Høyblokka National Archives
A building is more than a building.
It keeps the marks of its histories and frames the creation of collective memory. A traumatic moment needs an exceptional reaction, but destruction is not a valuable option.
Høyblokka should be preserved because it is a testimony of essential events for Norway. Not many buildings have provoked so many opinions, discussions and histories, even during the two years it has been empty.
The proposal re-uses Høyblokka as a space for national archives. It is important that historical documents are accessible for everybody, and this building, with its memory, monumental space, and location is an ideal place for containing the ongoing history.
A mobile archive system would be distributed along the facade of each floor. It would shape an introverted space, where people can discover and discuss. A path of public stairs intersects each floor and connects the street level with a public plaza on the roof.
“National Archives” was a response to Høyblokka Revisited, an open call for ideas concerning the Norwegian governmental headquarters in Oslo that was bombed in the terror attack the 22.07.2011. The open call was an initiative by the gallery 0047 and ArkitekturN, the main architectural review in Norway.
