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Skådalen School, Oslo. 1969-1975

In 2009, Ivan Brodey (photo) and Neven Fuchs-Mikac (text) initiated a project to document Skådalen School by Sverre Fehn, before it deteriorates or disappears.

By Ivan Brodey
Published 05 Nov, 2009
 
Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. View from the approach. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. View from the approach. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. Observation wing to the left, view towards the approach. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. The dormitories are located on the slope above the teaching- and activity buildings. Entrance is on the upper level, giving an overview of the common room. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. Central stairwell in the observation wing. Visual overview was important to aid the deaf childrens‘ orientation. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. Kitchen in the children´s dormitory seen from the stairwell. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975 Internal courtyard of the upper dormitory building. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. From the common room in the teenager´s dormitory. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975.The pre-school. Facade of the staircase. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Skådalen School, Oslo, by Sverre Fehn. 1969-1975. Entrance to the activities building. Photo: Ivan Brodey

Architect: Sverre Fehn

Skådalen School was completed in 1975. It comprised dormitories, preschool, elementary and secondary school, administration and sports hall. “The scattered plan is a strategy that allows the residents to walk from their “homes” to school,” says Fehn in his text in Byggekunst no. 6-1978.

The architecture replaces the reverberation of sound with visual orientation. The buildings are as spatially open as possible, and they are designed for children: “The architect has to recognise your physical size,” Fehn continues. “You cannot accept a point of view that says the structure has to stand and wait, expecting you to grow and reach twenty-one years of age before you fit into the world. … No pedagogy can reach the child if the architecture does not recognise the child’s dimensions.”

Read Neven Fuchs-Mikac' text about Skådalen School by Sverre Fehn.