Oslo City Hall

The building of Oslo City Hall was a great undertaking which took quite some years. The first plans were laid in 1915, but building started first in the 1930s, and the City Hall was completed in 1950. The architects Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson won the competition to design the building in 1918, but due to several reasons, the project dragged on and planes were redone several times. Both the interior and the exterior of Oslo City Hall are richly decorated. A competition held in 1936 resulted in several prominent Norwegian artists being commissioned to complete a variety of different projects. They included the painters Henrik Sørensen and Alf Rolfsen (the main hall), Axel Revold (the festival gallery) and Johan Wilhelm Midelfart (the banqueting hall). Edvard Munch’s painting “Life”, which can be seen in the Munch Room, was purchased separately. The list of many other well-known artists, sculptors and craftsmen whose talents were also employed included Dyre Vaa, Per Krohg, Anne Grimdalen, Joseph Grimeland, Aage Storstein, Agnes Hiorth, Jonas Hidle, Nicolai Schiøll, Else Poulsson, Per Palle Storm, Dagfin Werenskiold, Alfred Seland, Aage Storstein and Per Hurum and others. All in all, the City Hall and its surroundings can rightly be regarded as a splendid manifestation of Norway’s collective artistic talent in the middle of the 20th century.The building of Oslo City Hall was a great undertaking which took quite some years. The first plans were laid in 1915, but building started first in the 1930s, and the City Hall was completed in 1950. The architects Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson von the competition to design the building in 1918, but due to several reasons, the project dragged on and planes were redone several times. Both the interior and the exterior of Oslo City Hall are richly decorated. A competition held in 1936 resulted in several prominent Norwegian artists being commissioned to complete a variety of different projects. They included the painters Henrik Sørensen and Alf Rolfsen (the main hall), Axel Revold (the festival gallery) and Johan Wilhelm Midelfart (the banqueting hall). Edvard Munch’s painting “Life”, which can be seen in the Munch Room, was purchased separately. The list of many other well-known artists, sculptors and craftsmen whose talents were also employed included Dyre Vaa, Per Krohg, Anne Grimdalen, Joseph Grimeland, Aage Storstein, Agnes Hiorth, Jonas Hidle, Nicolai Schiøll, Else Poulsson, Per Palle Storm, Dagfin Werenskiold, Alfred Seland, Aage Storstein and Per Hurum and others. All in all, the City Hall and its surroundings can rightly be regarded as a splendid manifestation of Norway’s collective artistic talent in the middle of the 20th century.