Architecture of Norway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The architecture of Norway has evolved in response to changing economic conditions, technological advances, demographic fluctuations and cultural shifts. While outside architectural influences are apparent in much of Norwegian architecture, they have often been adapted to meet Norwegian climatic conditions, including: harsh winters, high winds and, in coastal areas, salt spray.

Norway's architectural trends are also seen to parallel political and societal changes in Norway over the centuries. Prior to the Viking Age

Viking Age

Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...

, wooden structures developed into a sophisticated craft evident in the elegant and effective construction of the Viking longship

Longship

Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...

s. Following that, the ascent of Christianity introduced Romanesque architecture in cathedrals and churches, with characteristically slightly pointed arch

Arch

An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...

es, barrel vault

Barrel vault

A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...

s, cruciform

Cruciform

Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...

piers

Pier (architecture)

In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...

supporting vaults

Vault (architecture)

A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...

, and groin vault

Groin vault

A groin vault or groined vault is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. The word groin refers to the edge between the intersecting vaults; cf. ribbed vault. Sometimes the arches of groin vaults are pointed instead of round...

s; in large part as a result of religious influence from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

During the Middle Ages, the geography dictated a dispersed economy

Economy of Norway

The economy of Norway is a developed mixed economy with heavy state-ownership in strategic areas of the economy. Although sensitive to global business cycles, the economy of Norway has shown robust growth since the start of the industrial era...

and population

Demographics of Norway

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Norway, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Total population:...

. As a result, the traditional Norwegian farm culture

Norwegian farm culture

The Norwegian farm culture was a rural movement unique in values and practices which assumed a form in Viking Age Norway, and continued with little change into the age of firearms - and in many respects even to the early 20th century...

remained strong, and Norway differed from most European countries in never adopting feudalism

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

. This, combined with the ready availability of wood as a building material, ensured that relatively few examples of the Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

, Renaissance

Renaissance

The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...

, and Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

architecture styles so often built by the ruling classes elsewhere in Europe, were constructed in Norway.

Instead, these factors resulted in distinctive traditions in Norwegian vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...

, which have been preserved in existing farms in the many Norwegian open-air museums that showcase buildings from the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

through to the 19th century; prominent examples include the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

and Maihaugen

Maihaugen

Maihaugen is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Lillehammer, Norway. Maihaugen, with close to 200 buildings, is one of Northern Europe's largest open air museums and is one of the largest cultural facilities in Norway.-History:The founder, Anders Sandvig, collected from old houses and...

in Lillehammer

Lillehammer

is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, as well as extant buildings still in service on farms such as those in the Heidal

Heidal

Heidal is a valley and parish within Gudbrandsdalen valley, in the county of Oppland, Norway.-History:Heidal parish was separated from Vågå as a separate municipality of its own on January 1, 1908. It was merged with the municipality of Sel on January 1, 1965.Heidal is a side valley of Gudbrandsdalen...

valley.

In the 20th century, Norwegian architecture has been characterized by its connection with Norwegian social policy on the one hand, and innovation on the other. Norwegian architects have been recognized for their work, both within Norway—-where architecture has been considered an expression of social policy—-and outside Norway, in several innovative projects.

History

Construction in Norway has always been characterized by the need to shelter people, animals, and property from harsh weather, including predictably cold winters and frost, heavy precipitation in certain areas, wind and storms; and to make the most of scarce building resources. Until modern times, transportation infrastructure was also primitive, and builders largely had to rely on locally available materials.

Pre-historic times

The earliest traces of human habitation in Norway are dated to about 9000 BCE, in mountainous regions near Store Myrvatn in contemporary Rogaland

Rogaland

is a county in Western Norway, bordering Hordaland, Telemark, Aust-Agder and Vest-Agder. It is the center of the Norwegian petroleum industry, and as a result of this, Rogaland has the lowest unemployment rate of any county in Norway, 1.1%...

, where excavations have found portable dwellings most likely kept by nomadic reindeer hunters. Traces of such tents have also been found other places along the western coast; at Fosenstraumen near Radøy

Radøy

Radøy is an island municipality in the county of Hordaland, Norway. Radøy was created as a new municipality on 1 January 1964, after the merger of large parts of Hordabø, Manger, and Sæbø, and smaller parts of Austrheim and Lindås.-Name:...

in Hordaland

Hordaland

is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...

archeological evidence indicates that tents in use at about 6500 BCE were of similar design to those still in use by the Sami

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

nomads

Over time, such tents became semi-permanent through the introduction of a simple foundation. Traces of these can be found at the Vega

Vega, Norway

Vega is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Helgeland traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Gladstad. Other villages include Holand and Ylvingen....

archipelago, an area that is now a UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

.

The first permanent dwellings were probably built between 3000 and 2000 BCE, with the introduction of agriculture to Norway. Available evidence indicates that wood was the most used building material for these structures. Iron Age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

dwellings typically combined shelter for animals and humans in long house

Long house

A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building built by peoples in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe and North America....

s in order to preserve heat. Remains of structures from the Stone Age

Stone Age

The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

through the Bronze Age

Nordic Bronze Age

The Nordic Bronze Age is the name given by Oscar Montelius to a period and a Bronze Age culture in Scandinavian pre-history, c. 1700-500 BC, with sites that reached as far east as Estonia. Succeeding the Late Neolithic culture, its ethnic and linguistic affinities are unknown in the absence of...

and the Iron Age have been excavated at Forsand

Forsand

Forsand is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. Forsand was separated from Høle on 1 January 1871. In 1999, evidence of a population here dating back to around 7500 BC was located....

in Ryfylke

Ryfylke

Ryfylke is a traditional district in Norway, located northeast of Stavanger and east of Haugesund. In the east it borders Setesdal and Sirdal.Ryfylke comprises the contemporary municipalities of Sauda, Suldal, Finnøy, Hjelmeland, Forsand, Strand, Kvitsøy and Rennesøy...

, near Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

and several other locations. Most prehistoric long houses had pairs of roof-bearing posts dividing the interior into three naves, and walls of palisades, wattle and daub or turf. Similar buildings have been excavated all over Northwestern Europe.

Viking and medieval eras

Two distinctive timber building traditions found their confluence in Norwegian architecture. One was the practice of log building

Log cabin

A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...

with horizontal logs notched at the corners, a technique thought to have been imported from the peoples to the east of Scandinavia. The other was the stave building tradition (typically found in stave church

Stave church

A stave church is a medieval wooden church with a post and beam construction related to timber framing. The wall frames are filled with vertical planks. The load-bearing posts have lent their name to the building technique...

es), possibly based on improvements on the prehistoric long houses that had roof-bearing posts dug into the ground. Although there is scant archaeological evidence of actual buildings from the earliest permanent structures, finds of Viking ships (e.g., the Oseberg ship

Oseberg ship

The Oseberg ship is a well-preserved Viking ship discovered in a large burial mound at the Oseberg farm near Tønsberg in Vestfold county, Norway.-Burial mound:...

) suggest significant mastery of woodworking and engineering. In the Lofoten

Lofoten

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.-Etymology:...

archipelago in Northern Norway, a Viking chieftain's holding has been reconstructed at the Lofotr Viking Museum.

Not counting the 28 remaining stave churches, at least 250 wooden houses predating the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

in 1350 are preserved more or less intact in Norway. Most of these are log houses, some with added stave-built galleries or porches.

As the political power in Norway was consolidated and had to contend with external threats, larger structures were built in accordance with military technology at the time. Fortresses, bridges, and ultimately churches and manors were built with stone and masonry. These structures followed the European styles of their time.

Stave churches

Possibly more than 1000 stave churches were built in Norway during the Middle Ages, most of them during the 12th and 13th centuries. Until the beginning of the 19th century, as many as 150 stave churches still existed. Many were destroyed as part of a religious movement that favored simple, puritan lines, and today only 28 remain, though a large number were documented and recorded by measured drawings before they were demolished.

The stave churches owe their longevity to architectural innovations that protected these large, complex wooden structures against water rot, precipitation, wind, and extreme temperatures. Most important was the introduction of massive sills underneath the staves (posts) to prevent them from rotting. Over the two centuries of stave church construction, this building type evolved to an advanced art and science. After the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, however, no new stave churches were built. New churches were mainly of stone or horizontal log buildings with notched corners. Most old stave churches disappeared because of redundancy, neglect or deterioration, or because they were too small to accommodate larger congregations, and too impractical according to later standards.

Romanesque architecture

The first stone churches in Norway were Romanesque, built under the influence of Anglo-Saxon mission

Anglo-Saxon mission

Anglo-Saxon missionaries were instrumental in the spread of Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century, continuing the work of Hiberno-Scottish missionaries which had been spreading Celtic Christianity across the Frankish Empire as well as in Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England itself...

aries, particularly bishop Nicholas Breakspear

Pope Adrian IV

Pope Adrian IV , born Nicholas Breakspear or Breakspeare, was Pope from 1154 to 1159.Adrian IV is the only Englishman who has occupied the papal chair...

. Later churches were influenced by Continental architecture. Examples include the churches at Ringsaker

Ringsaker

is a municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Brumunddal.The municipality of Ringsaker was established on 1 January 1838...

, Kviteseid

Kviteseid

Kviteseid is a municipality in Telemark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vest-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Kviteseid...

, and elsewhere. Many of these churches have either been lost or rebuilt in the Gothic style, but numerous examples still exist, notably the Trondenes Churchat Trondenesin Troms

Troms

or Romsa is a county in North Norway, bordering Finnmark to the northeast and Nordland in the southwest. To the south is Norrbotten Län in Sweden and further southeast is a shorter border with Lapland Province in Finland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea...

Gothic architecture

Several churches that were originally built as Romanesque structures were modified or extended during the Gothic period. Among these are the cathedral of Hamar

Hamar

is a town and municipality in Hedmark county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hedmarken. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Hamar. The municipality of Hamar was separated from Vang as a town and municipality of its own in 1849...

, now in ruins, the Stavanger Cathedral

Stavanger Cathedral

Stavanger Cathedral is Norway's oldest cathedral. It is situated in the middle of Stavanger, and is the seat of the Diocese of Stavanger.-History:...

, and the renowned Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the...

, one of the most important pilgrim destinations in medieval Europe.

Under Danish domination

In the late Middle Ages, the Norwegian state was severely weakened. In 1389 Norway entered into a personal union with Denmark and Sweden in the Kalmar Union

Kalmar Union

The Kalmar Union is a historiographical term meaning a series of personal unions that united the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden under a single monarch, though intermittently and with a population...

. As the kings resided in Denmark, Norway was gradually reduced to a provincial status, and after the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

most of its separate institutions were abolished. The Danish government in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...

regarded Norway as a backward province to be exploited,http://www.norway.org/history/upto1814/unionden/unionden.htm but not worthy of investment in monumental architecture. Hence, ambitious Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

is unusual in Norway compared to other European countries.

Fortresses , such as Akershus

Akershus Fortress

Akershus Fortress or Akershus Castle is a medieval castle that was built to protect Oslo, the capital of Norway. It has also been used as a prison.- Construction :...

in Oslo

Oslo

, Vardøhus

Vardøhus Fortress

Vardøhus Fortress is located in Vardø municipality in the county of Finnmark on the Barents Sea on the mouth of the Varangerfjord in north-eastern Norway near the Russian border.-History:...

in Vardø

Vardø

is a town and a municipality in Finnmark county in the extreme northeast part of Norway.Vardø was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . The law required that all cities should be separated from their rural districts, but because of a low population and very few voters, this was...

, Tønsberghus

Tønsberg Fortress

Tønsberg Fortress was a medieval fortress, located in Tønsberg, Norway which was defended by the fortress for over 300 years.-History:...

in Tønsberg

Tønsberg

is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, southern Norway, located around north-east of Sandefjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tønsberg....

, the Kongsgården in Trondheim

Trondheim

Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...

and Bergenhus

Bergenhus Fortress

Bergenhus fortress is a fortress located in Bergen, Norway. Bergenhus fortress is located in the entrance to the harbor in Bergen. This is one of the oldest and best preserved castles in Norway.-History:...

with the Rosenkrantz Tower

Bergenhus Fortress

in Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

were built in stone in accordance with standards for defensive fortifications of their time. Many of these were modernized and rebuilt through the years.

The Hanseatic League

Hanseatic League

The Hanseatic League was an economic alliance of trading cities and their merchant guilds that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe...

also built unique commercial buildings at Bryggen

Bryggen

Bryggen , also known as Tyskebryggen is a series of Hanseatic commercial buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord coming into Bergen, Norway. Bryggen has since 1979 been on the UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites. The name has the same origin as the Flemish city of Brugge.The city...

in Bergen, starting in the 16th century. They were log buildings combining native and German

Architecture of Germany

The architecture of Germany has a long, rich and diverse history. It is characterized by a high degree of regional diversity, caused by centuries of fragmentation of Germany into principalities and kingdoms. This made for a heterogeneous and diverse architectural style, with architectural...

traditions.

Renaissance architecture

After the Black Death

Black Death

, monumental construction in Norway came to a standstill, except for vernacular building, only to be resumed in the 16th and 17th centuries under Danish administration. There are few examples of Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture

in Norway, the most prominent being the Rosenkrantz Tower

Bergenhus Fortress

in Bergen, Barony Rosendal

Barony Rosendal

Barony Rosendal is a historic estate and manor situated in Kvinnherad in Hordaland county, Norway.-History:The history of Rosendal dates back to the 1650s, when the nobleman Ludvig Holgersen Rosenkrantz came to Bergen as commissioner of war for the Danish king...

in Hardanger

Hardanger

Hardanger is a traditional district in the western part of Norway, dominated by the Hardangerfjord. It consists of the municipalities of Odda, Ullensvang, Eidfjord, Ulvik, Granvin, Kvam and Jondal, and is located inside the county of Hordaland....

, and the contemporary Austråt

Austrått

thumb|The manor’s entry portal with the coat of arms carved in [[soapstone]].Austrått or Austrått Manor is a manor in Ørland municipality, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway. Since the 10th century Austrått has been the residence for many noblemen, noblewomen and officials who played a significant role in...

manor near Trondheim

Trondheim

, and parts of Akershus Fortress.

Christian IV

Christian IV of Denmark

Christian IV was the king of Denmark-Norway from 1588 until his death. With a reign of more than 59 years, he is the longest-reigning monarch of Denmark, and he is frequently remembered as one of the most popular, ambitious and proactive Danish kings, having initiated many reforms and projects...

undertook a number of projects in Norway that were largely based on Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture

He established mining operations in Kongsberg

Kongsberg

is a town and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. It is located at the southern end of the traditional region of Numedal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kongsberg....

and Røros

Røros

is a town and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Gauldalen region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Other villages include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen....

, now a World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

. After a devastating fire in 1624, the town of Oslo was moved to a new location and rebuilt as a fortified city with an orthogonal layout surrounded by ramparts, and renamed Christiania

Oslo

. King Christian also founded the trading city of Kristiansand

Kristiansand

-History:As indicated by archeological findings in the city, the Kristiansand area has been settled at least since 400 AD. A royal farm is known to have been situated on Oddernes as early as 800, and the first church was built around 1040...

, naming it after himself.

Baroque architecture

As Norway became a strategic part of the Danish-Norwegian kingdom, Danish kings built fortifications along borders and the seacoast. Over time, many of the fortifications at border areas and ports were modernized in line with Baroque military practice.

Although most residences were built according to local vernacular traditions, some manors (such as Austråt and Rosendal) exhibit the influence of Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture

Baroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...

. Only the city of Christiania (Oslo

Oslo

) had a building code that prohibited wooden houses, and a number of large town houses modeled after Continental building types were constructed. Some large churches were constructed with brick walls, notably in Bergen, Christiania, Røros and Kongsberg.

Probably the most famous Baroque structure in Norway is Stiftsgården

Stiftsgården

Stiftsgården is the royal residence in Trondheim, Norway. It is centrally situated on the city’s most important thoroughfare, Munkegaten. At 140 rooms constituting 4000 m² , it is possibly the largest wooden building in Northern Europe, and it has been used by royals and their guests since...

, the Royal residence in Trondheim

Trondheim

, a residential building that is one of the largest wooden structure in Northern Europe.

Rococo architecture

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

provided a brief but significant interlude in Norway, appearing primarily in the decorative arts, and mainly in interiors, furniture and luxury articles such as table silver, glass and stoneware. In some country districts folk artists produced the distinctly Norwegian craft of decorative painting, rosemaling
Rosemaling
Rosemåling, or rosemaling, Norwegian for "decorative painting", is the name of a form of decorative folk art that originated in the rural valleys of Norway.Some art historians interpret "rose" as a reference to the rose flower, although the floral elements are often...

, and related wood carving

Wood carving

Wood carving is a form of working wood by means of a cutting tool in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation of a wooden object...

style. In polite architecture, a few wooden town houses and manors show rococo influence, notably in Trondheim and Bergen, Damsgård Manor in Bergen being the most significant.

In towns and central country districts during the 18th century, log walls were increasingly covered by weatherboards, a fashion made possible by sawmill

Sawmill

A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards.-Sawmill process:A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of hundreds of years ago; a log enters on one end and dimensional lumber exits on the other end....

technology. These buildings were better insulated and better protected against the harsh climate. But the main reason for the rapid adoption of this custom was the more fashionable appearance of boarded walls, which were more suitable than bare log walls as a background to details and ornaments borrowed from classical architecture.

19th century

The Napoleonic Wars

Napoleonic Wars

The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...

led to the separation of Norway and Denmark. Norway was restored in 1814 as an autonomous kingdom in a personal union with Sweden

Union between Sweden and Norway

The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....

. The two states had separate institutions, except for the king and the foreign service. Regained statehood required new public buildings, mainly in the capital of Christiania. During the following century, the country experienced an impressive growth in wealth and population, resulting in a need for new infrastructure and buildings.

Neo-classicism

At the dawn of the 19th century, less than a handful of academically trained architects were active in Norway, most of them military officers having studied civil engineering. The market for architects was limited in a sparsely inhabited country with no capital city, no court and no important government institutions. Architecture was of interest mainly to a limited group of wealthy merchants and landowners. However, toward the close of the previous century, this group saw a remarkable increase in prosperity. Large fortunes were made by a few, who then sought to surround themselves with buildings and gardens appropriate to their social position. Well connected internationally, these people were acquainted with the latest trends in architecture. Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

structures were much in demand.

