Scandinavian nation Norway is often described as “the world’s best country” thanks to its high quality of life funded by oil and gas revenues.
The snowbound, social democratic nation regularly tops the UN Human Development Index list of the best places to live, as inhabitants enjoy high incomes and long lives.
Norway is also staggeringly beautiful, fabled for its snow-capped mountains, jagged coastline and dazzling blue fjords.
Yet the locals fear it won’t be beautiful for much longer if modern architects continue to have their way.
They say the country’s natural beauty is being destroyed by some of the ugliest and most depressing modernist buildings the world has ever seen.
Things have got so bad that its triggered an uprising in a country that normally prizes consensus over conflict.
A new movement called Arkitekturopprøret Norge, which translates ‘Architecture revolt Norway’, is fighting back against modernist concrete structures that have become the norm for major building projects in the country.
It is calling out “arrogant” modernist architects who it claims are plastering the land with “grey, unbelievably ugly” buildings.
Oslo’s waterfront is one of the biggest building projects in Europe, and the architecture is relentlessly modernist throughout.
Its crowning glory was supposed to the museum dedicated to the country’s best-known Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, painter of the iconic Scream.
The architectural rebels reckon the grey, tilted block looks more like a warehouse than a flagship public building. They say it’s a cause of national shame, not pride.
Even Norwegian architects have struggled to defend the monstrosity, although embattled museum officials claim it’s nicer on the inside.
Undeterred, Oslo has doubled down with its new National Museum. The low grey bunker cost a staggering £500million, only to be voted Norway’s ugliest building.
The competition for that title is intense, the architectural rebels say.
They are calling for a return to more traditional architecture on a human scale, using “good materials, expert composition and thoughtful detailing”.
The group’s founder Saher Sourouri said it had become embarrassing for people to admit they like traditional architecture in Norway, as they would be shamed into silence by the modernist establishment.
He responded by creating a people’s movement for beauty which is gathering momentum.
Fredrik Lund, a professor at the Trondheim institute for architecture and technology, is the latest to join the fight back, saying that Norwegian buildings and town planning is so dull it could “cause the country to die of boredom”.
He said that much of what is being built is “unbelievably ugly”, saying: “I question if architects today are actually capable of creating something beautiful. And they most likely can’t.”
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The establishment has scorned the movement, with architect Jorge Stavseng dismissing the group as “banal and embarrassing”.
Other modernist die-hards say the word beautiful should never be used when discussing architecture, as it is too subjective.
Audun Engh, a veteran Norwegian campaigner for beautiful architecture, said aggressive modernists are attempting to “scare people from expressing their support for the rebellion”.
They are failing as more people speak out after years of being cowed into silence.
The architectural revolt is established in Sweden and growing in strength across Germany, and we could do it with it over here, too.
Prince Charles struck a chord with his own personal scream at modern architecture 30 years ago, while the late philosopher Sir Roger Scruton also campaigned for beauty, only to be smeared by our architectural establishment.
Scruton, who chaired the government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful commission, died in January 2020.
But the UK government remains committed to implementing its recommendations, calling for new homes need to be built in keeping with traditional architectural styles.
Norway’s architecture rebels have no government support but are continuing their struggle to make the country’s buildings match the beauty of its natural environment.
They are making progress but there is a hard fight against the country’s grey architectural establishment.
