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Oslo Archives, Oslo (2026)

10/05/2023

Schous plass 5

It's not a very nice building, and I don't have any precise information about it, but it's green, and I like green. Do you like green?

Well, maybe it's not entirely green, but you get the picture.

23/02/2023

Before becoming a part of Oslo, Åkebergveien 28B (here seen at sunset) was a part of Aker. In 1859 that changed.⁣
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Merchant Dyre Simensen (Animal Sim-a-Late (just kidding)) bought and built this lot in 1811. It was originally a løkkeeiendom (which roughly translates to an acreage) called Sommerfryd. As you probably understand, a lot has changed since then.⁣
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The building being torn down in 1968 after serving as an orphanage driven by The Salvation Army is one of the changes—Fast-forward to the oh-so-wonderful 90s. It was decided that a mosque for the Central Jam-e-Mosque, World Islamic Mission should be built. In 91, the foundation stone was laid, and in 1995 it was ready for occupation. Can I get an alhamdulillah?⁣
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The facade has undergone rehabilitation, which finished earlier this year. It’s a beat, don’t you think? ⁣
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09/01/2023

One from the archives while waiting for new photos!⁣
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This is Nannestadgata 5 B, C, and D, rehabilitated at the same time as the neighboring buildings in the early 1980s by Oslo Byfornyelse AS and architect firm Terjesen og Kjellstad.⁣⁣
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The apartment buildings in plastered brick are two stories tall (plus a loft). They were mentioned as an excellent example of buildings that are well adapted to the surrounding buildings in the brochure “Densification with quality” by the Ministry of Climate and Environment in 1998. How about that! ⁣⁣
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What do you think about these buildings?⁣
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23/10/2022

Behold the oldest preserved building of Christiana! ⁣
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The oldest part of this heap of bricks was raised for councilor Lauritz Hansen in 1626, the rest in the 1640s. Let that sink in for a second. ⁣
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That means that the year of this building’s construction is equally close to the birth of our savior Jesus “I was totally white” Christ as the last years that the woolly mammoth still roamed the Earth. Mind = blown.⁣
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On a more serious note, this also means that Lauritz was hanging around here before the discovery of calculus and at the same time as Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome facing heresy charges because he claimed the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around. Ancient history. A wild ride. ⁣
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The building is known as Garnisonssykehuset (The Garrison Hospital) because of its function as a hospital in the 1850s.⁣
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Today, it is occupied by Oslo Kunstforening (Oslo Art Association) and Celsius café.⁣
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If you know anything about this building, spit it out! Don’t be shy! ⁣
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30/08/2022

It’s not a church. It’s not a chapel. It’s Norway’s first library building! ⁣
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Aaaand we’re back.⁣
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Thanks to a guy named Carl, Christiania gained access to a collection of more than 6000 books at the time of his death in 1780. The guy’s surname? Deichman. And the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.⁣
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Businessman, industrialist, book collector, and philanthropist Deichman has since given his name to the Deichman Library, consisting of more than 2o branch libraries spread all over the city of Oslo. What a delight.⁣
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“But we had libraries before this building on Schous plass was built in 1914?” you may ask, and you are correct. We did have libraries, but not library buildings fully designated to the task of spreading book-based knowledge to the people. If I have understood it correctly, that is. Who knows. I can’t read.⁣
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Of all 37 submitted proposals for the architectural competition, architect August Nielsen’s plan “Silentium” won. With it, he won the prize of NOK 800, equivalent to a bit more than $5000 by today’s rate.⁣
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Just a few weeks after the opening in October 1914, the shelves were empty, and the newspaper headlines read “Reading-eager children. Emptied bookshelves”.⁣
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Thanks for reading! And as always, if you know more, share it in the comments! ⁣
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09/06/2022

I will try to be brief about Diriks gate.⁣⁣⁣
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This building is a part of Ilakomplekset, which I posted about a while back (I will put the post in my story). It is a meandering apartment building that kind of curls into itself if you see it from above on the map. It stretches along mentioned Diriks gate, takes a turn along with Colletts gate, almost does a 180° and looks over Uelands gate, then goes almost perpendicular towards Diriks gate again. ⁣⁣⁣
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This lesson on geometry and cartography makes a lot more sense if you actually look at it on the map.⁣⁣⁣
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This building was constructed in 1928-29, while the whole complex was completed in 1933. Architect and city planner Harald Hals is the mind behind the whole complex. ⁣⁣⁣
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If you know anything about this spot, now is the time to share it with us all in the comments! ⁣⁣⁣
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19/05/2022

Here again, at Arctanderbyen!⁣
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If you missed my last post about this spot, go to my profile and check out the penultimate entry after this. Which is your favorite photo?⁣
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This garden town rests over the city at Ekebergskrenten in the borough Gamle Oslo and has the addresses Svingen 12-42 and Egnehjemveien 1-44. ⁣
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If you know anything about Arctanderbyen, feel free to share it in the comments!⁣
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06/05/2022