Architect Carl Frederik Stanley (1769–1805), educated in Copenhagen

Copenhagen

, spent some years in Norway around the turn of the 19th century. He did minor works for wealthy patrons in and around Oslo, but his major achievement was the renovation of the only seat of higher education in Christiania, the Oslo Katedralskole, completed in 1800. He added a classical portico

Portico

A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...

to the front of an older structure, and a semi-circular auditorium that was sequestered by Parliament in 1814 as a temporary place to assemble, now preserved at Norsk Folkemuseum as a national monument.

Christian Collett (1771–1833), a graduate of the Mining Academy at Kongsberg

Kongsberg

, designed the splendid Ulefoss

Ulefoss

Ulefoss is the administrative centre of Nome municipality, Norway. Its population is 2,699.-References:...

manor, built between 1802 and 1807 by sawmill owner Niels Aall. This is one of the few brick houses in Norway, boasting a palladian

Palladian architecture

Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...

layout, a central cupola

Cupola

In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....

, and a classical colonnade

Colonnade

In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....

. Collett designed several other manors and town houses.

The same period saw the erection of a large number of splendid neo-classisist houses in and around all towns along the coast, notably in Halden

Halden

is a both a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The seat of the municipality, Halden is a border town located at the Tista river delta on the Iddefjord, the southernmost border crossing between Norway and Sweden.-History:...

, Oslo

Oslo

, Drammen

Drammen

Drammen is a city in Buskerud County, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the eastern and most populated part of Norway.-Location:...

, Arendal

Arendal

is a town and municipality in the county of Aust-Agder, Norway. Arendal belongs to the traditional region of Sørlandet.The town of Arendal is the administrative center the municipality and also of Aust-Agder county...

, Bergen

Bergen

and Trondheim

Trondheim

, mainly wooden buildings dressed up as stone architecture. By far the largest private house in Norway is the Jarlsberg manor, renovated 1812-1814 by the Danish architect Løser for count Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg

Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg

Johan Caspar Herman Wedel-Jarlsberg was a politician and a Norwegian count, one of only two titled noblemen in Norway...

.

Christiania, promoted to the status of a capital city in 1814, had practically no buildings suitable for the many new government institutions. An ambitious building program was initiated, but realised very slowly because of a strained economy. The first major undertaking was the Royal Palace

Royal Palace, Oslo

The Royal Palace in Oslo was built in the first half of the 19th century as the Norwegian residence of Norwegian and Swedish king Charles III and is the official residence of the present Norwegian Monarch. The crown prince couple resides at Skaugum in Asker west of Oslo...

, designed by Hans Linstow and built between 1824 and 1848. Linstow also planned Karl Johans gate

Karl Johans gate

Karl Johans gate is the main street of the city of Oslo, Norway. The street was named in honor of King Karl Johan, who was King of Sweden and of Norway....

, the avenue connecting the Palace and the city, with a monumental square halfway to be surrounded by buildings for the University, the Parliament (Storting) and other institutions. But only the University buildings were realised according to this plan. Christian Heinrich Grosch

Christian Heinrich Grosch

Christian Heinrich Grosch was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Halden and educated by his father, Heinrich August Grosch and in Germany and Copenhagen....

, one of the first fully educated architects in Norway, designed the original building for the Oslo Stock Exchange

Oslo Stock Exchange

The Oslo Stock Exchange serves as the main market for trading in the shares of Norwegian companies. It opens at 9:00am and closes 5:30pm local time...

(1826–1828), the local branch of the Bank of Norway (1828), Christiania Theatre

Christiania Theatre

Christiania Theatre, or Kristiania Theatre, was Norway's finest stage for the spoken drama between October 4, 1836 - September 1, 1899. It was located at Bankplassen by the Akershus Fortress in central Christiania, in Norway...

(1836–1837), and the first campus for the University of Oslo

University of Oslo

The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

(1841–1856). For the University buildings, he sought the assistance of the renowned German architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Karl Friedrich Schinkel was a Prussian architect, city planner, and painter who also designed furniture and stage sets. Schinkel was one of the most prominent architects of Germany and designed both neoclassical and neogothic buildings.-Biography:Schinkel was born in Neuruppin, Margraviate of...

.

The German architectural influence persisted in Norway, and many wooden buildings followed the principles of Neoclassicism.

Romanticism and historicism

Norwegian romantic nationalism

Norwegian romantic nationalism was a movement in Norway between 1840 and 1867 in art, literature, and popular culture that emphasized the aesthetics of Norwegian nature and the uniqueness of the Norwegian national identity...

also had an influence on Norwegian architecture from around 1840. Following the German lead, many classicist architects designed red-brick buildings in a revival of medieval styles. Romanesque and Gothic examples were considered eminently suitable for churches, public institutions and factories. Linstow was the first Norwegian architect to be inspired by the Middle Ages in his proposal of 1837 for a square to be surrounded by public building, bisected by an avenue between Christiania and the new Royal Palace. On the north side, planned buildings for the University were to be "composed in some Medieval or Florentine style", with exposed brick-work. His classicist colleague Grosch was the first to convert to historicism and realize a number of red-brick buildings, after his 1838 visit to Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, where he met the famous architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel

Karl Friedrich Schinkel

. The first major historicist work by Grosch was the neo-romanesque Bazaars and the adjacent firestation near the Oslo Cathedral

Oslo Cathedral

Oslo Cathedral — formerly Our Savior's Church — is the main church for the Oslo bishopric of the Church of Norway, as well as the parish church for downtown Oslo. The present building dates from 1694-1697....

, begun in 1840 and extended in several stages until 1859. Other architects followed, notably Heinrich Ernst Schirmer

Heinrich Ernst Schirmer

Heinrich Ernst Schirmer was German-born architect most noted for his work in Norway.Schirmer worked in Norway from 1838 to 1883 and put his mark on a number of public buildings...

with the Botsfengselet (penitentiary) (1844–1851), the Gaustad Mental Hospital (1844–1855) and the Railway Station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

(1854) (with von Hanno). Also in Oslo, the German architect Alexis de Chateauneuf designed Trefoldighetskirken, the first neo-gothic church, completed by von Hanno in 1858.

Most urban apartment buildings and villas continued to be built in the classical tradition, with plastered brick walls. The repertoire of historic styles was expanded in Homansbyen

Homansbyen

Homansbyen is a neighborhood in Frogner borough in Oslo, Norway. The area is named for the lawyer brothers Jacob and Henrik Homan .-Area:...

