ARCHITECTURE + AIRBORNE European Travels: OSLO, NORWAY

Oslo was cold! It was a great place to explore, although I think it would be better in the spring. It also happened to be our 3rd stop out of the 5 for our Christmas trip.

Norway gained its independence from Denmark in 1814, which is the same year that Oslo became the capital. Oslo is located within the Oslofjord and it is a green city, full of parks and forests. Like Denmark, Norway is considered to be one of the best places to live in the world and has one of the 'highest Human Developent Index and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world'. With that said, in 2010 Oslo was ranked the 2nd most expensive city in the world, and based on our T.G.I. Friday's tab…I think it still is.

While there are many places to see in Oslo, I was most excited to visit the Oslo Opera House designed by Snøhetta! The Oslo Opera House is home to the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet and is located in the Bjørvika harbor. The building rises out of the harbor and creates a connection between the opera and the city.

'This was precisely the intention of the firm of architects behind this iconic design, Snøhetta, which wanted to make the roof a platform accessible to all and in so doing create a new public space in the centre of Oslo. A parallel wish was to create a new landscape that would draw together the natural beauty of Oslo Fjord and the city.'[1]

'The Snøhetta architects used three main materials in designing Oslo Opera House: stone, wood and metal. The principal stone used in the construction is the characteristic white marble from Carrara in Italy. The wood used in the foyer, public galleries and the Main House is oak, while the metal facades on the roof are aluminium. In addition, the design makes extensive use of large glass facades.' [2]

We scheduled our day around our tour of the Opera house, which I highly recommend. We walked and explored the downtown during the first part of the day and then after our tour we headed out to the Viking ship museum [fun fact: Vikings did not wear those silly hats!]. There were minimal daylight hours so we had to make the most out of them! We were even able to squeeze in a trip to the Vigelandsparken Sculpture park [filled with 212 bronze and granite sculptures designed by Gustav Vigeland] before it got too dark. We were not able to get to the Oslo National Gallery to see Munch's The Scream painting, but that is on my list for next time. There are also some boat tours and excursions that sound worth a try.