This apartment building was raised circa 1898 or 1899. Today, it is municipally listed (kommunalt listeført). What that entails, I haven’t been so sure of myself, so in the process of educating myself, I’m also going to educate you. ⁣
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*rolls in the overhead projector*⁣
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The fact that a building is listed by the municipality, in this case, Oslo municipality (Oslo kommune), does not mean that the building is protected per se. The list consists of buildings, cultural monuments, or cultural environments that are worthy of protection.⁣
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Such constructions or areas that are formally protected are on this list, but also buildings that do not have an official standing as being protected. Like this one.⁣
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For the pictured building in Colletts gate 16 on St. Hanshaugen, that means that the building may as well be made into a huge Espresso House, Cutters, or Backstube, that it might be pulverized and made into a mini-golf course or replaced with a 70-meter tall high-rise.⁣
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But that is not likely – even though it is not _formally protected_, no big changes can be done to it without clarifications from the municipality. So, if you live in Colletts gate 16 and made it this far, don’t worry, you won’t be evicted. Not that I know, anyway.⁣
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To be municipally listed differs from other types of listings and protections such as being protected in accordance with the Planning and Building Act (PBL), being protected by regulations or protected by decisions. ⁣
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That’s it for today. Did you learn anything? I’ve got no homework for you. Enjoy your weekend.⁣
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01/05/2022

Happy International Workers' Day! Let’s see how architecture, city planning and apartment development has played a role in the class conflict in Oslo.⁣
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Norway’s first-ever garden town, Arctanderbyen, designed specifically to calm the tempers of workers keen on revolution.⁣
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It was feared that the housing shortage at the beginning of the 20th century would lead to a polarization in the class conflict. The leading notion was that the working class weren’t to gather in their own areas, and they were to learn good manners by interfering with the bourgeoisie. Oh, well.⁣
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At the same time, The Egne Hjem (Own Home) movement was a response to both the fears of the bourgeoisie and the wishes of the working class. Giving the opportunity for their own homes to the working class was to incorporate them into Norwegian society, relieve the class struggle and solve the housing problem. ⁣
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In 1907, mayor Sofus Arctander arranged an architectural competition with the purpose of creating the ideal workers’ home, and in 1908, Egne Hjem established their local department in Kristiania Egne Hjem. Architects Christian Morgenstierne and Arne Eide, eager students and supporters of the garden city concept, won the competition.⁣
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The result was Arctanderbyen. With an English blueprint, the houses are vertically divided semi-detached houses in plastered brick with small garden spots. 29 houses were built in 1910-1911.⁣
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"Homestead colonies in detached areas with plenty of sun and light and fresh air provide a quite different working population [compared to] the barracks," Aftenposten wrote in 1916 about Arctanderbyen's success in stagnating a worker’s uprising. It’s as if a decent living standard is worth something, isn’t it? ⁣
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Today, Arctanderbyen is protected in accordance with the Planning and Building Act (PBL).⁣
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26/04/2022

Popping by to show you this, and tell a short story about Fjellgata.⁣
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It is one of the central longitudinal streets in area Rodeløkka, borough Grünerløkka. The name Fjellgata translates to Mountain street in English because it runs along a ridge from Verksgata to Christian Michelsens gate. It is a very small ridge, so the name is a bit dramatic in my opinion. But who doesn’t like to be a bit extra? ⁣
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For this here house, on the other hand, the original building suffered serious burns at the start of the 1960s. A neighbor in a house nearby sent a formal complaint to the building inspection noting that someone was living in the rubbles of the unlivable house – swipe to read the original letter.⁣
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I especially like this part: “It also seems very unsightly, and shady individuals still gather in the loopholes, with bottles and binging”. ⁣
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What do you think about this?⁣
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12/04/2022

What’s yellow and one-and-a-half-story tall?⁣
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If you have a funny punchline for that opener, DM me. My conclusion is only this cute little house in Nannestadgata in the borough of Old Oslo.⁣
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The house was built in 1873, and what might be considered funny if you didn't like my anti-climatic punchline from my last sentence is that a whopping 18 people lived in this house at the same time in 1883.⁣
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In the basement resided brewery worker K. Hansen and his wife, four children and two tenants (!). On the first floor, the carpenter H. Pettersen lived with his family, and as if that wasn’t enough they shared the floor with brewery worker Chr. Christophersen, his wife as well as an additional two tenants (!!). In the attic lived widow Gundersen with her daughter and a seamstress named Karen Olsen. It’s like a clown car! ⁣
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Leave a comment if you know more!⁣
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22/03/2022

Fire, walk with me. 🔥⁣
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But stop that walk in 1686. That was when the farm that originally was at this plot burst into flames. The farm belonged to Christen Stephensøn Bang, a parish priest from Romedal.⁣
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Since then, all buildings on this plot have been called Romedalgården (the Romedal farm). And since that fire, a lot has happened on this land in Akersgata 11.⁣
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From 1730 until 1763, the whole city’s post office was at this site. A bit later, close to the end of the 1800s, a building belonging to paper tradesman Gustav Adolf Norberg stood here, and in 1906 every remnant of that building was demolished.⁣
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The only thing left was a building in the backyard built in 1896, used as a storage, stable, and outhouse. Merchant Gotfried Peter Pleym from Kristiansand had a new forecort constructed, drawn by architect Henry Bucher, next to the building from 1896, and together they are built around a small inner courtyard.⁣
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Back then, the three-story building among other things served as a painting business. And in a way it still does, seeing as there’s a tattoo studio on the first floor. We’re talking about permanent paint. The painful one.⁣
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Do you know more? Leave us all a comment below!⁣
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Oslo Archives

10/05/2023

23/02/2023

09/01/2023

23/10/2022

30/08/2022

09/06/2022

19/05/2022

06/05/2022

01/05/2022

26/04/2022

12/04/2022

22/03/2022

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