Push to save Oslo’s old buildings

City council wants to preserve the capital’s cultural landscape

Photo: Bernard Bialorucki
Panoramic view of Bjørvika district at the Oslo Fjord waterfront with the Havnepromenade boulevard and Sentralen, Oslo’s Central Station. The train station has been held up as an example of a building that has been refurbished and modernized for the benefit of Oslo’s cultural life and urban landscape.

NTB

The city council of Oslo wants to  preserve and reuse several of the city’s older buildings. They are now sending a new cultural environment report to be evaluated by specialist consultants. 

“We are tearing down too much,” said Rasmus Reinvang, the city council member overseeing urban development.

“If we are to achieve our climate goals, we must preserve and reuse buildings and materials far more in the future,” he said.

The cultural environment report, which has now been sent out to consultants to evaluate, is the first in the capital in 18 years.

“I hope the forthcoming cultural environment report will make Oslo’s historical values visible and stimulate both conservation and an even more prudent and respectful building use in the future,” said Reinvang.

He mentions buildings such as Kulturhuset, Sentralen, and Telegrafen as examples of old buildings that have been refurbished and modernized for the benefit of cultural life, writes Avisa Oslo.

“What has already been built is a resource in a climate and environmental perspective. We tear down too much in Oslo today,” said the city council member.

A deadline of  Sept. 1, 2021, has been set for the consultant feedback to the report.

Translated by Lori Ann Reinhall

This article originally appeared in the June 4, 2021, issue of The Norwegian American.