https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4671-6410
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ABSTRACT
This article investigates the growing recognition of cultural heritage as a contentious human rights issue. After the bombing of the Norwegian government buildings in Oslo on 22 July 2011, the YBlock, emerged as a cultural heritage object of high symbolic value. The government's megaproject of constructing a new government complex was contested due to its impact on the human right to public space and human rights in public space. Following a lengthy civil society and legal mobilisation campaign to save the Y-Block, it was demolished in 2020. By unpacking three legal arguments put forward to preserve the building, this article contributes to the sociolegal study of legal mobilisation in the Nordic countries and casts light on disputes over cultural heritage, the right to culture, and reconstruction after urban terror. These arguments included the suggestion that a cultural heritage protection process, which had been (illegitimately) halted by the attack, had never formally ended; reference to international human rights norms and transnational policy support; and contestations over process legitimacy, where early ‘hidden' political decisions precluded the YBlock’s preservation. The article concludes that the struggle for the Y-Block was an iconic democratic exercise that reinforced cultural heritage as a collective human rights issue.
Notes
1 This article is an output of ‘LAW22JULY: RIPPLES: Rights, Institutions, Procedures, Participation, Litigation: Embedding Security', funded by the Research Council of Norway (SAMRISK). No personal data was collected for the article, but the project as such has clearance from the Norwegian NSD. The article draws on insights from a Norwegian-language chapter written for the National Trust of Norway. See Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘En ikonisk men feilslått mobilisering: på tide å løfte blikket’ Fortidsminneforeningen [2023]. I am grateful to Rikke Stjernstrøm for her valuable assistance and to the academics, bureaucrats, legal experts, survivors, politicians, Y-Block activists, and heritage advocates who have shared their insights, some of whom also read and commented on the Norwegian language draft for ‘En ikonisk men feilslått mobilisering: på tide å løfte blikket' in 2021. All omissions and mistakes are my own.
2 Gösta Esping-Andersen, The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism (Princeton University Press 1990).
3 Joar Skrede and Sveinung Krokann Berg, ‘Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development: The Case of Urban Densification’ (2019) 10(1) The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice 83.
4 Torgrim Sneve Guttormsen and Grete Swensen, Heritage, Democracy, and the Public: Nordic Approaches (Routledge 2016).
5 Report of the Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. A/74/255: Report on the importance of public spaces for the exercise of cultural rights. 2019. <www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a74255-report-importance-public-spaces-exercise-cultural-rightst> accessed 31 May 2023.
6 Elsewhere, I have mapped Nordic approaches to (urban) cultural heritage litigation: while there is a discernible trend towards juridification, scholarship has so far been limited. See Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘Byrom og bevaring i Oslo: En kulturminnerettssosiologisk tilnærming’ (forthcoming 2023) Nordic Journal of Urban Studies.
7 Statsbygg (2012) Særtrykk av verneforslaga i samband med lvp FAD for Departementskontorene <www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/fad/vedlegg/bst/verneplan_dep.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023, p 5.
8 Sveinung Krokann Berg, ‘Heritage Value Revisited After 22 July 2011: The Norwegian Government Block as an Expression of Public Values and a National Symbol’ in Heritage, Democracy and the Public-Nordic Approaches (Routledge 2016).
9 Kjetil Jakobsen, ‘Høyblokka: saklighetens drømmeliv’ Kunstkritikk (6 January 2014). <https://kunstkritikk.no/hoyblokka-saklighetens-drommeliv/> accessed 31 May 2023.
10 Ellen de Vibe, public meeting in January 2020 at Kulturhuset, hosted by the Klassekampen newspaper.
11 Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen, ‘Sosialdemokratiets Katedral’ Klassekampen (Oslo,16 January 2020) <https://klassekampen.no/utgave/2020-01-16/sosialdemokratiets-katedral> accessed 31 May 2023.
12 It must be noted that this focus on the legal process is reductive in the sense that human rights arguments were also made by non-legal actors as part of the social movement mobilisation for the Y-Bloc. For a parallel post-22 July litigation example, see Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘Transitional Justice in Post-Terror Contexts: The Norwegian 22 July Memorial and the Ambiguity of Litigation’ (forthcoming, 2023) The International Journal of Transitional Justice.