, Oslo's first residential development of detached villas, planned by Georg Andreas Bull

Georg Andreas Bull

Georg Andreas Bull was a Norwegian architect and chief building inspector in Christiania for forty years. He was among the leading architects in the country, and left his mark on Norwegian building history both as a creative architect, and through his measurement studies and archeological...

. He designed most of the early villas built from 1858 until 1862 in a variety of styles, ranging from medieval to classicist and exotic.

From around 1840, architects started to design wooden buildings in a new style, the so-called Swiss chalet style

Swiss chalet style

Swiss chalet style is an architectural style inspired by the chalets of Switzerland. The style originated in Germany in the early 19th century and was popular in parts of Europe and North America, notably in the architecture of Norway, the country house architecture of Sweden, Cincinnati, Ohio,...

. The style and its name originated in Germany, where Swiss popular culture was much admired by the romanticists. Elements such as projecting roofs, verandas and emphasis on gables were inspired from Alpine vernacular buildings. But the style may more correctly be termed historicism in wood, a term introduced by Jens Christian Eldal. A number of residential, institutional, and commercial buildings were built in this style, characterized by ornate, projecting details. Railway stations and churches, designed by trained architects, were distributed all in rural districts and helped to make this style popular and to keep it alive in the vernacular tradition long after it went out of fashion among architects.

The Swiss chalet style evolved into a Scandinavian variation, known in Norway as the "dragon style”, which combined motifs from Viking and medieval art with vernacular elements from the more recent past. The most renowned practitioner of this style was the architect Holm Hansen Munthe

Holm Hansen Munthe

Holm Hansen Munthe was a Norwegian architect.Between 1878 and 1885 he cooperated with Henrik Nissen. From 1889 he worked for the Holmenkol-Voxenkol-Selskabet, among others drawing the well-known Frognerseteren restaurant in the so-called dragon style...

, who designed a number of tourist resorts, exhibition pavilions and churches in the 1880s and 1890s. These caught the eye of the German emperor Wilhelm II, who visited Norway annually. He commissioned Munthe to design his "Matrosenstation" near Potsdam

Potsdam

Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

and a hunting lodge with at "stave church" in Rominten

Krasnolesye

Krasnolesye is a settlement in Nesterovsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Krasnaya River close to the border with Poland, in the north of the Romincka Forest. East of Krasnolesye lies Lake Vistytis....

in East Prussia

East Prussia

East Prussia is the main part of the region of Prussia along the southeastern Baltic Coast from the 13th century to the end of World War II in May 1945. From 1772–1829 and 1878–1945, the Province of East Prussia was part of the German state of Prussia. The capital city was Königsberg.East Prussia...

. These last buildings were destroyed during World War II.

Architects abandoned both the "Swiss" and the "dragon" styles shortly after 1900, but elements of the "Swiss style" survived in vernacular buildings for some decades. In the recent past, producers of pre-fabricated family homes have increasingly reintroduced motifs from the "Swiss" style in their repertoire.

Vernacular Architecture

Until the 20th century, most Norwegians lived and worked in buildings that were designed and built according to vernacular

Vernacular architecture

building traditions, what in Norwegian is known as byggeskikk. These practices varied somewhat by region and climatic conditions and evolved over time, but were largely based on use of wood and other locally available resources.

Since the Middle Ages, most dwellings were log houses with notched corners, carefully crafted to ensure protection against the elements. Centrally placed open-hearth fires with smoke vents in the roofs gave way to stone stoves and chimneys in early modern times. Specialized buildings became commonplace, organized around farmyards or gårdstun. The introduction of exterior boarding (weatherboarding) in the 18th century improved housing standards considerably and gave rise to larger houses.

Building practices along the coast also included boathouses, fishing cottages, piers, etc. Here, houses for livestock and people were typically built up from the actual shoreline. A typical medium-sized farm in the inland of Norway would include a dwelling house (våningshus), hay barn (låve), livestock barn (fjøs), one or more food storage houses (stabbur), a stable, and occasionally separate houses for poultry, pigs, etc. Houses that had separate heat sources, e.g., washing houses (eldhus) and smithies

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

were usually kept separate from the other houses to prevent fires. Outhouses were typically separate, small structures. If the farm housed craftsmen, there would also be separate houses for carpentry, wheel making, shoemaking, etc.

In Eastern inland Norway and Trøndelag

Trøndelag

Trøndelag is the name of a geographical region in the central part of Norway, consisting of the two counties Nord-Trøndelag and Sør-Trøndelag. The region is, together with Møre og Romsdal, part of a larger...

, the houses around a tun were typically organized in a square (firkanttun); in Gudbrandsdal

Gudbrandsdal

The Gudbrandsdalen is a valley and traditional district in the Norwegian county of Oppland. The valley is oriented in a north-westerly direction from Lillehammer at Mjøsa, extending 230 km toward Romsdal...

, there was a distinction between inntun (inner tun) and uttun (outer tun). The configuration of houses also depended on whether the farm was situated on a hill or in flatter terrain.

Depending upon the size and economic well-being of the farm, there might also be a feast hall (oppstue), a house for the retired farmers (føderådstue), farm hands' dormitory (drengstue), carriage house (vognskjul), and even distillery (brenneskur). Smaller, poorer farms might combine barns and dwelling houses, have simpler storage areas, and use the facilities of other farms for activities they could not afford to build houses for.

Building traditions varied by region and type of structure. Food storage houses - stabbur - were usually built on stilts in ways that made it difficult for mice and rats, but not cats, to get in. Exterior cladding varied by region, often to take into account local climate conditions. Roofs were often covered with birch

Birch

Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...

bark and sod

Sod

Sod or turf is grass and the part of the soil beneath it held together by the roots, or a piece of thin material.The term sod may be used to mean turf grown and cut specifically for the establishment of lawns...

.

Many places in Norway farms also maintained mountain farms (seter
Transhumance
Transhumance is the seasonal movement of people with their livestock between fixed summer and winter pastures. In montane regions it implies movement between higher pastures in summer and to lower valleys in winter. Herders have a permanent home, typically in valleys. Only the herds travel, with...

/støl), where cows, goats, and sheep would put out to pasture during the summer months. These would typically include a small dwelling house and a dairy for making and storing cheese, sour cream, etc.

