Demonstration to defend Y-Block in Oslo

The battle is on and a public demonstration is being held on Monday 9 February to defend Y-Block, one of the Oslo government buildings designed by Erling Viksjø and featuring walls with artwork by Pablo Picasso. Oslo is taking to the streets to defend its artistic and architectural assets.



In the UK, demolition has already begun on Birmingham Central Library – an icon of British Brutalism designed by John Madin – and in Oslo a large public demonstration is being organised to save Y-Block, designed by Norwegian architect Erling Viksjø. 





The Norwegian government is making plans to demolish this block and the less architecturally valued S and R4 blocks – all damaged in the 2011 terrorist bomb attack. They want to clear the space and build something new but apart from demolishing the existing buildings, details are very hazy.



The movement against this demolition is growing not just to protect icons of Modernist architecture and fine examples of public art like the murals created by Carl Nesjar from Picasso’s drawings. It’s a lot more, it’s preserving part of Oslo’s urban planning history.



Indeed, being concerned about the fate of Y-Block isn’t just about the artworks, it’s about the building’s actual floor plan, created on an urban scale with a walkways, stairways, plays of light and shade that form an animated cityscape for passersby. More than half a century down the track, the interiors are still harmonious, elegant and light-filled.



Livegreenblog hopes that the demonstration will attract a huge turnout and that it can convince the Norwegian government to change its mind, to re-think the role of Y-Block as part of an overall reassessment of Modernist buildings and the urban fabric.

(Christiane Bürklein)

Demonstration to defend Y-Block
Monday 9 February, 3PM
Y-Block at the government buildings
Images: © Jonas Adolfsen – Rak Arkitektur AS