Art & Architecture of Ålesund

Guided walk with an architect.

Your tour starts at the pier and you will have a short walk with a professional architect. Signe Elvik Svoen, Conservator for the Art Nouveau center, will be your guide for today. This walking part is a chance for you to see and feel the city a bit, to listen to the stories of the guide explaining the heritage of Alesund. 

Ålesund has been given the name The City of Art Nouveau. This is not because it is the only city in Norway with a large number of Art Nouveau buildings, but rather because of the density of Art Nouveau buildings in the city center.

After the fire of 23 January, 1904, almost the entire city center lay in ruins. The fire happened at the time when new impulses arrived from Europe with architects and builders who had studied abroad. 

The rebuilding of Ålesund was a unique opportunity to develop a new and urban Norwegian architecture in stone and brick, inspired by the prevailing European trend, Art Nouveau. The result was not only a new style of architecture in Norway, but also what is most likely one of Europe’s most unique and uniform cityscapes in the Art Nouveau. 

Next you are invited into the bar at Apotekergate No. 5 – a quiet and private nook of an historic building where you can see the interior of how these buildings were constructed. Here you will continue to enjoy storytelling from your guide while you sip on a fresh mocktail inspired by the Art Nouveau theme. 

After refreshments, you will visit Jugendstilsenteret and KUBE, an art museum located in the old Swan Pharmacy from 1907 and is both a museum and a national center of Art Nouveau. Jugendstilsenteret offers insight into this style by means of authentic interiors and objects as well as temporary exhibitions. KUBE is the art museum in the county of Møre og Romsdal and is located in the former branch office building of Norges Bank (1906) in central Ålesund. 

Following the visit, you can walk back to the pier with your guide or remain in town to enjoy a local lunch on your own.