Manthey Kula
Beate Hølmebakk.
Architect, professor
(Norway)
Manthey Kula is an architectural practice based in Oslo, established in 2004 by Beate Hølmebakk and Per Tamsen. The studio operates at the intersection of art, architecture, and landscape architecture, with a body of work that ranges from ideal and exploratory projects to public commissions. Its work focuses on making and on how things are made, exploring the sculptural potential of structure, material, and detail. Rather than drawing from precedents, the practice seeks to bring works of distinct character into existence, positioning architecture between fact and fiction.
The work of Manthey Kula is widely published, with three monographs dedicated to the practice: Manthey Kula – Facts and Fictions, A+U #24:05; Rotunda IV – Manthey Kula (Trema Förlag, 2022); and About MK (Libria, 2017). The studio’s projects have been nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award in 2009, 2011, 2019, and 2022. In 2021 The Virginia Project was acquired by the National Museum of Norway, and in 2017 The Archipelago Project was acquired by the Frac Centre–Val de Loire.
Alongside practice, Manthey Kula is closely connected to academia. Hølmebakk has been a professor at The Oslo School of Architecture and Design since 2007, has held several international teaching positions, and lectures frequently outside Norway.
