Public Library and archive, City of Tromsø
The main library building is located in the Fokuskvartalet area in the centre of the city. The main street "Storgata" and the Cultural Centre are within 50 meters distance from the library which is also part of a complex containing the Town Hall and a cinema. The library collection is housed on four floors and a top gallery and shares the building with the City Archives. Because of its convenient situation and spectacular architecture, the library has become a natural meeting place for the local citizens, and a "must see" experience for tourists. The vision of the library is to be a model library in the region of northern Norway. In 2006 the library was declared the Best Service Enterprise in Tromsø, an award given on behalf of the citizens of Tromsø. In 2008 the library was nominated as one of three for the award of "Library of the Year" in Norway, while in 2009 a general poll voted the Tromsø Library the best public library of the year.
Authority and authority type
Tromsø kommuneTitle of library in local language
Tromsø bibliotek og byarkivYear of completion
2005Address
Grønnegt. 94, 9008 Tromsø
Category of library
Public LibrarySpecial features, internal
Artistic decoration in the library consist of following works:
Steel wire figures "Rangifer Tarandus Pegasus", main figure by Karl-Gustav Gjertsen
Painting on an old concrete wall: Tromsø 1957 – 1958, by Ulf Dreyer.
Woodcut plates, “på gjengrodde stier”, motif of Hamsun by Tor-Arne Moen
Portrait of Lars Berg, by Hans Ragnar Mathisen.
Wooden statue “Alberte”, a monument over writer Cora Sandel’s novel figure, by Gunn Harbitz.
Special features, external
The building is constructed under the original roof of the old Fokus Cinema, which was designed by the architect Gunnar Bøgeberg Haugen and rised in 1969. The extraordinary roof’s structure is based on the mexican architect Candela’s structures, usually named as Candela shell. Formed as four bowed arches it makes an hyperbolic paraboloid form.
Overall Cost
€ 0
