“Oslo is a small city where everyone knows one another,” says landscape architect and project leader for Levende Oslo (Lively Oslo), Yngvar Hegrenes. Norway’s capital city on the Olso fjord recently commissioned a Public Space-Public Life (PSPL) survey that took over two years to complete, despite the city’s compact size. Hegrenes is responsible for commissioning the survey, stating that Oslo was interested in taking a fresh look at their city center with input from knowledgeable outside sources — gehlcitiesforpeople.dk

Upon the recent conclusion of Norway's July 22 memorial site competition, Swedish artist Jonas Dahlberg was unanimously selected by the competition jury to be the designer.

Dahlberg's designs will become the two public-art memorials, each commemorating the 77 victims who tragically lost their lives in the Oslo bombing and Utøya massacre on July 22, 2011. — bustler.net

Norwegian firm Arkitektgruppen Cubus AS from Bergen won first prize for the Mo i Rana Waterfront competition.

The competition sought for solutions to link Mo i Rana in Northern Norway to the nearby fjord and railway -- both major transit systems that connect Mo i Rana to neighboring towns and the rest of the world. — bustler.net

Architects Jarrik Ouburg and Laura Alvarez sent us their "Hortus conclusus" scheme in the recently concluded E12 of the Europan Norway competition. This year's theme focused on the future development of three Oslo-region municipalities projected to grow within the next 25 years: Bærum, Asker, and Ås.

Alvarez's and Ouburg's collaborative entry won second prize in the Ås category. — bustler.net

Eight finalists were revealed for the international competition to design two memorial sites in the Norwegian Goverment Headquarters in Oslo as well as the island of Utøya. The public art memorial sites will commemorate the victims of the Oslo bombing and the Utøya massacre on July 22, 2011 — Norway's shocking day of terror when 77 people tragically lost their lives. — bustler.net

The fate of five Picasso murals on buildings damaged in the Anders Breivik bombing in Oslo in 2011 has led to a heated debate in Norway.

A panel of experts has recommended demolishing the buildings and removing the murals.

But art experts say that as the murals were designed by Picasso for those specific buildings, they should remain where they are.

The artworks were Picasso's first attempts at concrete murals. — bbc.co.uk

The new Cathedral of the Northern Lights, situated in the Norwegian town of Alta over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, has just been inaugurated by the Crown Princess of Norway, Mette-Marit. The 154-foot-high cathedral, designed by Link Arkitektur in collaboration with schmidt hammer lassen architects and Haldde Arkitekter Inc., is perceived as a symbol and an architectural landmark for the entire area. — bustler.net

The small city of Molde in Western Norway recently gained one more architectural attraction: the new cultural center, 'Plassen', designed by Danish 3XN. — bustler.net

Energetic duo Andreas G. Gjertsen and Yashar Hanstad, partners of TYIN tegnestue Architects from Norway live by Finnish architect and writer Juhani Pallasmaa’s saying, “Architecture is about the understanding of the world and turning it into a more meaningful and humane place.“ — nst.com.my

The Arch, a new cultural center in the small southern Norwegian town Mandal has officially opened to the public this April. Designed by Danish practice 3XN, construction had commenced in December 2009 and was completed in December 2011. — bustler.net

Copenhagen-based firm WE Architecture has shared with us their entry "Skyscape" to the open competition for a new church building in Våler, Norway. — bustler.net

Construction of the new Maritime Museum and Science Center started this week in Porsgrunn, Norway. The building, designed by Danish architecture offices COBE and TRANSFORM, conveys Norway’s transformation from a seafaring nation to a modern society based on knowledge industry. The project is expected to be completed already in fall of 2012. — bustler.net

Oslo-based Eriksen Skajaa Architects recently won the competition for new gateways to the Sjunkhatten National Park in the northern part of Norway with their proposal called SAIVU. The proposal was a collaboration with Pushak and Bjørbekk & Lindheim Landscape Architects. — bustler.net