High North Hall

Nordområdene Rådhus, or the High North Hall, is a speculation on architecture’s potential to reframe ideologies and political sentiment via the manipulation of space and material histories. A preservation of Eero Saarinen’s iconic modernist work, the building started as the original US Embassy in Oslo, a porous institutional concept forwarded by the US Foreign Buildings Operations as devices to forward US strategic goals along the Cold War frontiers via cultural projection and soft power. The design intended for a building of non-hierarchies and transparencies open to the public; a connection between American consular activities and the public life of Oslo. Today, the architecture contradicts his intentions; fenced up and layered with security, the access to the ‘public’ court is non-existent – an inaccessible void in the city. Using its inherent histories, a surgical removal of material frames the narratives within towards urgent geopolitical realities in the Arctic region between Norway and Russia, in an ongoing, escalating confrontation for the thawing Arctic. The speculative proposal for its preservation is an experimental reuse as a Consulate / City Hall for the High North region, where a novel public space is created out of its abandonment for a renewed constructed narratives of the High North crucial for projecting Oslo’s foreign policy objectives, and a stronger visibility, representation and recognition for the peoples and territories of the region.

Volume Editors

ISBN
978-1-944214-30-2