Modern Norwegian farms often maintain many building traditions but no longer need the many and varied buildings of the past. However, many of the traditions have been carried on in more recently built vacation cabins in the mountains and along the coast.

20th century architecture

The German influence brought into Norway by neo-classicism

Nordic Classicism

Nordic Classicism was a style of architecture that briefly blossomed in the Nordic countries between 1910 and 1930....

abated when Norway gained full independence in 1905. A new generation of Norwegian architects educated in Sweden took the lead in developing a distinctly national architecture, endeavouring to break the German historicist tradition. However, German modernism and town planning continued to influence early 20th century architecture. As the Norwegian Institute of Technology

Norwegian Institute of Technology

The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...

was founded in 1910 and began to teach architecture in Trondheim

Trondheim

, there also emerged a distinctly Norwegian collegium of architects that has contributed to a Norwegian regional architecture, discussed by the art historian Sigfried Giedeon.

Art nouveau architecture

The Jugendstil
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

, a variant of Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...

, had a certain influence on much of the new construction in Norway around the turn of the 20th century. The city of Ålesund

Ålesund

is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, and the center of the Ålesund Region. It is a sea port, and is noted for its unique concentration of Art Nouveau architecture....

, after burning

Ålesund Fire

The Ålesund Fire happened in the Norwegian city of Ålesund on 23 January 1904. It destroyed almost the whole city centre, built mostly of wood like the majority of Norwegian towns in that era.-Fire:...

to the ground in 1904, was rebuilt almost entirely in this style and continues to be a prominent example, along with Riga

Riga

Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...

and Brussels

Brussels

Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

. Trondheim

Trondheim

also has numerous art nouveau buildings. In the capital Oslo, few art nouveau buildings were erected, due to a local economic crisis and a stagnant building trade during the first decade of the century. However, some public buildings were constructed in this style, such as the Historical Museum and the Government office building. In Bergen, the main theatre Den Nationale Scene

Den Nationale Scene

Den Nationale Scene is the largest theatre in Bergen, Norway. Den Nationale Scene is also one of the oldest permanent theatre in Norway.-History:...

is a monumental example.

Mass residential architecture

Changing demographics and a growing social awareness led to increased political and architectural interest in providing cost-effective, sanitary, and comfortable residential space to the growing urban population in general and the working class in particular. This was known as boligsaken ("the housing cause") in Norwegian popular culture and continues to play a role to this day.

Architecture became a tool for and manifestation of social policy, with architects and politicians determining just what features were adequate for the intended residents of housing projects. As late as in 1922, there were many who felt that working class families had no need for their own bath; apartments and small houses only included a small kitchen and one or two rooms.

Before World War II, a number of cooperative investment projects known as "egne hjem" (roughly "our own homes") resulted in a handful of developments, but after the war these gave way to cooperative organizations that were formed to finance and build large-scale residential complexes. The largest-- Oslo Bolig og Sparelag, known as OBOS-- built its first complex Etterstad

Etterstad

Etterstad is a neighborhood in Oslo, located between the river Alna and Strømsveien, north of Vålerenga. It was incorporated into Oslo in 1946, two years before the merger of Oslo and Aker. The area is mainly residential.-History:...

in Oslo, but there were similar initiatives throughout the country. These co-ops set standards for housing, hired architects to design solutions, and contracted to have them built. Entire sections, known as drabantbyer - or "satellite cities" - were built in the outskirts of major cities. The first of these - Lambertseter

Lambertseter

Lambertseter is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway, and is part of the borough of Nordstrand.Lambertseter was built over a short period starting from 1951, and was the very first modern suburb of Oslo...

- introduced an entirely new phenomenon in the eastern areas of Oslo such as in Groruddalen

Grorud Valley

The Grorud Valley is a broad valley in eastern Oslo. Four of Oslo's boroughs, Bjerke in the west, Alna in the south, Grorud in the north, and Stovner in the east, lie within the valley....

, but similar areas also emerged in Bergen, Trondheim, and other cities. The apex of this trend was reached in 1966 with the massive buildings in Ammerudlia.

This era—which had spent most of its force by the mid-1970s—led to an increased awareness of the physical and emotional needs of city dwellers. Some of the issues under debate were.

Kitchen - traditional Norwegian homes combined the family room and kitchen, but in early apartment buildings, small, so-called "laboratory kitchens" were popular. Over time, eat-in-kitchens took their place.
Natural light--large apartment buildings were oriented to provide sunlight to the residents, ideally orienting the kitchen toward the east to get the morning light and the living room to the west for evening light.
Privacy--providing separate sleeping quarters for parents and children, and among children led to larger apartments over time. Similarly, most buildings had a limited number of apartments adjoining each staircase.
Alienation - monolithic, homogenous apartment complexes reinforced what some characterized as "social democracy's hell."

The perceived shortcomings of the mass housing movement led to efforts to create cost-effective housing solutions that were more varied, more integrated with natural surroundings, and above all more customized to families' needs. In 1973, the Parliament of Norway recommended a shift toward small residential houses rather than large apartment buildings. The Norwegian State Housing Bank

Norwegian State Housing Bank

The Norwegian State Housing Bank is a Norwegian Government agency responsible for the housing politics in Norway. The main tool for the bank is mortgages in newly constructed houses. About half of all houses after World War II in Norway have been financed by the Housing Bank. The agency is based...

(Husbanken) provided citizens with the ability to fund construction of their homes, and an entire construction industry formed to build these needs.

As a result of the pioneering efforts by Olav Selvaag

Olav Selvaag

Olav Selvaag was a Norwegian engineer and residential contractor, known for his innovative approach to designing and building affordable housing in the post-war era.-Biography:...

and others, archaic and otherwise unnecessary restrictions were relaxed, improving opportunities for more Norwegians to build housing to suit their individual needs and preferences. Norwegians often undertake home improvement projects on their own, and many have built most of their own homes.

Functionalism

In the late 1920s, Modernism

Modern architecture

Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...

(or the International style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

) was taken up by Scandinavian architects. In Scandinavia this architectural trend was called Functionalism

Functionalism (architecture)

Functionalism, in architecture, is the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building. This statement is less self-evident than it first appears, and is a matter of confusion and controversy within the profession, particularly in regard to modern...

