Professor Erik Fenstad Langdalen, Head
of Institute of Form, Theory and History
Blasted Building
Erik Fenstad Langdalen
Entering Erling Viksjø´s iconic government building,
Høyblok-
ken
27 months after the devastating terrorist attack, I find my-
self standing on a territory charged with strong emotions and
political controversy. But more significantly, I am immersed in
empty, raw, dark and misty spaces. The rough concrete ceilings,
the colossal pilotis, the abstract sandblasted, wall-fixed art and
the Conglo-concrete floor
1
evoke images of a recently discov-
ered Roman villa. The blast from the bomb, which exploded
only a few meters from the east façade, and the subsequently
clearance of 4400 tons of waste, has removed evidence of for-
mer use and destabilised the building’s position in time. We are
left with pure structure. The building has turned into an ab-
straction of itself, more in line with the intentions of the archi-
tect and truer to the principles of modernism than ever before.
This essay is an attempt to look beyond the question of politics,
clearing ground for an architectural reflection on the building.
Høyblokken
appears now as it did in 1957, at a certain time
during construction: without windows, partition walls, flooring,
fixtures, air-ducts, furniture, equipment, office supplies and
people. What is revealed is a textbook example of the open plan
and the load-bearing grid-façade. This “prenatal” version of the
building, being disentangled from function and use, appears like
a rough working model of a building-project in process.
The bomb left a crater in the ground, exposing the subter-
ranean level connecting the different government buildings in
the area. This “secret” underworld helped save
Høyblokken
,
since the main force of the blast was allowed to go downwards.
It revealed the fact that the buildings are hovering above un-
derground pathways, busy streets, a fire station, storage spaces
and parking garages, a fact that destabilises the relationship
between building and ground. The blast identified the security
problem of underground public passages, but at the same time
released a potential for future development of the site.