13 Mattias Ekman, ‘The Dispute over Memory in the Government Quarter after 22 July' (2013) (Paper for the workshop 22 July and the Negotiation of Memory Organised by Tor E Fagerland and Thomas Brandt (NTNU) in Oslo and on Utøya, 12–14 August 2013); Vibecke Yrstad and John Schofield, ‘Remembering Høyblokka: The Government Building in Oslo, Norway – Confronting a Contemporary Heritage Dilemma’ (2015) 6(1) The Historic Environment: Policy & Practice 58; Charlotte Heath-Kelly, ‘Picasso at the Bombsite: Whither Resilient Place?’ (2015) 35(1) Politics 72.
14 Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, Ingunn Ikdahl and Kjersti Lohne, ‘Rettens rolle etter 22. juli: Minnearbeid, overlevende og gjenoppbygging’ (2021) 5(3) Norsk Sosiologisk Tidsskrift 28.
15 Alois Riegl, Der Moderne Denkmalkultus: Sein Wesen und seine Entstehung (W Braumüller 1903). Republished in Alois Riegl, Karl M Swoboda and H Sedlmayr (eds), Gesammelte Aufsätze (Filser 1929). Translated by Kurt W Forster and Diane Ghirardo as ‘The Modern Cult of Monuments: Its Character and Its Origin’ (1982) 25 Oppositions.
16 The parties advanced other arguments on the security-cultural heritage trade-off, environmental considerations, etc, but my focus centres on cultural heritage.
17 URL: https://yblokka.no/.
18 As noted above I shared a more extensive Norwegian-language version of the paper with interviewees in 2021. The quotes and insights used in this article are translated from that draft.
19 Maria T Pettrém, ‘Ny totalpris for Regjeringskvartalet: Opptil 49,2 milliarder kroner’ Aftenposten (Oslo, 6 October 2022) <www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/kE6PKA/ny-totalpris-for-regjeringskvartalet-opptil-492-milliarder-kroner> accessed 31 May 2023.
20 Statsbygg (n.d.g) ‘Nytt Regjeringskvartal’ Statsbygg (n.d.g.). <www.statsbygg.no/prosjekter-og-eiendommer/nytt-regjeringskvartal> accessed 31 May 2023.
21 Susan S Fainstein, ‘Mega-projects in New York, London and Amsterdam’ (2008) 32(4) International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 768.
22 Onesimo Flores Dewey and Diane E Davis, ‘Planning, Politics, and Urban Mega-Projects In Developmental Context: Lessons from Mexico City’s Airport Controversy’ (2013) 35(5) Journal of Urban affairs 531; Loraine Kennedy, ‘The Politics and Changing Paradigm of Megaproject Development in Metropolitan Cities’ (2015) 45 Habitat International 163.
23 Peter Marcuse, ‘Security or Safety in Cities? The Threat of Terrorism after 9/11’ (2006) 30(4) International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 919; Jon Coaffee, Terrorism, Risk and the City: The Making of a Contemporary Urban Landscape (Routledge 2017).
24 GA Res.55/243 on the Destruction of Relics and Monuments in Afghanistan, 9 March 2001, UN Doc.A/RES/55/243. TPP2, 4.
25 UNESCO, (17 October 2003). ‘Declaration Concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage,’ General Conference of UNESCO, Paris. <www.unesco.org/en/legal-affairs/unesco-declaration-concerning-intentional-destruction-cultural-heritage>, accessed 31 May 2023.
