Since the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, it has become clear that the infrastructure deep down in the sea is also vulnerable. Norway alone has 9,000 kilometers of cables and lines that need to be protected. Protection?
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Alex Rühle, Oslo / Mongstad / Bardufoss
It’s always a question of perspective. On Monday morning, the silhouette of the Oslo harbor still radiated the splendor of a big city: in recent years, the Norwegians have built a brand new quarter here, the “Fjord City”: the new library resembling a Rubik’s Cube. The Munch Tower, the world’s largest museum dedicated to a single artist, with its angular prow looking ready to set sail. Directly behind it is the snow-white Opera, which rises out of the sea water like an unfolded mountain of ice. The National Museum, according to its own advertising the “largest museum in the North”, 55,000 square meters of exhibition space, four museums in one. In addition, there are all the brand new apartment blocks and office towers all around, so strict and close together that they have been christened “Barcode Buildings”. Norway has turned its immense wealth from oil and gas exports into signature architecture at this port mile. Really makes something.