TILLIT

As part of a large Oslo city development project, Studio Ramberg has reimagined Økern as a place for artistic expression, aiming to address the lack of trust and cultural stagnation characterizing Oslo’s East End. TILLIT is a reminder to look up, think creatively, and foster inclusivity in developing future cities.

The iconic 20-stories-high building «Økernsenteret», which in 1969 was Norway’s tallest building, is located in the heart of Oslo’s working-class East End. The architects Håkon Mjelva and Per Norseng were inspired by the Seagram Building on Manhattan by Mies van der Rohe, covered with dark glass and rhythmic structures. In the 1990s, Økernsenteret soon became outdated, and since 2005 it has been abandoned. Sadly, in the process of awaiting its demolition over 20 years, it became a dystopic symbol of urban entropy and social dumping.

Private developers planned to replace it with a mega mall but changed their minds last minute. Since Oslo is Europe’s fastest-growing city, the neighborhoods on the East End will instead be reinvented and developed as urban living areas with a focus on blue/green qualities. Oslo Municipality and KORO (Art in Public Space) partnered with these private city developers and arranged a groundbreaking competition for international artists to engage in a unique experimental city development project.

Studio Ramberg established an urban laboratory for artistic research inside the empty abandoned building. The laboratory, named WUNDERBAR (German for “wonderful”), became an interventional project insisting on creating wonders where everyone else had given up. It is a studio, a meeting place, an urban generator, and a social place emphasizing the importance of building trust—literally from the bottom up. On Friday nights it transformed into WUNDER-BAR, a social club and bar where bureaucrats, developers, artists, and politicians could informally meet, have drinks, and get a load of German techno and Riesling. Økern became “Little Berlin.”

As a result of the process, Studio Ramberg installed 298 LED light panels on both sides of the building. Each window worked as a pixel, and together they shaped the Norwegian palindrome “TILLIT” (TRUST). The project was soon picked up by media in more than 60 countries and discussed on several social-media platforms. On March 1st, Studio Ramberg was invited to present a model of it in Galerie Architecture in Paris as part of a large exhibition on European city development.