Denmark - clean, small, white, socialist, expensive, government controlled.
Sweden - clean, big brother of Scandinavia, white, expensive
Finland - cleanish, especially depressing in the winter, loved Helsinki - the city where heavy metal still lives, worth it for pilgrimage to Aalto sites if nothing else.
Iceland - bad new construction, cleanish, beautiful landscape but harsh, the most expensive of the lot. the icelandic can party like no other people I've seen, especially in the summer. Insane.
sweden is not as white as one might think...11% of its citizens are foreign-born, from what i remember reading. and certainly it is not as blonde as people might imagine. you pretty much have to go to finland for that.
if i remember correctly, the economies in scandinavia are pretty good right now. but specifically in sweden, there are a lot of people out of work and unless you speak fluent swedish you won't have much luck.
i think denmark is easier to work in from abroad, but architects aren't included in their visa scheme (in which skilled workers and professionals in high-demand occupations are given immigration priority). scandinavia has a lower combined population than texas. but while texas has only seven architecture schools...scandinavia has over a dozen. there are simply more architects per capita than over here in the US.
no idea about norway -- and not too long ago there was a job posting in reykjavik, wasn't there?
was just reading that oslo and london are the two most
expensive cities in the world...
i believe norway's economy is quite good...i think they're
one of the richest in europe in fact. they have oil and
all the natural resources one could need...their main reasons
for staying out of the e.u.
it's a socialist country- free healthcare and education (i believe
free education..not 100% on that)...but taxes are quite high.
especially on liquor. a beer is somewhere around $10 i believe
and i think it's more than that now...that was in 2001. most
seem to drink before going out.
If you go to Copenhagen, go immediatley to Christiania, it's an old hippie enclave from the '60's which has until recently been outside of gov't control. It is in the process of being overrun by cops now and may soon be forced back into Copenhagen proper. The land will be taken from the present residents who pay no taxes and have no actual ownership and developed top the hilt since it is on prime real estate. It is a perfect example of adhoc urban design and architecture that will soon be destroyed if the gov't has its way. Plus you might get smoked out by one of the local residents if there are no cops around - and you're into that kind of thing.
I recently visited a large corporate firm in Copenhagen. A partner in the firm is American and he had a few things to say contrasting the two architectural cultures. His, along with most other firms begin at a salary of about 50k, but nearly 50 percent of that goes to taxes. One usually works about 40 hours a week and is given a six week paid vacation. The work pace is very different in Denmark. As noted earlier, there is high competition for architects as there are only two schools in the area. American Architects/students seem to have a good reputation in this scandinavia though. I am not completely sure about the Visa/EU specifics. However, if you want to work for free check out JDS (former PLOT).
norway is a difficult nut to crack. the official word is that they'd like to diversify their workforce by adding foreigners with skills, however, in practice this doesn't appear to be the case as there are numerous reports of foreigners having difficulty finding jobs...even foreignors who speak fluent norwegian. you're best bet in oslo would probably be snohetta which at least has an american partner and a healthy body of international work.
puddles.
i tried to get a job with snohetta for that very purpose here in
new york...but they weren't really hiring because of how in
flux the world trade center project is going. i've heard that they
do look for foreigners with specialization...sadly architecture doesn't
seem to fall under that, however if you were leed certified or could
prove a specific interest in architecture that is not typically
represented then you may be allowed in. i spoke to a member
of a young firm over there who was american and he had originally
gotten in by saying he was an environmental architect..or had a
background in green building..something like that.
and that'd be rough orEqual... i swear when i walk around oslo..
every girl is my type.
I just came back from a 5 months exchange at the Copenhagen Royal Architecture School. From what I've heard it shouldn't be too hard to find a job in a Copenhagen architecture firm, since there's a lot of construction going on in C'hagen right know. I know that BIG (also former PLOT) is hiring at the moment, and they have a very international staff. You could also check out firms as 3XNielsen, Henning Larsens Tegnestue, JDS, Schmidt - Hammer - Lassen and Lundgaard & Tranberg, these are the more international offices. I'm not sure how hard it is to get a work-permit or visa.
As sad Copenhagen is bloody expensive, but I survived perfect on just a slim student income, plus the wages are incredible high, even for architects.
and damn those hot scandinavian women drive me crazy!
larslarson: nah, it shouldn't be too big a problem for a non-EU-member to work in Sweden. Not too strict regulations (according to my two canadian friends atleast).
Concidering we actually decrease in numbers almost every year I suppose we're happy for anyone that would be willing to move here, hehe.
The job vs unemployment situation has gone through a bit of a dark period (especially for us architects) but it's rapidly getting better now, and is estimated to continue to do so in the next couple of years atleast, and regarding the language barrier ochona mentioned I think it, as with many other things, depends on the situation.
Aug 12, 06 6:01 am ·
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working in scandinavia
what's it like? job options, salaery, living conditions, visa.
haven't worked there, but the living expenses are astronomical. i spent US$2000 in 10 days. on a budget!
Anywhere in Scandinavia in particular you're concidering, blogalot?
is it easy to get work in sweden aemkei?
or do you have to be a eu member?
i know that norway has fairly strict policies against foreigners...
but my mom is originally norwegian so maybe that would help?
also if i was third generation swede..would that help at all with
working in sweden?
thinking about coppenhagen, oslo and stockholm
thinking about coppenhagen, oslo and stockholm
Denmark - clean, small, white, socialist, expensive, government controlled.
