FANTASTIC SUBURBAN LIFE IN NORWAY
Recently the circumstances forced me to move into the suburbs of a small Norwegian city.
That perspective not only made me unhappy, it scared mi.
My imagination of suburb was of the worse – perfectly cut grass in the backyard where the children areplaying peacefully, guarded by high hedge, neighbors only visible through the wind screen on their way from work or heading to the supermarket. All the people hiding in the fortresses of their houses – that’s what I thought.
When I saw the rows of identical white houses perfectly isolated from civilization on an island ruled by cars, I thought – Goodbye fantastic urban life. Welcome the suburb dullness.
And the Norwegian suburb surprised me a lot.
The first impression was rather unpleasant. My newly rented house is situated in a recently constructed part of the estate/district, Therefore, all I could see from my porch was cars, gravel and carton boards.
I wasn’t expecting to find here a scenery for a neighborhood life. And I have.
I went for a walk on a rainy Saturday evening.
As I advanced in the parts of the distric already inhabited for some time, I discovered that the houses, identical at the first glance, weren´t looking the same at all.
Every balcony, doesn’t matter the size, equipped with the loungers and every piece of hard surface is occupied with chairs and tables. So everything almost spills out onto the street, not stopped by the boundaries of fences or hedges. As the outside space becomes a direct extension of the house it gets adorned, like every other room. People hang bas-relieves, plant flowers and put out the sculptures decorating the common space of the street.
I don´t know if it’s a conscious conduct, norwegian habit or the natural tendency to adjust to the surrounding environment, but everybody does it. Doesn´t matter the reason. It works very well. Also in my street, still under construction, first flowers and sculptures appeared, standing proudly among pallets and cardboard boxes.
This cozy streets seem to be a perfect place for kids to play. To the extend that it resembles a playroom, with toys scattered at every step, bicycles propped oparty against the wall of almost every house and hop-stotchs on the pavement. The signs remind to keep the speed low because of the children playing in the street. But it seems that the cars co-exist perfectly with kids and vice-versa.
The back gardens don´t form enclosed spaces but open to the bigger common – semi-public rooms, connected to the streets. Today it’s a national holiday and all the neighbours went out to work in their gardens. I can see them from my balcony and would eagerly join if the fever wasn´t containing me at home. The life flows smoothly from the living room to the balcony, through the garden and then onto the street.
Everything achieved with the very simple architectural and urbanistic solutions. The entrances and balconies giving onto the street. The front gardens that bring the activities towards the street instead of hiding it behind the house. The physical and visual connectivity, the transparency of urban order.
It seems perfectly possible that the great urban value is created with the very typical, standardized architecture. Maybe it is just that simple to create a good neighborhood. With a little bit of consciousness and good will.