(or colloquially in Sweden and Norway "funkis"). Modernism found many adherents among young architects, especially in Norway. Its definite breakthrough was the Stockholm Exhibition in 1930, after which the majority of architects all over Scandinavia converted to the modern movement. Nowhere else did Modernism become so firmly established as the mainstream trend in architecture. It maintained its dominant position until about 1940.

A number of landmark structures, particularly in Oslo, were built in the functionalist style, the first one being the Skansen restaurant (1925–1927) by Lars Backer

Lars Backer

Lars Thalian Backer was a Norwegian architect.Backer was educated at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts under the supervision of Herman Major Schirmer and the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, from which he graduated in 1915....

, demolished in 1970. Backer also designed the restaurant at Ekeberg, opened in 1929. The art gallery Kunstnernes Hus

Kunstnernes Hus

Kunstnernes Hus is an art gallery in Oslo, Norway. It is Norway's largest gallery under the direction of artists, and has served as a major center for exhibits of Norwegian and international contemporary art. It is also a prominent example of Functionalist architecture and houses the Office for...

by Gudolf Blakstad

Gudolf Blakstad

Gudolf Blakstad was a Norwegian architect.Born in Gjerpen, Blakstad was educated at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, worked with Arnstein Arneberg and Herman Munthe-Kaas...

and Herman Munthe-Kaas

Herman Munthe-Kaas

Herman Munthe-Kaas was a Norwegian architect. Herman Munthe-Kaas was primarily known for his Functionalist building designs.-Biography:...

(1930) still shows influence from the preceding classicist trend of the 1920s. Hvalstrand bath (1934) is one of several public seaside bath facilities in Norway, by André Peters. A year before, Ingierstrand Bad was designed by Ole Lind Schistad and Eivind Moestue. Other great names of Norwegian functionalist architecture are Ove Bang

Ove Bang

Ove Bang was a Norwegian architect.Bang completed a formal study of architecture at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1917...

, Fridtjof Reppen, Nicolai Beer and Per Grieg.

Reconstruction architecture

Following the scorched earth

Scorched earth

A scorched earth policy is a military strategy or operational method which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area...

tactics of retreating Wehrmacht

Wehrmacht

The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...

troops, large areas in Northern Norway needed to be rebuilt. In 1945, there was an overwhelming need for housing. An architectural competition produced several designs for simple, cost-effective, and rapidly assembled housing. The resulting houses were Spartan and broke with building standards, but met an immediate need for shelter.

The Museum of Reconstruction

Museum of Reconstruction

The Museum of Reconstruction for Finnmark and North Troms is a museum in the town of Hammerfest, Norway.As was much of Northern Norway, the entire town of Hammerfest was razed to the ground by the retreating Nazi German military forces at the end of World War II...

in Hammerfest

Hammerfest

is a city and municipality in Finnmark county, Norway. The municipality encompasses parts of three islands: Kvaløya, Sørøya, and Seiland. Hammerfest was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838...

is dedicated to the reconstruction.

Government-sponsored architecture

As Norway gained full independence in 1905, the national government determined to establish institutions consistent with the newly formed state's ambitions as a modern society. The first prime minister made it a priority to modernize the Royal Palace in Oslo, building among other things, some of the country's first water toilets, providing hot and cold water, and granting the Royal Family's wish of providing a common apartment for the king, queen, and their son.

In the early years, such public works were limited to structures needed for the national government's own administrative needs, but an increasing number of large-scale projects were conceived, designed, and completed since 1905 to meet various needs, such as:

Public health and welfare, including:
- Hospital complexes and polyclinical facilities, e.g., Rikshospitalet
  Rikshospitalet
  Rikshospitalet is located in Oslo, Norway. From January 1, 2009, the hospital is part of Oslo University Hospital....
  
  , Haukeland University Hospital
  Haukeland University Hospital
  Haukeland University Hospital is a hospital in Bergen, Norway, and one of the 11 institutions that form the Bergen Hospital Trust. The hospital is the largest in Norway in terms of number of patients, and serves as the local hospital of Bergen, Midthordland and Nordhordland, the central hospital of...
  
  , Gaustad Mental Hospital, etc.
- Orphanages, later vacated in favor of other solutions that in turn required their own architecture.
- Sanatoria
  Sanatorium
  A sanatorium is a medical facility for long-term illness, most typically associated with treatment of tuberculosis before antibiotics...
  
  , also vacated as the public health problem of tuberculosis
  Tuberculosis
  Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
  
  was solved
- Temporary and provisional housing for the indigent, asylum seekers, and homeless.
Sports and recreation facilities. Social policy in Norway both at the national and local level has emphasized the connection between athletics at the mass and elite levels, and athletic centers have typically been built both to accommodate spectators, participants, and training. As an example, the Holmenkollen ski jump
Holmenkollen ski jump
Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 30,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since 1892, which since 1980 have been part of the FIS Ski...

has been rebuilt several times, the Bislett Stadion
Bislett stadion
Bislett Stadion is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here...

was rebuilt in 2004-2005, and virtually every municipality has built year-round facilities.
Centers for cultural expression. Some of the most ambitious and controversial structures have been those dedicated to performing arts, art museums, and any combination of such activities. Since many of these have been built in cities with an architectural legacy, their designs have sought—more or less successfully—to complement the urban landscape by giving it a modern element. Examples include the Henie-Onstad Art Centre
Henie-Onstad Art Centre
The Henie-Onstad Art Centre is an art museum located at Høvikodden in Bærum municipality, Norway.The Henie-Onstad Art Centre is situated on a headland jutting into the Oslofjord, approximately 10 km south of Oslo...

(by Jon Eikvar and Sven Erik Engebretsen), Chateau Neuf
Chateau Neuf
For other uses, see Châteauneuf.Chateau Neuf is a building in Oslo that houses Det Norske Studentersamfund, , including cafes, bars, performance centers, and other facilities for student assembly...

by Lund & Slaatto, the "barn" at Hedmarkmuseet
Hedmark museum
The Hedmark Museum in Hamar, Norway is a regional museum for the municipalities of Stange, Hamar , Løten, and Ringsaker in central eastern Norway...

by Sverre Fehn
Sverre Fehn
Sverre Fehn was a Norwegian architect. The architect’s highest international honour came in 1997, when he was awarded both the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal.-Life:...

