Historic Preservation of Vernacular Towns:
Spring 2019

Valle Proposal

Eksjö

Eksjö was yet another example of the different thoughts and approaches towards preservation that I came across on this trip. Eksjö is known in Sweden as one of the Tre Trästäder – three wooden towns. Eksjö and the other towns, Hjö and Nora, are among the best preserved wooden towns in Sweden and draws its…

Hjö

“Old should be preserved, but new should fit the context. New isn’t bad, it’s not a museum”

Stockholm

The ICOMOS-Sweden President Nils Ahlberg was kind enough to give me a tour of an area in east Södermalm that includes much of Stockholm’s remaining wooden houses and buildings. I have few pictures from this tour due to our quick pace, but Nils taught me an interesting lesson about reading building age from a facade.…

Mosjøen

Mosjøen: As we walked along the famous Sjøgata street, Hans Pedersen the town historian pointed out several buildings with stories to be told. A large trading house in the center or town that his grandfather built before falling into financial ruin had large display windows that were representative of the invention of large format glass,…

Levanger

Levanger #11 of #12 protected cultural environments in Norway. Riksantikvaren in 2008 sent a fax to temporarily preserve the city – “you can’t protect it yourselves, we need to do it for you” No ice – furthered development thought winter. Shopping center in 1980s and new highway brought people out of the city 70-80,000 years…

Trondheim

Bakklandet has specific protection under planning and building act. 1991. “Consideration zones” not historic districts. Byantikvar does “character areas”, other departments do environmental area. Using “area character” for guidelines, though hasn’t been tested in law. Area plan has a document with description of historic areas. Layer plan with historic districts does not. Politicians want to…

Lærdalsøyri

Lærdalsøri is listed as a heritage village, with 163 historic houses dating as early as the 1700s. It has been protected since the 1970s but it was also was one of three areas that the Norwegian government initiated a pilot program in for national-level town conservation, others being Gamle Stavanger and Kragerø. In all three,…

Bergen

Due to transportation issues, it was much more efficient for me to fly out of Bergen rather than take the train to my next stop, so I took advantage of getting to see this city again with a few of my “flex” days. Not to waste an opportunity, I set up a meeting with Kari…

Drøbak

Drøbak has the option to “let the politicians decide” which has led to corruption within projects. Developers and friends of politicians have projects go through and be approved easier.  The preservation plan submitted last year was denied by politicians and they ended up submitting their own plan instead that was riddled with holes and nonsensical.…

Stavanger

Local protection for game stavanger. Guidelines? Urban renewal plan passed in the 1930s-40s but only partially built, very little came to be. Einar Holden’s gamle Stavanger plan helped to preserve town in 1975. Constant battle to keep the historical significance relevant to the population. Town seems divided on building a modern city and keeping the…

Skudeneshavn

Meeting with Ane Alvestad, Kommuneantikvar for Karmøy. Preservation is very successful. Infrared fire detection from the shipping buildings, working on adding more from different directions. Funding started from a proactive mayor in the 1970s. He advocated for preservation and then gave all of his stock earnings to the town which was able to fund chimney…

Kristiansand

Arriving in Kristiansand, I had more to look forward to with several meetings planned with the city and county. I spent my first day taking in the city and viewing the fiskebrygga, a faux-historic development that attempted to present in a more modern way – however not by much. I had thought that new developments…

Risør

“Nothing is more important as the identity and livability of a place in bringing economic success” -Robert Salow Risør is about 45 minutes from Kragerø by car, but was about a three-hour journey by bus due to the holiday schedule. I arrived to find an extremely quiet town situated in a valley, bordered on either…

Kragerø

Kragerø is a coastal Norwegian town, popular as a vacation and holiday town for Oslo residents. While it experienced urban renewal like many American cities, by being a less affluent town, more traditional buildings remain today due to lack of funds in the 1970s and 80s for new structures. Of the buildings that were affected…

Travel Begins…!

I arrived in Oslo on Easter Sunday. One night here and then I am off to Kragerø first thing in the morning by bus. On an early morning run I happened to stumble on the Riksantikvaren building, a precursor to the rest of the trip possibly? The entire city is empty – it’s a ghost…

The Proposal

Research Interest: A survey of the current status and future trajectory of preservation in selected historic wooden towns will inform research on historic district development and heritage building preservation in a denser urban context, while providing insight into public perception of cultural heritage significance. INTRODUCTION: Significant elements of the history and development of Scandinavia and…