REVIEW. THE MODERN FACE OF OSLO: DINE AND DESIGN.

OSLO, NORWAY.

The first ever visit of the BMW i Pure Impulse Programme to the Norwegian capital left the 31 event guests from the Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Germany and the United States inspired and enamoured with the beautiful city.

The stylish “The Thief” hotel in the trendy Tjuvholmen neighbourhood acted as the guest hotel for the weekend – guests met at the Thief Foodbar on Friday evening to kick off the weekend with a delicious three-course welcome dinner.

The next day was packed full of highlights – first on the agenda was a presentation by Norwegian visual artist – and keyboard player of the world-famous band a-ha – Magne Furuholmen.

Mr Furuholmen, who is also a BMW Norway brand ambassador, introduced guests to his Imprints project, a ceramic sculpture park outside Oslo. All the sculptures on display were made exclusively by the artist himself.

After a fascinating presentation, the group made their way to see the sculptures first-hand. A light lunch at the beautiful nearby Chitra House followed, before guests were transferred to one of Oslo’s landmark buildings, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet.

There, they met Kjetil Trædal Thorsen, one of the founding partners of Snøhetta, the architecture firm responsible for the prize-winning design, as well as Simon Ewings, one of the project’s leading architects. During an exclusive private behind-the-scenes tour, Mr Thorsen and Mr Ewings gave guests an insight into the exciting project and its bold design. Attendees also got to visit several of the backstage areas, including costume and stage design and the painting workshop.

Guests were fascinated by the tour, and the majority took the opportunity to visit the Snøhetta offices afterwards, where Mr Ewings talked to them about the firm’s philosophy and introduced them to some of its other projects, which includes prestigious buildings such as the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt.

Lofoten Fiskerestaurant, one of the best seafood restaurants in town, was the last stop on this memorable day.

The inspiring, fascinating weekend concluded the next morning when the happy guests were farewelled by the BMW i Pure Impulse Team.