Oslo 14 jan. by Northstar

[northstar]

*this is a copy of the thread over at S&B, for those that haven't seen it*

The weather was rather gray, and there were small drops of rain early on the day. But I had a few hours to kill when it was "bright" out. That doesn't happen very often at this time of year. So I decided to take a trip downtown.

Starting out down at Jernbanetorget




Looking down Storgata


"Her skal byen ligge"(here shall the city lie) said this man once. Who? King Christian IV. Why? Oslo had burned down, and he ordered to rebuild the city 1-2 km to the west, next to Akershus fortress, and rename the city Christiania. The same man also said the same thing when founding Christiansand(now Kristiansand) in 1641. Christian IV was an active man


Glasmagasinet.


Christian IV again, Oslo cathedral, and two tall buildings in the background


Closer


And closer


Grensen


Looking towards the city hall


Torggata


Norway's first "skyscraper", built in the 30'ies and inspired by real skyscrapers built in New York at the same time. HQ of the biggest party in Norway, Labour. This building is the subject of this thread by Spearman.





Folkets hus(the people's house). HQ of the biggest union in Norway, LO, wich basically runs Labour. It's hard to disagree that this building is rather ugly.


The tall in the background here is the govermental building, with the prime minster occupying the top-floor.


And some urban decay right next to all this power.


This building used to house a public bath, but is now two excellent rock-scenes, among other things.


This street is called "kebab street", because of all its kebab-shops.




Moving towards Grųnland, also called "Little Karachi"




At grųnland


Grųnland Bazaar, as decribed in Oslo developement thread, under construction


More urban decay, but here, some construction is never far away.




Several blocks are beeing filled with apartment-buildings here, and I've lost track of the various projects here.

[taimis]

Thanks very much for the photos and northstar !

[Gatis]

Hey, nice urban thread!
It feels very cosy when sky is not seen in urban pictures

[Edd]

Nice, very urban views. With some street life and "big city feeling photos". Thanks!

[moo]

I really liked the photos. Oslo is a very cosy and beautiful city

[farbrom]

Realy nice

[Whose Homepage]

Takk ir Northstar!

Thank you so much for taking such a thorough tour of downtown Oslo for us! It is quite a special show because, as you say, these photos are taken during a rare occasion where you were not at work, i.e. during normal business hours. This is a rare treat indeed.

My first impression is that Oslo is loaded with pedestrian roads and public transit. My second impression is that it is equally loaded with handsome, classical fassades, some of which are very elegant and ornate. Alas by contrast there are some more recent edifices that'll never get any praise from me. I also see some sadly derelict, rundown properties. Are they near downtown? I suspect they'll be razed.

Thank you again, NorthStar! It's great to see downtown Oslo filled with people and life!

[Lietuvis]

Oslo looks very nice from your photos Thanks, northstar!

[Mantas]

Thanks for the photos a lot

[Svajoklis]

Like the trams

[pauliaK]

Nice photos Thanks and welcome northstar

[northstar]

Thank you all, you are very kind

@WH, especially thank you for your thorough reply. It was in the middle of the day, but saturday isn't really a working day for office-employees and such. There's alot of shoppers though, so that's why Saturday is perhaps the busiest day of all!

This was only a small part of downtown though, I didn't take any photos of the main pedestrian street, Karl Johan street. Here is a couple of photos I took there for a thread before Christmas.




You are quite right, there are lots of facades downtown that was made in the 60'ies and 70'ies, that does not deserve any praise at all. I avoided taking photo of the sadest of them all, right next to the statue of Christian IV, there was a beautiful building once that was replaced in 1971 with a simple facade. Has destroyed the whole square really. This was the first part of the plan to demolish all the nice, ornate buildings all the way up to the old university building. Furtunately, it became also the last part.
Here's a bad photo of it now:


One of those-run down buildings are in downtown, and I wouldn't be surprised if it would stay in that condition for a long time. Here's my explanation from SSC:

But there are some worn down houses here and there all over Oslo unfortunately. And the reason is often that they are illegal to demolish, as they have some sort of historical value(atleast the authorities claims that they do). The owners of these houses don't want to spend money on renovate them(it could cost alot of money, and what do they get in return?) and instead just wait until the building has been so worn down that it is technically impossible to renovate, and therefore is allowed to destroy them and build an apartment-complex instead. This is quite a sad situation, because some buildings are left standing empty for 10-15 years!

