OSLO.- Did you know that Norway was the first country in Europe to educate landscape architects? Have you ever considered that outdoor spaces such as gardens, parks, urban spaces, and cemeteries have all been designed and planned by someone? In 2019 it will be a hundred years since the landscape architect programme began at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. The centennial is being celebrated with the Outdoor Matters exhibition at the National Museum – Architecture. The exhibition runs from 8 February to 1 September 2019.

Landscape architecture involves designing and managing outdoor spaces, and the discipline is a vital part of building a green society. Using archival drawings from NMBU, the exhibition places particular emphasis on the pioneering age of landscape architecture from 1900 to 1960.

Five mail teams
The exhibition has been set up around five main themes: gardens, allotments, public parks, institutional parks, and graveyards. Major works that are being presented include the Campus Park in Ås, the Hydro Park in Oslo, the Theatre Park in Bergen, and Tjøtta International War Cemetery in Nordland.

Original drawings by the landscape architects
The exhibition shows original drawings by Olav L. Moen, Pål Sæland, Karen Reistad, Torborg Z. Frølich, Marius I. Røhne, Eyvind Strøm, and Morten Grindaker & Egil Gabrielsen.

The exhibition is both inside and outside the museum
The exhibition transcends the physical confines of the museum and extends both inside and outside the building. The Pavilion invites visitors to go on an expedition in the “landscape maze” and get to know the various pioneering projects and the era in which they were designed and built.

The entrance hall is inspired by a Japanese concept
In the entrance hall, visitors will wander through an installation inspired by the Japanese concept of komorebi, which refers to the lighting and shadow effects that are created when sunlight filters through trees and vegetation.

A sensory room is also part of the exhibition
The Vault, for its part, has been reimagined as a “sensory room” that evokes the ever-shifting lighting and sounds of landscapes. Outside of the pavilion there is a “stick forest” that will undergo a slow transformation of growth and blossoming during the exhibition.

The exhibition has been created by the National Museum in collaboration with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). The exhibition curator is Jenny B. Osuldsen, NMBU, and the project manager is Eva Madshus, the National Museum.