Oslo, Norway – photo by: helen agustine

Scandinavian countries has always been not only in most of designer’s bucket list, but also for nature lovers. Norway combines spectacular nature and architecture in such an extreme weather. I visited Oslo only for 2 days, and the city was so different and looks younger from other cities in Europe, gave a memorable and fresh atmosphere. Stroll along the city and you will find many contemporary design architectures, arts and gardens.

vigeland park – photo by: helen agustine

oslo opera house – photo by: helen agustine

The first trip was climbing the sloping marble roof of the famous and contemporary architecture: Oslo Opera House, designed by Snøhetta. He combines stone, timber, metal, and glass to make the largest cultural building constructed in Norway and aesthetically pleasing. Here is where people come to see Norwegian Opera and Ballet shows. We can climb the wide slanted roof, and the wind was very strong up there. The architecture is spectacular inside and out of the building.

oslo opera house – photo by: helen agustine

oslo opera house – photo by: helen agustine

oslo opera house – photo by: helen agustine

oslo opera house’s roof – photo by: helen agustine

The most visited park in Oslo is Vigelandsparken / Vigeland Park. It is Gustav Vigeland’s lifework with over 200 unique human body sculptures lined up along the way to the centre of the park. They were made from wrought iron, granite and bronze, showing the social interaction between human and human’s life. The focal point of the park is The Monolith – “the symbolic sculpture consisting of 121 interwind human figures, meant to represent the human desire to reach out to the divine”.

vigeland park’s focal point – photo by: helen agustine

the monolith – photo by: helen agustine

vigeland park – photo by: helen agustine

vigeland park in summer – photo by: helen agustine

Due to the heavy snow during winter, ski is the natural winter sport in Norway. Holmenkollen Ski Jump is the most modern building for ski jumping in the world, and one of the first designer ski jumps to be built. It is first opened in March 2010, will be open 365 days a year. You can also find souvenir shops, café, ski museum, and even AirBnb penthouse on the top of the ski jump tower. Ski simulator and zip line will give you the experience of how it feels to be the ski jumper, and jump from 60 meters above the ground.

holmenkollen ski jump tower – photo by: helen agustine

holmenkollen ski jump structure – photo by: helen agustine

holmenkollen ski jump arena – photo by: helen agustine

Norway also famous by their expedition to the North Pole, starring with F. Nansen and Roald Amunsen who dedicated their life to explore the Arctic, farther north than everyone else. They built a legendary 39 meters long ship, called Fram. The ship is designed to survive the force of pressing ice, and now it remains in the Fram Museum as one of the best tourist attraction. You can go inside the ship, and feels like you are underneath the Northern Light with the lighting effect spotted up to the museum’s ceiling. It took a while to go here from the city centre, and you can go by bus or ferry.

fram museum – photo by: helen agustine

If you are architecture lover you can also see Renzo Piano’s waterfront building, Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern of Art, situated next to popular area for shopping, dining and entertainment, Aker Brygge. You can walk along this area in the evening and having your dinner with sea view in one of the fancy or local restaurant of Norway. I personally love Paleet for shopping and dining, with copper decoration and hips retails and restaurants to go.

astrup fearnley by renzo piano – photo by: helen agustine

olive restaurant, aker brygge – photo by: helen agustine

paleet restaurant – photo by: helen agustine

for more pictures check out : instagram.com/architravelust/