Oslo Rådhus

Happy New Year to you all. We made it. 2011 it is! Eleven isn’t a particularly exciting number though and it doesn’t enthuse one like other numbers might. Seven or five for example are supremely more encouraging than eleven. So for that reason we must try extra hard to ‘dress the year’ up a bit from today onwards. So let’s start with this…

I’ve just come back from snowy Oslo where I mashed up my arm up cross-country skiing and where the cost of a pint of beer nearly gave me a nose bleed. Apart from those initial challenges, I found Norway to be a charmingly efficient place with achingly beautiful scenery and rather an honest sense of  identity – a rare thing these days amongst capital cities.

On arrival, I was drawn to the Rådhus town hall (council offices) by the icey harbour. Completed in 1950, it was designed by architects Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson. Its characteristic brick  towers are visible from all over the town and they stand rather inertly, like staunch Viking guardians to the city. Like much of the Scandinavian and Nordic architecture I like, it too seems to echo a cold but curiously appealing form of modernist functionalism.

Once inside, the visitor is treated to a visual spectacular of frescos, wall murals and Nordic decor that all iterate the ancient values of Nordic society. The colours and space of the main hall where the Nobel Peace prize is presented is simply breathtaking in the quiet cyan light of a midwinter morning. I was particularly taken by the metalwork reindeer on the doors and the Nordic embroidery on the chair upholstery.

If you’re ever in Oslo, head down to the harbour and have a quick look in the Rådhus. Unlike most things in Norway, it’s free and you won’t be disappointed.