Reading Socio-Spatial Interplay - Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i ...

R E A D I N G S O C I O - S P A T I A L I N T E R P L A Y P A R T 2the atmosphere, the architecture and the view of RudolfNilsens’ square as important when I found the apartment forsale. For instance, the building has its own traditions for 1 st ofMay, with a marching band coming to play The Internationaland other marches in the backyard. (…) I like these old, mixedareas in eastern Oslo – I could never settle in a posh westernarea such as Majorstua or Frogner” (#435).A 56 year old secretary that runs a small business togetherwith her husband moved from a larger satellite town apartmentinto a smaller apartment at Grønland when their childrenmoved out some years ago. They enjoy the diversity of people,shops, parks, activities and places for entertainment in the area– and particularly she appreciates walking the streets and doingshopping in all of the immigrant stores. But she complainsabout public services that do not take care of buildings andstreets. Some buildings are literally falling apart withoutanybody interfering, creating dangerous situations on thesidewalks. “And then suddenly all these new huge and costlymosque projects… as if powerful Islam is conquering ourfatigued Norwegian neighbourhood – I certainly don’t like thatidea (…) I really support multiculturalism and the integrationof immigrants that can be seen in this area, but I don’t likeghettos. The litter in the streets and the slowly disintegratingbuildings contrasted with these huge Islamic investmentsproduce a ghetto-image of this area which I profoundly dislike”(#405 405 ).The examples above illustrate quite different aspects in regards of in whatway architecture is ascribed symbolic value related to production of imageand identity: The first informant (#435) describes the architecture as tangiblehistorical traces that gives her associations to a historical working class wayof life and to a heroic history of class struggle. The building she lives in isdescribed as a symbol of such values, especially with reference to the famouspoem “Nr 13”. Even more the backyard of the building is described as ascene for celebration and memory of working class ideological values. Heridentification with these values is further emphasized by her explicitdistinction towards “posh western areas”. The second informant’s descriptionof the monumental mosques as a disturbing demonstration of foreign powerthe city, to urban life and to the streets and people of eastern Oslo. His most famous poem is titled “Nr. 13”,which is known to Norwegian schoolchildren even today (compulsory reading): The model for this poem isconsidered to have been the apartment building in Heimdalsgata 26, at the east side of the square RudolfNilsens plass.405 Full quote translated from the interviewees handwritten notes following the transcribed interview.281