Regjeringskvartalet

Coordinates: 59°54′54″N 10°44′45″E / 59.91500°N 10.74583°E / 59.91500; 10.74583

Regjeringskvartalet seen from Johan Nygaardsvolds plass.
On the left: The Y-block
On the right: "The highrise "(Høyblokken).
Note: picture taken before the 2011 bombing.

Regjeringskvartalet (the Government quarter) is a collection of buildings located in the centre of Norway's capital city Oslo, housing several offices for the Norwegian Government. The complex is situated approximately 350 yards northeast of the Parliament Building, and consists of nine buildings with about 1,960,000 sq f (182,000 m²) of office space employing approximately 4,430 people.[1]

History

On 22 July 2011 Regjeringskvartalet was the site of a car bombing in connection with the 2011 Norway attacks. Eight people were killed and over 200 others injured, and several buildings were heavily damaged.

Overview

Regjeringskvartalet consists of the following buildings:

Map of Regjeringskvartalet.
  • The Government Administration Services, centred in Møllergata 19, provides administrative services to other Government departments. Statsbygg manages the buildings on behalf of the Norwegian state, and is responsible for running and maintaining Regjeringskvartalet.
  • At Teatergata 9, a new building, R6, was completed in 2012. The 16 storey building houses the Ministry of Health and Care Services and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.[3]

Art

Between the late 1950s and the early 1970s, artist Pablo Picasso made sketches for his first five first monumental concrete murals to be executed on the buildings’ interiors and exteriors. The largest, The Fisherman (1970), is installed on the façade of Y-block. Norwegian artists Inger Sitter, Kai Fjell and Carl Nesjar, among others, also made works for the buildings. When the government considered whether to demolish the buildings after the 2011 attacks, the Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage expressed its fears that Picasso’s murals for two of them may be destroyed.[4]

References

  1. ↑ Five suggestions for a new government complex, page 21. Renewal-, administration- and church-department, 27 June 2013 (visited 27 June 2013)
  2. ↑ NTB. "Regjeringsbygget har skader opp til Stoltenbergs kontor". Retrieved 16 March 2017.
  3. ↑ "Veidekke bygger nytt regjeringsbygg", Stein Jarle Olsen, Teknisk Ukeblad, 20 May 2009
  4. ↑ Clemens Bomsdorf (January 14, 2013), Picasso murals under threat The Art Newspaper.

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