Thursday 30th March

Today was a long day - we had a trip to Oslo and then, finally, we started to work on our projects.

We started the day by taking the ferry to Oslo in order to meet Yngve Hegrenes - an

architect responsible for management of transformation processes working in the Oslo municipality.

Although we were very excited for the trip, unfortunately, the weather greeted us with cold wind

and rain which made the walk a little more tiring.

We met our guide in the Oslo harbour and then we followed him to Studenterlunden. On the

way we discussed the experience of a car-free area and how creating a framework of development

of Oslo looks like. Then we admired the city layout

around the Royal Palace inspired by the ideas of

Enlightenment. It was a very inspiring and thought-

provoking lesson, especially that we were able to

hear a lot about how the architecture and space are

tied to the history of the city and the whole

Norwegian nation. We even had some time to walk

around the area and experience the importance of

harmony and order in city-planning.

Next, we walked around the Renaissance part of the

city, where we were able to see the difference

between the ideas behind city planning in the 1600s

and 1850s. It was really interesting to discover what

the reason behind the differences in the city tissue

is. We have also investigated the possible obstacles

which may occur during the introduction of a car

free area. How is the city going to manage the

deliveries? How are the inhabitants of these zones

going to commute? These are the problems that

have to be faced by city planners.

Another thing that we learned is how the priorities

change overtime and how the city planners have to adapt existing areas to new needs following the

example of Eidsvolls Plass. The City Government wants to create a greener and warmer city with

room for everyone. The life of the city shall be vibrant, the air cleaner and the arrangements for

pedestrians and cyclists better. A centre without cars shall be easily accessible and make more room

for life in the streets and pleasant meeting areas.

We finished the trip at Torggata, where we were introduced to the impact that different materials

have on the overall climax of the area. We admired some elements of cityscape like pot plants and

bike stops.

Later, with the heavy rain to accompany us, we ran to the ferry, which took us back to Nesodden.

To finish off the day, inspired by the three trips to Oslo, we started working on our projects. We

started drafting our plans for the area and made a framework for the next day.













In the evening we spent some time with our hosts, and some of us went to Oslo for the dinner and

other fun activities (e.g.: bowling!).

WEDNESDAY 29th March

During our 4th day in Norway we’ve visited its capital city
- Oslo. At 10 we were finally there, and could meet our
guide, who took us for a walk around Fjordbyen. We had a
chance to see Akershus fortress - a medieval castle that
was built to protect Oslo. It was king Christian IV who
had the castle modernised and converted into a
Renaissance castle and royal residence.



Then we visited a place broadly described in every
Norwegian guidebook - ‘ The Bank Square ‘. Also
called Bankplassen, it’s a square in the
neighbourhood Kvadraturen in Oslo, where the
Norges Bank and Engebret Cafe - a restaurant which
is well-known for the famous artists who have
frequently visited it, such as Henrik Ibsen and Edvard
Munch. Our guide talked about the purpose of the buildings that were there and how some of them have been repurposed over the years. She also showed us how some parts of the centre were from different eras. This was very interesting because it showed us that you don’t need to build new things in order to make a space useful again.



Around noon we’ve entered the Oslo Opera House
- the home of the Norwegian National Opera and
Ballet. The group was split in two smaller groups and we each went through the building. Everyone was astonished by the beauty of
this building - Tarald Lundevall, the man behind the
architecture of the Opera, most certainly did a
remarkable job.  The tour included an explanation of the choices that were made in relation to the architecture and the decoration. For example, the wood structure of the building wasn’t made by woodworkers, but by boatbuilders because they’re used to working with big structures.We were given an opportunity to go
behind the scenes and find out more about the work
of the opera’s employees. We even attended a
rehearsal of one of the shows which will soon be
officially performed.




After a lunch break we were walking along the Havnepromenaden, a walkway in the district of
Sørenga, guided by Jenny Ann Flø from Bymiljøetaten. She talked to us about a project she is involved with which involved using materials that could be reused in other places than Oslo. This was also very interesting because it taught us about durability of materials. In general, we thought the trip to Oslo was very educational and we picked up a lot of things to use in our own project.Having successfully caught a boat (whichwas not that obvious), we got back to our host families in Nesodden around 16.