Deichman Bjørvika — Attraction in Oslo

Good things:

Aesthetically appealing

Free

Good WIFI

Power outlets all over the place

Amazing walls made ENTIRELY of windows that let all the light in and provide a beautiful view of the harbour!

Comfortable high quality furniture in much of the library

Asymmetrical designs are less boring than rows of tables and shelves

Fun things to do (like shuffleboard) make a space where people can interact with each other rather than just reading (if you want quiet space to read do that at home or get headphones)

Play areas where children can play

Bad things:

Escalators aren't near each other so it's inefficient to go up and down the floors. I mean, it's an unusual "artsy" design but it's not efficient to actually take people up and down the building.

The BIGGEST mistake in the design is the lack of bathrooms. You have thousands of people here and only 3 bathrooms per floor. There is ALWAYS a line up.

The bathrooms are TINY. I mean about the size of a bathroom on an airplane. WHY would they do this?? You literally can't even move without your elbow setting off the hand dryer. MAJOR design oversight. "big" people probably could not even use the bathroom (good things most people here are thin)

Lack of TABLE space to do actual laptop work and reading

Noisy.... If you actually want a quiet space bring your headphones and earplugs

Rotating exit doors that probably use a lot of electricity, let extra cold air in and don't move people in and out as fast as a simple door would. They have these rotating doors all over Oslo and I'm not sure what the advantage is over a simple door. Plus half the time they're not even working.

Children's play area is much smaller than the demand. There is a long line up just for your children to play in a small play place.

No sign on the front that says "Biblioteka" or "library." I walked past this building for 2 weeks before I knew it was a library. I thought it was an office building. In Norway the word "Deichman" is used for library but it doesn't actually mean library?! It's the last name of some guy who supported libraries (or so I've been told). Very strange! They don't even put "Deichman" on the front. They even make it more mysterious by putting DE on the front of the building.

Emergency buttons and rope in the bathroom are not in English even though probably 1/3 of the people here don't speak Norwegian fluently.

Very loud announcements telling people to maintain 1 metre distance.

Elevator is small and usually filled...

𝗗𝗲𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻, is Norway's largest and oldest public library located in Bjørvika, founded in 1785. . It is a modern and dynamic library that contains not only Deichman's extensive book collections, but also a movie theatre, media workshops, gaming zones, lounges and a restaurant - among other things. . It all started with 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗹 𝗗𝗲𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻, a businessman, chancellor councilor and book collector living in Porsgrunn who had built up a collection of 6,000 books during his lifetime,and wanted the city's residents to have their first public library. . He also expressed his opinion about where the library should be located and how it should be run and 2000 riksariksdaler for the purchase of more books. A few months after he had written his will, Carl Deichman died.

On 𝟭𝟮 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟳𝟴𝟱, 𝗗𝗲𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗶𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗸𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗸 opened its doors to the public, adhering to his belief in knowledge and enlightenment. . Carl Deichman's original collection is still intact and is well preserved on the main library's 5th floor. . Today, Deichman has 22 libraries all over Oslo. The collection has grown to over a million books, films, CDs and other materials. (Info courtesy @deichmanbjorvika website) . Among many of its incredible features, my personal favourite is the colorful '𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗯𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂𝘅 , consisting of 10,000 letters spanning from third...

The library Deichman Bjørvika consists of several floors that are not only filled with shelves of books but also films, music CDs and audiobooks. In the basement, there is an open storehouse in which visitors can pick books on different topics by themselves. Higher floors include books divided by subjects such as books for children, youths, science books, books on history, newspapers and so on. Among bookshelves, are beautifully designed spaces in which children could play and relax, numerous tables and desks for work, closed areas to organise meetings and places to play board games (or huge chess) or even desks to work and mix music. On one of the floors is the Future Library. It is a place in which there are stored works that will be published a hundred years later. In the library is also a restaurant and a cosy café.

The Deichman Bjørvika is a wonderful place not only to work, and learn something new but also to meet people and relax. I was really impressed not only by the architecture and design of this building but also by the number and variety of books gathered there. I hope that in the near future, I will have the opportunity to spend...