Sweden - clean, big brother of Scandinavia, white, expensive
Finland - cleanish, especially depressing in the winter, loved Helsinki - the city where heavy metal still lives, worth it for pilgrimage to Aalto sites if nothing else.
Iceland - bad new construction, cleanish, beautiful landscape but harsh, the most expensive of the lot. the icelandic can party like no other people I've seen, especially in the summer. Insane.
sweden is not as white as one might think...11% of its citizens are foreign-born, from what i remember reading. and certainly it is not as blonde as people might imagine. you pretty much have to go to finland for that.
if i remember correctly, the economies in scandinavia are pretty good right now. but specifically in sweden, there are a lot of people out of work and unless you speak fluent swedish you won't have much luck.
i think denmark is easier to work in from abroad, but architects aren't included in their visa scheme (in which skilled workers and professionals in high-demand occupations are given immigration priority). scandinavia has a lower combined population than texas. but while texas has only seven architecture schools...scandinavia has over a dozen. there are simply more architects per capita than over here in the US.
no idea about norway -- and not too long ago there was a job posting in reykjavik, wasn't there?
was just reading that oslo and london are the two most
expensive cities in the world...
i believe norway's economy is quite good...i think they're
one of the richest in europe in fact. they have oil and
all the natural resources one could need...their main reasons
for staying out of the e.u.
it's a socialist country- free healthcare and education (i believe
free education..not 100% on that)...but taxes are quite high.
especially on liquor. a beer is somewhere around $10 i believe
and i think it's more than that now...that was in 2001. most
seem to drink before going out.
ja vet. ett öl i stockholm kostar SEK50, eller $6.67.
but if you work in dk/se/fi, you can always take the booze cruise to estonia
we should get those who are studying in the DIS program to comment on this one.
admiller? any insights on work opportunities in copenhagen?
If you go to Copenhagen, go immediatley to Christiania, it's an old hippie enclave from the '60's which has until recently been outside of gov't control. It is in the process of being overrun by cops now and may soon be forced back into Copenhagen proper. The land will be taken from the present residents who pay no taxes and have no actual ownership and developed top the hilt since it is on prime real estate. It is a perfect example of adhoc urban design and architecture that will soon be destroyed if the gov't has its way. Plus you might get smoked out by one of the local residents if there are no cops around - and you're into that kind of thing.
I recently visited a large corporate firm in Copenhagen. A partner in the firm is American and he had a few things to say contrasting the two architectural cultures. His, along with most other firms begin at a salary of about 50k, but nearly 50 percent of that goes to taxes. One usually works about 40 hours a week and is given a six week paid vacation. The work pace is very different in Denmark. As noted earlier, there is high competition for architects as there are only two schools in the area. American Architects/students seem to have a good reputation in this scandinavia though. I am not completely sure about the Visa/EU specifics. However, if you want to work for free check out JDS (former PLOT).
norway is a difficult nut to crack. the official word is that they'd like to diversify their workforce by adding foreigners with skills, however, in practice this doesn't appear to be the case as there are numerous reports of foreigners having difficulty finding jobs...even foreignors who speak fluent norwegian. you're best bet in oslo would probably be snohetta which at least has an american partner and a healthy body of international work.
I would also like to live and work in Norway eventually. If that means I'll need to marry a Norwegian girl first, well, then I'm willing to do that.
puddles.
i tried to get a job with snohetta for that very purpose here in
new york...but they weren't really hiring because of how in
flux the world trade center project is going. i've heard that they
do look for foreigners with specialization...sadly architecture doesn't
seem to fall under that, however if you were leed certified or could
prove a specific interest in architecture that is not typically
represented then you may be allowed in. i spoke to a member
of a young firm over there who was american and he had originally
gotten in by saying he was an environmental architect..or had a
background in green building..something like that.
and that'd be rough orEqual... i swear when i walk around oslo..
every girl is my type.
I just came back from a 5 months exchange at the Copenhagen Royal Architecture School. From what I've heard it shouldn't be too hard to find a job in a Copenhagen architecture firm, since there's a lot of construction going on in C'hagen right know. I know that BIG (also former PLOT) is hiring at the moment, and they have a very international staff. You could also check out firms as 3XNielsen, Henning Larsens Tegnestue, JDS, Schmidt - Hammer - Lassen and Lundgaard & Tranberg, these are the more international offices. I'm not sure how hard it is to get a work-permit or visa.
As sad Copenhagen is bloody expensive, but I survived perfect on just a slim student income, plus the wages are incredible high, even for architects.
and damn those hot scandinavian women drive me crazy!
larslarson: nah, it shouldn't be too big a problem for a non-EU-member to work in Sweden. Not too strict regulations (according to my two canadian friends atleast).
Concidering we actually decrease in numbers almost every year I suppose we're happy for anyone that would be willing to move here, hehe.
The job vs unemployment situation has gone through a bit of a dark period (especially for us architects) but it's rapidly getting better now, and is estimated to continue to do so in the next couple of years atleast, and regarding the language barrier ochona mentioned I think it, as with many other things, depends on the situation.
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