WORDS: CAT OLLEY PICTURES: GETTY IMAGES.EYEEM, IVAR KVAAL, EINAR ASLAKSEN, KYLE MEYR, INGER MARIE GRINI, FRANCISCO NOGUEIRA
copper piping at vintage-inspired bar Himkok, the recent winner
of the World’s Best Sustainable Bar award, thanks to its links with
local farms and the on-site distillery (himkok.no).ARTS & CULTURE With the city’s Green Capital
title comes a programme of eco exhibitions. Visit ‘Be Prepared’,
a thought-provoking exhibition on weather and climate change
housed at the museum beneath the world’s oldest ski jump,
Holmenkollbakken (skiforeningen.no/holmenkollen). Get your
bearings atop another of the city’s heights – the sloped roof of the
Snøhetta-designed Opera House, which offers panoramic views of
the Oslo fjord (operaen.no). From there, head to Astrup Fearnley
Museet. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, it exhibits works by
the likes of Andy Warhol and Francis Bacon (afmuseet.no). For
your green fix, explore Frogner Park and its 212 Gustav Vigeland
sculptures, highlighted this year by an exhibition celebrating 150
years since the artist’s birth. You can find more of his work indoors
at the Vigeland Museum (vigeland.museum.no).SHOP Oslo is a fantastic place to track down sustainable
secondhand buys. Scandinavian design is championed at lighting
and mid-century furniture specialists Futura Classics, but you’ll
also find pieces from further afield (futuraclassics.no). Continue
your hunt at Utopia Retro Modern, whose quirky showroom is
full of hand-picked homeware, art and collector-baiting rarities
(utopiaretromodern.com). Flying the flag for contemporary
Nordic design is cool curated store Kollekted By. Its concrete-clad
home in the lively Grünerløkka district is as minimalist as the
furniture, ceramics and skincare on offer (kollektedby.no).ESCAPE THE CITY Before making a break for
the surrounding countryside, discover the Vøyenfallene waterfall
that sits, surprisingly, right at the city’s centre. Head just beyond
Oslo’s boundaries and you’ll find the forest-fringed Sognsvann
lake. It’s frozen over in winter but busy with hikers and picnickers
during summer. An hour’s drive north west is Kistefos Museum,
an eccentric fusion of sculpture park, art gallery and industrial
mill. From September, visitors can enjoy Danish architect Bjarke
Ingels’ hotly anticipated indoor gallery space/bridge, which twists
impressively across the river (kistefos.museum.no).To discover more design-
savvy destinations, get your
copy of ELLE Decoration City,
the style bible for urban explorers- buy it online now from
hearstmagazines.co.uk/ed-city
Norda at Clarion Hotel The Hub Futura ClassicsThe Vigeland MuseumAstrup Fearnley MuseetThe Grand Oslo hotel