26 GA Res.69.281 on Saving the Cultural Heritage of Iraq, 28 May 2015, UN Doc.A/RES/69/281<www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Issues/CulturalRights/DestructionHeritage/NGOS/A.P.Vrdoljak_text1.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
27 International Criminal Court, ‘Policy on Cultural Heritage’ (Haag, July 2021) <www.icc-cpi.int/sites/default/files/itemsDocuments/20210614-otp-policy-cultural-heritage-eng.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
28 Claire Smith and others, ‘The Islamic State’s Symbolic War: Da'esh's Socially Mediated Terrorism as a Threat to Cultural Heritage’ (2016) 16(2) Journal of Social Archaeology 164; Alessandro Niglia and Letizia Torretta, ‘Preventing Terroristic Attacks Against Cultural Heritage as Part of a Critical Infrastructure Protection Strategy’ in Alessandro Niglia, Amer Al Sabaileh and Amani Hammad (eds), Countering Terrorism, Preventing Radicalization and Protecting Cultural Heritage (IOS Press 2017); Caroline A Sandes, ‘Urban Cultural Heritage and Armed Conflict: The Case of Beirut Central District’ in Joris Kila and James Zeidler (eds), Cultural Heritage in the Crosshairs (Brill 2013); Sultan Barakat, ‘Postwar Reconstruction and the Recovery of Cultural Heritage: Critical Lessons from the Last Fifteen Years’(2007) (1) Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery 26; Sabine von Schorlemer, ‘Fighting Terrorist Attacks Against World Heritage: An Integrated Approach’ in Marie-Theres and others (eds), 50 Years World Heritage Convention: Shared Responsibility – Conflict & Reconciliation (Heritage Studies, Springer 2022).
29 Luisa Sotomayor, Sergio Montero and Natalia Ángel-Cabo, ‘Mobilizing Legal Expertise in and against Cities: Urban Planning Amidst Increased Legal Action in Bogotá’ (2023) 44 (3) Urban Geography 447.
30 Emilio Lehoucq and Whitney Taylor, ‘Conceptualizing Legal Mobilization: How Should We Understand the Deployment of Legal Strategies?’ (2020) 45(1) Law & Social Inquiry 166.
31 Lisa Vanhala, Legal Mobilization (Oxford Bibliographies Online 2011). <http://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199756223-0031>.
32 Robert D Benford and David A Snow, ‘Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment’ (2000) 26 (1) Annual Review of Sociology 611.
33 Doug McAdam and Sidney Tarrow, ‘The Political Context of Social Movements,' in eds. David A. Snow, Sarah A. Soule, Hanspeter Kriesi and Holly J. McCammon, The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Social Movements (Malden, MA: Wiley, 2018),17–42. For a view of legal mobilisation in violent contexts see Julieta Lemaitre and Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘Shifting Frames, Vanishing Resources, and Dangerous Political Opportunities: Legal Mobilization Among Displaced Women in Colombia’ (2015) 49(1) Law & Society Review 5.
34 Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘Humanitarians in Court: How Duty of Care Travelled from Human Resources to Legal Liability’ (2018) 5(3) The Journal of Legal Pluralism and Unofficial Law 358; Kaja Borchgrevink and Kristin Bergtora Sandvik, ‘The Afterlife of Buzzwords: The Journey of Rights-Based Approaches through the Humanitarian Sector’ (2022) 26(2) The International Journal of Human Rights 285.
35 Mara Nogueira, ‘Preserving the (Right Kind Of) City: The Urban Politics of the Middle Classes in Belo Horizonte, Brazil’ (2020) 57(10) Urban Studies 2163.
36 Ryan Centner, ‘Microcitizenships: Fractious Forms of Urban Belonging after Argentine Neoliberalism’ (2012) 36(2) International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 336; Ryan Centner, ‘Distinguishing the Right Kind of City: Contentious Urban Middle Classes in Argentina, Brazil and Turkey’ in Tony Samara, Shenjing He and Guo Chen (eds), Locating Right to the City in the Global South (Routledge 2013).
37 Espen Alnes, ‘Departementet avviser krav om gransking av regjeringskvartalet’ Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (Oslo, 7 November 2017) <www.nrk.no/kultur/departementet-avviser-krav-om-gransking-av-regjeringskvartalet-1.13768437> accessed 31 May 2023.
