In recent years architecture Scandinavian countries are increasingly attracting international attention. A great development of private, but mostly public architecture, thanks to competitions won by international architectural firms, accompanies the holistic management of urban and natural spaces with great respect for the environment. Historians of the 20th century have defined Trans-Scandinavian architecture as “Scandinavian empiricism” in the sense of adopting an evergreen or even “organic” modernist idiom that never degenerates into formalistic spectacle or self-referential intellectualism. Since the time of the Finn Alvar Aalto, the architecture of Scandinavia has followed and enriched the lessons of the modern movement, emphasizing integration, sustainability and the properties of natural space, without, of course, the slightest trace of neo-traditionalism. or localist graphism.

One of the most recognizable recent masterpieces of this architecture is the Oslo Opera House (Snohetta, 2008), an award-winning cultural complex already declared a national monument. However, the Opera, which has also become the “locomotive” of the revived international interest, is only the tip of the iceberg (in the literal and figurative sense) of what has been happening in the Norwegian capital in recent years.

The international trend of recent decades is the transformation and revival of commercial ports in large cities, which is associated either with a change in the nature of port work, or with the need to improve urban space. In the cities of the North, in Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Helsinki, Stockholm and, of course, Oslo, the general trend is to move port-commercial activities to areas outside the city center (with the possible preservation of cruise ship service). ) and the corresponding development of residential, office, cultural facilities (with the possible restoration of existing building structures) and, mainly, with the creation of a sustainable public environment for leisure. A common characteristic is the attractive geographic and physical location of these areas on the seashore and, as a result, the possibility of attracting investors with a positive interaction between agencies, port organizations, municipalities and private investors. For these new waterfronts, Northerners dream of creating an open-access urban environment that creates the conditions for outdoor Mediterranean-style well-being, to make the most of any favorable local climatic conditions (but also those that we would consider prohibitively “wintry”).

Scandinavian architecture pays attention to issues of inclusion, sustainability and properties of natural space without a trace of neo-traditional or local picturesqueness.

In the post-war period, Oslo followed the general development of European cities of reconstruction: many cars already in the 1960s, new railway lines, oversized road axles on the waterfront and, above all, the intensive activity of the city’s commercial port in the Bjørvik area (where the main railway station is located). The result was the complete isolation of the city from the sea. The port was an “alienated” area with a rather dubious reputation (and more suitable for the setting of Jo Nesbo’s thrillers) in a sparsely populated European capital, which at some distance watched the events in the then probably richer and more famous Stockholm and Copenhagen.

In the 1980s, disputes begin about the future of the coastal front, with the departure of the shipyards and the general deindustrialization of the area. “In 1982, the first major architectural competition, City and Fjord 2000, was held,” emphasizes Stein Kolsto, director of Oslo’s municipal waterfront planning department, in our recent conversation in the Norwegian capital.

Everything matured in the late 1990s, therefore, faced with the dilemma of Oslo as a port city or as a fjord city / fjord city, the city council (which is responsible for the fate of the city) decides in 2000 in favor of the latter (actually Oslo is located at the end of the fjord of the same name). After the removal of containers and other commercial purposes of the port, events develop rapidly: in 1999 a decision is made to locate the Opera in the former port, in 2002 an international tender is held for the Aker Brygge area (west of Bjørvika) and the development of the entire coastal front begins. In 2013, 25% of the overall plan was completed, today the implementation exceeds 50% and completion is scheduled for 2035! “This is one of the most ambitious projects to transform the face of a European city with the aim of turning it into a reliable and attractive player on the international stage,” emphasizes Vegar Bergum, head of planning at Bjorvika Infrastruktur, in our on-site conversation. .

Fully public planning and all on time

The overall plan for the city of Fjord is entrusted to the Oslo Waterfront Planning Authority, set up by the Municipality of Oslo in 2000: it is entirely public planning. The study, approved in 2008, is being carried out over a 10 km area covering areas from Ormsund (east) to Filipstad (west). It is divided into nine sectors, and special attention is paid not to the banal coastal front, but to the sea continuum, taking into account the special structure and physiognomy of the urban environment. Planned are the construction of ten thousand residential buildings, office buildings, shops, restaurants, parks, the creation of cultural facilities and, above all, an uninterrupted public walk for residents with spaces of free access, activity and recreation that are not “expensive” or “complicated”. This is expected to create over 50,000 new jobs. Also planned is a new tram line (already completed) and in general cycle paths and other services, mostly for pedestrians, as well as a very important underground motorway construction serving the new embankment (under completion).

What is impressive about this major project is the ability to plan, implement and complete projects on time and exactly according to plan: residential buildings in the popular area of ​​Aker Brygge or office buildings in Bjørvik (selected barcodes) were completed in 2017 (67 meters the height of the latter caused heated debate). Cutting-edge cultural objects have also been delivered, such as the new National Museum (2010-2022) and the Deichman Public Library: the latter is an exceptional architectural shell that also teaches us what the social mission of knowledge and therefore its function can be. public library space as a welcoming social host. Architecturally very interesting residential complexes have also been completed in the area of ​​the new Edvard Munch Museum: the latter, however, is a rather unfortunate building volume of awkward architectural form, as it inevitably conflicts with the nearest Snohett Opera House. .

The issue of “sewing” the existing city with the new waterfront was addressed with the help of “the commons”, i.e. the city’s islands/zones of greenery, the fluid element, city services (such as playgrounds), and public art that connect the city. from the embankment and highway. Bjørvika’s buildings have also been painted in different colors, Kolsto points out, to entertain the monotony of the northern climate. The Oslo Lesson as a program, as a method and as a result is very useful for those who are engaged in the redevelopment of cities on the sea, including ours.

* Mr. Andreas Giakumakatos – Professor of Architecture at the School of Fine Arts, member of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence.