t just serve a functional purpose, they actually serve the people who need to inhabit them.”Shaping the Future: A Legacy of Purpose Since 2018, Isabella has combined the precision she learned in tech with the creative energy that already existed at Snøhetta, cementing its role as a sustainable, inclusive leader. Beyond maintaining Snøhetta’s legacy since 2018, Isabella has proven that someone from outside the usual path can still lead a design practice effectively.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://prd-cdn.jessicahk.com/IMG_3003_b38cda1168.JPG" alt="IMG_3003.JPG"></figure>Looking ahead, Isabella envisions Snøhetta crafting architecture and design that respond to real needs, regenerate what it uses, and improve the places people live and work; not merely adapting to the future, but shaping it. The lasting impact will transcend buildings like the Oslo Opera House or Beijing Library, continuing to live on in the everyday lives those spaces affect.

Redesigning the Future: Isabella Alveberg's Snøhetta Revolution

&nbsp;<blockquote><h2>凡事將目標定高一點，即使用盡全力挑戰後還是失敗了，也要學會接受。</h2></blockquote>&nbsp;早年被社會定性為反叛型的80後，如今都已成為社會的中層動力。然而在建築界別內，由於行業架構與傳統，即使已踏入中年的80後建築師，在行內仍處初生之犢的階段。就以2022 港深城市 \ 建築雙城雙年展（香港）為例，這兩年一度的建築界盛事，一向均由建築業內享負盛名的建築巨擘主導，今年卻一反傳統，首次由一班新面孔掌舵。Text &gt; Goosie Lam Photo &gt; Wan Sze Chuen築起堅韌新面貌 訪問前慣於網上搜集資料，然而與這6位策展人相關資料卻是少之又少，「我們6位80後建築師及設計師均為土生土長的香港人，而且均由香港大學建築系栽培出身，並已於各建築及創作領域累積了一些經驗。這次因著對建築的初衷，在校外再次凝聚，『集籽種城』為香港建築未來的可持續發展集思廣益。這一代建築師，大都仍在建築師樓團隊中默默耕耘。而香港當代有名的建築師，多為上世紀80至90年代冒起，他們每位均見證香港逐步發展成國際城市。」80後建築師因見證權力與時代更替，且面對著比以前更大的競爭，在成長過程中變得更堅韌，更懂得深耕細作，總是期望以一點一滴的微小力量建築起當初純真初心。<img src="https://jes-network-production.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/8_d5877195ee.jpg" alt="8.jpg" srcset="https://jes-network-production.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/thumbnail_8_d5877195ee.jpg 245w,https://jes-network-production.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/small_8_d5877195ee.jpg 500w,https://jes-network-production.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/medium_8_d5877195ee.jpg 750w,https://jes-network-production.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com/large_8_d5877195ee.jpg 1000w," sizes="100vw">作為建築界的未來棟樑，6位建築師對城市當然有著與前人不一樣的概念， 「當種籽仍未發芽時，是多麼微不足道。然而只要悉心栽種，即使顆粒再微小，亦能破土而出，抵禦風雨茁壯成長。」雙年展其中一位策展人──美國註冊建築師梅馥曼（Fei Mui）指出，種籽就好比民間力量，是生命的根源，這次「集籽種城」展覽就如開啟了一個種籽庫，「集合民間別具韌性的種籽，並將它們放於陽光下，讓大家更清楚看見，見證及推動著彼此成長。」Fei形容每顆種籽形狀各異，卻都是始於以人為本的關係，「我們6位正是依著這個單純的信念，一起摸索我城未來的發展方向，譜寫屬於當代的香港故事。」貫徹「集籽種城」主題概念，今屆雙年展囊括逾50個參展單位，匯聚本地及海外多個具代表性的建築設計精英。在這艱難時期下，共同探索社會上不同的元素，從城市探討，到建築及建構環境議題，「種」出和而不同、令彼此平衡共生的可持續城市發展藍圖。凝聚小種籽 耕耘大力量 今屆雙年展舉辦日期由8月27日至11月26日，並分兩階段進行，有別於已往集中一個展覽場地的概念，6位新晉策展人特意挑選了多個公共空間作展場，貫徹凝聚力量的概念，「建築與設計影響著人文活動，現今人人談可持續發展，然而矛盾的，是舉辦展覽的過程無可避免增加碳足印。」大眾常以為展覽衍生的最大污染源，必定是場地佈置與大量宣傳物品，然而更龐大的污染，原來是源自交通工具的碳排放。「以往展覽傾向於單一場地舉行，若場地偏遠，市民前往展館產生的交通碳排放才是最大污染源頭。亦因如此，我們今年選址多個公共空間，包括北角（東）渡輪碼頭、中環街市、中環及尖沙咀天星碼頭，除表達凝聚民間力量『集籽種城』的去中心化概念，更想好好運用多個空置已久或不被重用的公共空間。」Fei補充道。刻意挑選那些曾經人來人往的地點如碼頭、天台酒吧等作展場，期望讓場地回復「人氣」，亦讓參觀者喚起那些年的人文日常故事，重新築起失落了的記憶。「除此之外，我們亦希望透過分散的展場，讓市民在參觀展覽時可多步行，或乘搭公共交通工具。例如在看過北角的展覽後，坐電車到中環街市繼續下一站，再步行到中環碼頭另一展場，最後乘船過海觀賞尖沙咀天星碼頭的展覽。無論是對城市或對個人，亦是一種可持續的實踐。」隨著全球氣候問題日益嚴重，日常生活每個範疇都開始談可持續性。然而對Fei來說，可持續性並非一種選擇，而是一切的基本。Fei指，建築物是全球最大的碳排放源，約佔總排放量的 40%。為了令建築更可持續，她除了取得美國綠色建築協會LEED （Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design）以及WELL（WELL Building Standard）綠建專才認證之外，在舉辧展覽時亦搞盡腦汁，務求切合可持續概念，「要達到可持續，毋疑令金錢與時間支出大增，對我們6位有正職的新人來說，既缺資金亦沒人脈網絡，確實是捨易取難的決定。分散展場除了在執行上的困難之外，選用預製的可重用組件，如竹枝及鋼材作展覽物料，取代度身定造的單次使用木材，亦令辦展難度倍增。」Fei坦言首次策展已經面對很多前所未遇的挑戰，加之可持續的堅持，令工作量大增，然而即使大半年來……繼續閱讀訪問全文：<a href="https://jes-network.com/blogs/Fei-Mui-UABB2022-curator-KPF-Architect-female-hong-kong">集籽深耕 探索城市韌性 │ 梅馥曼 @JES Network&nbsp;</a>&nbsp;

集籽深耕 探索城市韌性 │ 梅馥曼

female architect

JESSICA 會員

female architect