38 Bente R Gravklev ‘Bør ta mer hensyn til aktivt byliv’ Dagsavisen (Oslo, 13 March 2015) <www.dagsavisen.no/kultur/2015/03/17/bor-ta-mer-hensyn-til-aktivt-byliv/> accessed 31 May 2023.
39 Johanne E Gillow and others, ‘Landets byantikvarer: Vi slår ring om Y-blokken!’ Aftenposten (Oslo, 13 September 2018) <www.aftenposten.no/meninger/debatt/i/7lOm0v/landets-byantikvarer-vi-slaar-ring-om-y-blokken> accessed 31 May 2023.
40 Knut Bjørnheim, ‘Plan- og bygningsetaten i Oslo har gitt tillatelse til rivingen av Y-blokka – mot sin vilje’ Teknisk ukeblad (Oslo, 16 December 2019) <www.tu.no/artikler/plan-og-bygningsetaten-i-oslo-har-gitt-tillatelse-til-rivingen-av-y-blokka-mot-sin-vilje-br/481243> accessed 31 May 2023.
41 Ibid.
42 Riksantikvaren, ‘Riksantikvaren kan ikke frede Y-blokka’ Riksantikvaren (12 March 2020) <www.riksantikvaren.no/siste-nytt/pressemeldinger/riksantikvaren-kan-ikke-frede-y-blokka/> accessed 31 May 2023.
43 Sivilombudet ‘Rammetillatelse for riving av Y-blokka’ 2020/280 <www.sivilombudet.no/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Brev-om-Y-blokka-sak-2020-280.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
44 Arve Henriksen, ‘Enkeltperson blar opp for å redde Y-blokken’ Aftenposten (Oslo, 15 February 2020) <www.aftenposten.no/oslo/i/6j0qqQ/enkeltperson-blar-opp-for-aa-redde-y-blokken> accessed 31 May 2023.
45 -20-041571TVI-OTIR/04 (2020) Kjennelse Oslo Tingrett. Ugyldighet av statlig reguleringsplan og rammetillatelse for rivning av Y-blokka. Midlertidig forføyning. Oslo Tingrett. <https://fortidsminneforeningen.no/media/gvtbxvac/kjennelse_i_sivil_sak.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
46 Stortinget, Representantforslag om utsettelse av riving av Y-blokka til Oslo tingrett har behandlet saken Stortinget. (Representantforslag 106 S 2019–2020) <www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Publikasjoner/Representantforslag/2019-2020/dok8-201920-106s/> accessed 31 May 2023.
47 FAD letter of 04 June 2012, ref 05/3114.
48 Lov om kulturminner [Kulturminneloven]: <https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1978-06-09-50>.
49 Kgl.Res. (2006) Overordna føresegner om forvaltning av statlege kulturhistoriske eigedomar. Fornyings- og administrasjonsdepartementet. <www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/fad/vedlegg/statsforvaltning/kglres_kulturhistoriske_eiendommer.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023; FAD (2019) Forvaltning av statens kulturhistoriske eigedommar. Fornyings- og adminstrasjonsdepartementet. <www.riksantikvaren.no/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/forvaltning_ske.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
50 Bastholm og Elvestuen 2020: Skriftlig spørsmål fra Une Bastholm (MDG) til klima- og miljøministeren. Dokument nr. 15:424 (2019-2020) Elvestuen tilsvar <www.stortinget.no/no/Saker-og-publikasjoner/Sporsmal/Skriftlige-sporsmal-og-svar/Skriftlig-sporsmal/?qid=78001> accessed 31 May 2023.
51 Statsbygg, ‘Regjeringskvartalet: Føringer for videre arbeid’ Statsbygg (2011) <www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/fad/vedlegg/rkv/rkv_statsbygg_rapport.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
52 Marte S Danbolt, ‘Y-blokken–fragmenter av et monument: debatten om Y-blokken’ (MS thesis, Arkitektur og designhøgskolen i Oslo 2020).
53 Statsbygg, ‘Regjeringskvartalet: Føringer for videre arbeid’ (n 51).
54 20-041571TVI-OTIR/04 (n 45).
