On Nordic Day, 23 March, the Nordic Place opens in Larvik’s inner harbour. The new public space is located right on the water’s edge and invites visitors to sit down, literally, and gaze out over the sea.
Read this article in Norwegian on Arbeidsliv i Norden
The characteristic outdoor furniture follows the shape of the waves and symbolises a shared Nordic reference: the ocean.
The furniture is made by IVekst, an inclusive workplace owned by Larvik municipality. The company provides permanent adapted employment and training programmes for people who have fallen outside the ordinary labour market.
Today, it has around 150 employees, 108 of whom are in supported employment.
Erik Aasheim works at IVekst.
“We were involved from an early stage with sketches and developing ideas, and it has been fun to create something that is a bit different from what we usually do.”
At the workshop, the work has been adapted to the workers’ different abilities.
“We have to make things straight-forward and break down tasks so that everyone can participate based on what they can manage,” says Aasheim.
“We also hope that this can be the beginning of more similar commissions. Now that we have developed a model, it is possible to produce more.”
A Nordic meeting place
The initiative for the Nordic Place came from Foreningen Norden Larvik. Chair Rune Høiseth says that the project has been in development for some years.
“We wanted to create a place that both makes the city nicer and can be enjoyed by all,” he says.
“It has also been important to us to highlight the Nordic community, not least in the times we’re living in with unrest and uncertainty.”
This is how Nordic Day is celebrated around the region
Together with board member Anette Wildenvey and other partners, Foreningen Norden Larvik developed both the idea and content. They were allocated the site in the inner harbour as early as in 2023, and the project has been taken shape since then.
“We asked ourselves: What do the Nordic countries have in common? One of the answers was the ocean,” the two of them explain.
Students from Sandefjord upper secondary school contributed early on with ideas for shared symbolism, which the project has since built on.
IVekst was a natural choice as a cooperation partner.
“We wanted to think sustainability, both socially and economically, and also to use local resources,” says Wildenvey.
The project is funded by grants aimed at improving public spaces. It is a collaboration between Foreningen Norden Larvik, IVekst, Larvik municipality and Poesiparken (the Poetry Park).
Robust materials
The furniture is made from accoya, a treated and certified material known for its durability and environmentally friendly properties.
The material was sourced through close cooperation between IVekst and Fritzøe Engros.
The wood is free from environmental toxins, has the Svane eco label and is particularly suited for outdoor use. It can withstand the elements and will develop a natural grey patina over time.
The furniture is solidly anchored to the ground. The area has been adapted with features like wind shielding.
Part of Poesiparken
The Nordic Place will also be part of Larvik’s existing Poesiparken, an urban development project that has made literature a visible part of the cityscape since 2006.
During the opening of a new poetry installation, Louis Jacoby, the man behind Poesiparken in Larvik, said:
“It was not particularly easy to find the right poem for this special place.”
In the end, they settled for an extract from H.C. Andersen’s poem
“Ak, var der dog kun et eneste Sprog” – “Oh, if there were but a single language”. You will also find these same lines in a similar park in Frederikshavn.
With this installation, Poesiparken in Larvik now comprises 127 works, spread throughout the town on walls, in stairways, in public squares and across the landscape.
