Debate, Flytårnet | Without culture, no city
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It requires a bit of imagination to see the potential in the area around the Flytårnet at Fornebu on a bitter morning in January.
The grey-white, worn hangars blend in with the snow- and ice-covered hill. The windows at the top of the tower are steel blue from cold and frost. In verkstedgaten, most of the galleries, studios and workshops are darkened. The bar and the museum are closed.
Behind the windows, it is nevertheless easy to sense that this is a place of activity and creativity.
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More light, according to the plan, it will be warmth and creativity. Not by tearing down, but by rehabilitating and developing.
A new, modern district is to grow around Flytårnet. Homes must come, felt by felt. Schools, sports facilities, health centers and more must be built on an area equivalent to 25 football pitches. The subway station will be an important hub.
In the middle of this, the old buildings around the Flytårnet must remain. The hangars as well. As the artist Heidi J. Kirkeby says: – A nice contrast to all the new things that are to be built.
The flight tower today
- Many players rent in the area. TV studio, radio studio, workshops, galleries, vintage and retro furniture store, three museums and approximately 100 performing artists.
- In one of the two hangars is Norway’s largest TV studio, where Stjernekamp, Idol, The Voice and, most recently, Skal vi danse, among others, are played. In the area you will also find the Caravelle café.
- The property consists of approximately 11,000 square meters of rental space spread over six buildings. Here you will find the original departure terminal from 1939, to the old aircraft tower, a large aircraft hangar of approximately 5,000 square meters and many old workshop rooms built in brick.
- Flytårnet Fornebu AS was founded in 2014 with Obos Fornebu AS as the parent company. Bærum municipality took over all shares in the limited company on 1 September 2020 for a purchase price of DKK 100 million + net liquid funds in the company.
- The company is 100 percent owned by Bærum municipality. The company has its activity and its office in Bærum municipality.
The plans for the district are ambitious. Culture is intended for a central place. Not just in the current Verkstedgaten, but through cultural centers and concert arenas in company with serving places and outdoor areas.
The inspiration for the area must be taken from hip areas in London, Copenhagen and Oslo. The vision is for Flytårnet to become a center of gravity for creative business development. Not just in Norway, but in the Nordics.
It is a vision that is warmer, but also costs.
When 1 billion kroner can cost to develop the cultural centre. A formidable sum which will almost certainly encounter several financial bumps in the runway before final completion, which could happen in 2035.
It is a vision that is warmer, but also costs.
Such a big one investment also says something about the power of what is to come, and that culture must have an absolutely central place for Fornebu to be successful.
It can hardly be the intention that those who want to go to a concert must be dependent on the Fornebubanen inn to Oslo to experience this. So – without culture, no city.
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To get to this is Anne Beate Hovind brought in as chairman of Flytårnet AS. With a background from, among other places, Bjørvika, she, together with general manager Øyvind Brandt, must ensure that the area around the Flytårnet develops in line with the vision, while continuing with today’s activities.
Hovind assures that it is possible to achieve both.
A cultural center around Flytårnet is suggested to be completed in 2035. In other words, it is a long race that has begun, but planning is in full swing. This provides room for a lively discussion about the future of Fornebu.