A Retrospective of Norwegian Architecture
On the Southeast coast of Norway on a rock facing Skagerrak in Portør, the Norwegian architect Knut Knutsen (1903-1969) drew and completed a summerhouse for his family in 1949. The dark stained structure lays modestly and well-tucked in the landscape. It is not easily spotted…
Using walls as a canvas, sandblaster as a pen and Naturbetong as a medium, Carl Nesjar had nothing else in mind than Norwegian nature when designing the Pavilion for the Internationale Gartenbauaustellung (IGA)[1] in 1963. In the attempt of representing nature through texture, a very peculiar…
Elkemhuset, designed by architect Erling Viksjø, is a remarkable building for its experimental use of material. When its construction was initiated in the 1960s the use of aluminium as a facade material and silicon metal as an aggregate in concrete was considered pioneering within Europe.1…
“Villa Busk is caused by intuition and a number of coincidences.” The following interview was an attempt to understand the moment when the right client meets the right architect. In this special case because the reason why Mr. Busk came across Sverre Fehn was mere…
Bjart Mohr is a Norwegian architect born in Oslo on November 25, 1925. He studied in Oslo’s State Architectural Course in 1951. Although he maintained a solo practice office during his career, his production is large and prolific. Mohr is an interesting Norwegian architect quite…
Built in 1770 for the owner of the Eidsvoll Verk (Ironworks) the Eidsvollsbygningen (Eidsvoll Manor) is a site of great importance to the history of Norway. Originally constructed by Carsten Anker, a Norwegian business man, the house played host to the creation and signing of…
Background During the post-war years, Norway started the construction of a new social-democratic state with the goal of building up a welfare society. The principle of the welfare is to benefit social equality in a whole country. In the built environment, welfare state intervention ranges…
The Oslo prison, Botsfengselet was built in the nineteenth-century by the architect Heinrich Ernst Schirmer, and opened it’s doors to 230 male inmates in 1851. The building was located in an agricultural area surrounding Kristiania but well-connected to the city center by Gronlandsleiret. Today, due to…
In 1963 Sverre Fehn designed this Villa in Norrköping. It was part of several architectural competitions which took place in Denmark, Finland and Sweden. Six dwellings were built, but only Sverre Fehn’s (also called Villa number 3) achieved a result which was not a simple…