55 P. 3/4 «I rom- og funksjonsprogrammet, godkjent i departementets brev av 10. mars 2017.
56 Fylkesmannen i Oslo og Viken, Vedtak i klagesak - Akersgata 44 – Gnr. 208 bnr. 5 Oslo – Igangsettingstillatelse riving av Y-blokka 21 June 2020 2020/4626.
57 KMDs omgjøringsvurdering 19 December 2019 (appendix 21).
58 Oslo, 20 March 2020 2020-0288 AHJ/AHJ.
59 Fortidsminneforeningen. Y-blokka – input submission to reguleringsforslag til behandling i Oslo bystyre 19 October 2016.
60 Rammetillatelse til riving av Y-blokka, side 22, Plan- og bygningsetatens konklusjon 05 July 2019.
61 Regjeringskvartalet, Akersgata 44, gnr. 208, bnr. 5, Oslo. 2020/4626, Sak 201818270 - Klage på vedtak om rammetillatelse for riving av Y-blokka. 20 February 2020. See also letters from Nils Herland (4 January 2020); Caroline Hatlen Støvring (6 January 2020), Sitteaksjon for Y v/Maria D. Zachariassen (6 January 2020) and the law firm Lynx on behalf of various organisations (6 January 2020 and 7 January 2020).
62 Stevning og begjæring om midlertidig forføyning til Oslo tingrett. Oslo, 12 March 2020.
63 The Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (2005).
64 International Council on Monuments and Sites Norway, ‘INTERNATIONAL ALERT: Threat of demolition of the Y- block of the Government Quarter in Oslo, Norway, damaged in the bombing of 22 July 2011’ (Oslo, 28 September 2016) <www.icomos.no/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/FINAL-International-Heritage-Alert-Government-Buildings-Oslo-ICOMSO-ISC20C-August-2016-3.docx-Go.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
65 This somewhat nonidiomatic quote is a direct translation. The Norwegian language text reads as follows: ‘Det kan ikke utelukkes at bygningen har en global verdi som “outstanding universal value” og tilhører “international cultural heritage”’: Stevning og begjæring om midlertidig forføyning til Oslo tingrett. Oslo, 12 March 2020, p 16.
66 Attorney General, Oslo, 20 March 2020 2020-0288 AHJ/AHJ.
67 20-041571TVI-OTIR/04 (n 45).
68 Fortidsminneforeningen, ‘Anker ikke, med oppfordrer til rivestans’ Fortidsminneforeningen (Oslo, 13 May 2020) <https://fortidsminneforeningen.no/aktuelt/y-blokka-og-rettsprosessen/> accessed 31 May 2023.
69 Meld. St. 21 (2018–2019) Nytt regjeringskvartal. Kommunal- og moderniseringsdepartementet p.3. https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/meld.-st.-21-20182019/id2641647/?ch=2 accessed 21 June 2023.
70 Regjeringen 2017, p 18.
71 Meld. St. 21 (2018–2019).
72 Attorney General, Oslo, 20 March 2020 2020-0288 AHJ/AHJ.
73 Interview with Caroline Støvring, on file with author.
74 Interviews with Ellen De Vibe, on file with author.
75 Statsbygg, ‘Regjeringskvartalet: Føringer for videre arbeid’ Statsbygg (2011). <www.regjeringen.no/globalassets/upload/fad/vedlegg/rkv/rkv_statsbygg_rapport.pdf> accessed 31 May 2023.
76 Attorney General, Oslo, 20.03.2020 2020-0288 AHJ/AHJ.
77 Interview with name withheld (1), on file with author.
78 Interview with Siri Hoem, on file with author.
79 Ibid.
80 Interview with name withheld (2), on file with author.
81 Danbolt (n 52).
82 Gaute Brochman, ‘Vår kanskje minst elskede arkitektoniske stilart er inne i varmen’ Morgenbladet (Oslo, 11 November 2022) <www.morgenbladet.no/kultur/arkitektur/2022/11/11/var-kanskje-minst-elskede-arkitektoniske-stilart-er-inne-i-varmen/> accessed 31 May 2023.