, and the Grieg Hall
Grieg Hall
The Grieg Hall is a 1,500 seat concert hall in Bergen, Norway. It has been the home of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra since the hall's completion in 1978. It hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1986, and is the host of the annual Norwegian Brass Band Championship competition, which occurs in...

(by Knud Munk).
Churches. The Norwegian State Church, holding the legacy of nearly one thousand years of Norwegian church architecture, commissioned new churches that covered a wide range of architectural styles, including entirely new designs (e.g. the Arctic Cathedral
Arctic Cathedral
The Tromsdalen Church , which is more commonly known as The Arctic Cathedral , is a church in Tromsø, Norway, built in 1965. The church is a parish church and not, in fact, a cathedral.The church was designed by Jan Inge Hovig, and its building materials consist mainly of concrete...

by Jan Inge Hovig
Jan Inge Hovig
Jan Inge Hovig was a Norwegian architect.Hovig finished his studies at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1946. He was city architect during the reconstruction of Narvik 1947-1950, which had been devastated during a battle in 1940. In 1950 he moved to Oslo and founded his own office...

) to new casts of traditional designs (e.g., Veldre church, by Roar Jacobsen and Ulf Zettersten.)
Transportation infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, and most notably transit centers for rail, sea, and air transportation. Oslo airport
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen
Oslo Airport, Gardermoen is the principal airport serving Oslo, Norway. It acts as the main domestic hub and international airport for Norway, and the second-busiest airport in the Nordic countries. A hub for Scandinavian Airlines and Norwegian Air Shuttle, and a focus city for Widerøe, it is...

(by the Aviaplan
Aviaplan
Aviaplan is an Norwegian architectural and construction firm formed as a consortium by the Narud Stokke Wiig, an architecture and planning firm, Niels Torp AS, an architectural design firm, Hjellnes COWI AS, civil engineers, and Bjørbekk & Lindheim, landscape architects...

consortium at Gardermoen) was Norway's largest construction project ever.

The architectural designs of these projects have reflected not only the style currents of their time, but the societal debate over the purpose they were intended to serve. Nationalistic ambitions early on gave way to austere designs based on functionalism, and then to designs that emphasized human and ecological needs. To a great extent, Norwegian architects have found the opportunity to develop their signature styles through these projects, and thereby also a Norwegian architectural dialect.

Many of the projects have been controversial, and the resulting creative tension has probably served to advance the state of architectural arts in Norway. National and local governments and governmental institutions will continue to be among the largest customers of architects in coming years.

Contemporary themes

A number of trends influence contemporary architecture in Norway, among them:

Growing public and private affluence. Buildings have a wider range of purpose, and are expected to meet increasingly complex demands. For example, the new opera building
Oslo Opera House
The Oslo Opera House is the home of The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighborhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by Statsbygg, the government agency which manages property for...

(designed by Snøhetta) in Oslo reflects an ambition not just to build a vibrant cultural center, but also to create a new architectural icon in the Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....

.
Aesthetics as a factor of well-being. From the early austere principle that form should strictly follow function, there is a growing sensibility that aesthetics affect the physical and emotional health of those who use a building or structure. Norwegian laws concerning occupational health have for several decades emphasized access to daylight and fresh air, and it may also be that harsh climatic conditions create an added imperative for uplifting aesthetics.
Environmental concerns. In addition to concerns about air and water pollution, Norwegian architectural design has also emphasized integration with the natural landscape
Natural landscape
A natural landscape is a landscape that is unaffected by human activity. A natural landscape is intact when all living and nonliving elements are free to move and change. The nonliving elements distinguish a natural landscape from a wilderness. A wilderness includes areas within which natural...

. More recently, architects have also worked with engineers to make the most out of scarce resources, e.g., energy, water, etc.
Demographic diversity. Norwegian demographics
Demographics of Norway
This article is about the demographic features of the population of Norway, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.-Total population:...

have undergone significant changes the last few decades resulting in new religious buildings
Norwegian building traditions. While it may be too much to speak of a renaissance in traditional Norwegian architecture, more and more urban planning is affected by the need to preserve or restore these traditions. Examples include plans to renew the center of Oppdal
Oppdal
is a village and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppdal. Other villages in the municipality include Lønset, Vognillan, Fagerhaug, and Holan...

and recent work at the Oslo neighborhood of Grünerløkka
Grünerløkka
Grünerløkka is a borough of the city of Oslo, Norway. Grünerløkka became part of the city of Oslo in 1858.Grünerløkka was named after Friedrich Grüner who bought a mill in the area from king Christian V of Denmark in 1672 . During the 19th century, Grünerløkka became a working class area...

.

A number of architectural prizes are awarded in Norway, including Houens fonds diplom, Treprisen, Statens byggeskikkpris, Sundts premie, Betongelementprisen, Betongtavlen, Glassprisen, Murverksprisen, Stenprisen, and Stålkonstruksjonsprisen.

Books

Bjørn Myhre, Bjarne Stoklund, Per Gjærder: Vestnordisk byggeskikk gjennom 2000 år. Tradisjon og forandring fra romertiden til 19. århundre. AmS skrifter nummer 7, Stavanger
Eilert Sundt: Om bygningsskikken på landet i Norge. 1862.
Christian Norberg-Schulz: Modern Norwegian Architecture. 1986. Oslo. Scandinavian University Press. ISBN 82-00-07696-2
Christian Norberg-Schulz: Stedskunst. 1995. Oslo. Gyldendal. ISBN 82-05-23502-3
Ole Daniel Bruun: Arkitektur i Oslo. 1999. Oslo. Kunnskapsforlaget. ISBN 9788257309480

External links

Norwegian association of architects
Norwegian centre of Art Nouveau - Jugendstil senteret
Norwegian architecture museum
DOCOMOMO Norway
Arkitektnytt
Åpent Rom, the magazine of Statsbygg
Statsbygg
Statsbygg is a Norwegian government agency that manages central parts of the real estate portfolio of the Government of Norway. This includes 2.3 million square meters in 1,500 buildings, of which 115 are located abroad. The portfolio includes office buildings, heritage sites, campuses, operational...

.
Byggekunst architecture journal
Miljølære.no introduction to Norwegian architecture
Norwegian Foundation for Urban Renewal
AllGreen Network
Site on Stave Churches, by Jorgen H. Jensenius
Norway Cultural Profile - national cultural portal for Norway in English

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.