‘We are more than just The Scream’ – inside Oslo’s mega tilting Munch museum

With 26,700 artworks, this 235m tilting tower is a mighty tribute to the tormented Norwegian artist

How fitting that a building dedicated to the life and work of Edvard Munch may make you want to scream.

The 235m mega museum of the tormented Norwegian artist stands as an ominous grey tower on the Oslo waterfront, lurching out at the top like a military lookout post, keeping watch over the fjord. It is a location scout's dream for the ultimate villain's headquarters, an almost comically menacing structure, bent over the pristine white iceberg of the city's beloved opera house with a thuggish hunch. It may seem like an apt container for the tortured soul of Munch, whose shadow looms large over the city - but the anxiety-inducing effect wasn't wholly intentional.

We wanted to create a welcoming vertical symbol," says Juan Herreros , the Spanish architect behind the 13-storey complex. It may be against the local tendency for modesty, but we thought the city needed a statement in a prominent location for this astonishing artist. It creates a new vantage point where people can discover a different view of the landscape."