Oslo City Hall: Inside the Nobel Peace Prize venue

Oslo City Hall occupies a prominent waterfront plot and serves as the working seat of the city administration. Designed by Arnstein Arneberg and Magnus Poulsson, the building was completed after interruption during World War Two and opened in 1950. The building is recognizable for its twin towers, red brick exterior and a sequence of public rooms intended as expressions of postwar civic identity rather than private ornament. 

The interior concentration of figurative murals, reliefs and decorative arts documents Norwegian history, labour and maritime life in a direct, narrative style. The Main Hall is the building's most visible ceremonial space and has national visibility because it is used for the annual Nobel Peace Prize presentation. Because the City Hall remains an active municipal building some rooms are closed during official business and large public events, so check access on the day you plan to go. Photographers and anyone interested in 20th century Nordic public art will find the scale and density of the murals notable compared with other municipal halls in Norway.