[Geex]

Thanks for this thread NorthStar It's nice to see you and your pictures here.

[UMBAS]

Thank You very much for the photos. Spectacular views

[Whose Homepage]

I appreciate your paragraph about run-down buildings that purportedly have some historic or architectural significance, northstar.

I'll tell you a secret: some years ago I resigned from my local architectural heritage protection association! And I did it for good reason, I think: each time one of these old structures, most of them existing by the dozen & really not all that significant, came up for demolition and a project was announced for the site, these busybodies hastened forth to get the City to declare the place a landmark. As a result, we have quite a number of those dilapidated :landmark" places that should go in order to make room for something new. The owners don't bother to keep them up because it's too expensive and they won't get a return for their investment, and the city is in no position to give them tax breaks or any other incentive to at least keep the building look halfways decent.

[northstar]

That is interesting, it is exactly the same problem here! You did the right thing resigning from that association, imo. As a person interested in old buildings and local history, I would have liked to join such an association myself, if it wasn't for the very conservative people(in the way they want to protect EVERYTHING) that inhabits such organisations.

In addition, we have "fylkeskonservator", a public institution that does the same job. It is what irritates me most about everything in Oslo I think, how these municipal employees can halt almost all progress! Everything has a historical meaning for these people. As an example: They've managed to halt the construction of a very impressive cultural centre and hotel for years. It would have been a major facelift for one of the most important plazas we have, right next to our city hall. Now they've given up the hotel plans thanks to "Fylkeskonservatoren". Reason: it would look too big next to the old train-station Vestbanen. Nevermind that the city hall 67 meters tall, much taller than the hotel was ever going to be, is also right next by.

And now they've started the work of preserving our wonderful architecture from the 60'ies aswell, like the former Hydro HQ. The wonderful facade of this building will be there for generations to enjoy!! Hurra!!

[Whose Homepage]

Northstar, I didn't just resign from the association as a member, I resigned from the Board of Directors.

What you're showing and telling there is a bummer and an outrage indeed!

Through that bogus size/height argument many a good project has been defeated, in Oslo as well as here & no doubt elsewhere.

Let me give you just one example: there is a VERY handsome art deco 1-story art deco building in a neglected area near downtown that used to be a car dealership; the place was rightly placed on the landmarks list (it really IS a STUNNING building!). The car business eventually folded, and the place sat empty for ages. Then came a HORRIBLE project by a chain drugstore company that called for an underground driveby prescription pickup and other nasty things. EVERYBODY opposed it. Then came a perfectly wonderful proposal by a hardware store, something the area needs desperately. The owners, who lived in a chi-chi suburb, were willing to make a portion of the property into their residence in this area that is otherwise not known as "a desirable residential neighborhood" and proposed to add a floor to a portion of the building for that purpose.

But NOOOOOOO! You should have heard the chorus of outrage.

That single story addition would "overshadow" the small Victorian residences next to it. How anything build to the north of something can "overshadow" it is beyond the laws of physics and totally illogical.

Then came yet another proposal that was also nixed: turning the place into a 5-floor student residence with a grocery store (likewise sorely needed) on the ground floor. There is general consensus that student housing is urgently needed, and that student housing close to downtown and transit is particularly desirable.

But NOOOOOO! The chorus of outrage howled all over the place again.

Was it perhaps because the area isn't zoned for 5-story buildings? No; that could easily have been adjusted. So what was the problem as the design was most sensitive and attractive and everything made sense and the developers were eager to work with the neighbors?

Well, guess what. The people who proposed the project are resort developers, and that fact alone resulted in immediate rejection.

The place sat empty for some more years. In the meantime the City could have gotten sales tax revenue from the hardware store or the grocery store.

A Buddhist group has now acquired the property and is altering the building to suit its needs. As a religious entity they don't pay taxes. I have seen some of the rebuild architect's work elsewhere and doubt that a sensitive refurbishment can be expected.

[Gatis]

That conservation of Norsk Hydro facade should be announced as joke internationally