SVALBARD

Svalbard Norway
The island of Spitsbergan


so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens

-William Carlos Williams


Much like the red wheel barrow, much depends upon the colored buildings of Longyearbyen, a Norwegian mining town at 78 N latitude that spends three months in complete darkness and has three months of midnight sun. Colored facades play a crucial role in the everyday life of a black and white world.
The Longyearbyen town, with its many colors.

Camera, Winter Coat, Hat, Boots, Gloves, Rifle, Flare Gun
This is the list of things I needed for documenting the scenes and events of this blog. The temperature out: -2 C, snowing, and windy.

The archipelago where the town of Longyearbyen is located is at 75-81 degrees N latitude, about 600 miles from the North Pole. It was founded in 1596 by Willem Barents a Dutch explorer. In time it became a base for whalers and then a home for trappers, trapping fox and seals. Many of the early structures that were built on the island, such as the trapper housing, were constructed from driftwood that floated in on currents from Siberia. A site of some scientific interest in the 19th century, Svalbard became a mining town in the twentieth century, its economy almost wholly dependent on coal. Today coal mining remains the dominant industry, though scientific research, mostly by environmentalists, continues along with a limited amount of recreational tourism – including a marathon within a few hundred miles of the North Pole.
Remnants of old mining construction are scattered about the island.
Scientific research base using large satellite dishes to monitor solar flares
The first settlers on the island used dog sledding as the main means of transportation. Today snowmobiles take their place and dog sledding is left to the tourist industry.


For many centuries Svalbard contained inhabitants from a number of different countries, particularly from Norway and Russia. But the growing value of the coal deposits led to the incorporation of the town of Longyearbyen in 1906. In 1920 the Svalbard Treaty was signed, and in 1925 Norway gained sovereignty over Svalbard. Today most of the inhabitants are Norwegians though there are still some small Russian mining towns within the archipelago.
A recently abandoned Russian coal mining town located an hour or two boat ride away but still on the same island, Spitsbergen.
Lenin statue in the Russian mining town
All the buildings were recently renovated right before the town was abandoned, so every thing was in perfect shape excepting some minor polar bear break-ins.

The islands are all classified as arctic tundra, so very little vegetation exists on them. The permafrost on the islands prevents growth of any trees. The very top layer of soil defrosts for a short period in the summer allowing only small grasses and flowers to grow. The wildlife consists of artic fox, countless reindeer, polar bears, and a wide variety of migrating birds, including eiders, purple sandpipers, and artic loons.
Small wild flower patches are starting spring up close to the ground in the summer months.
There is a law prohibiting any one from leaving the town streets with out a proper Polar Bear protection i.e. Rifle and Flare gun. Here is one of the many grads along the marathon route making sure we have a safe run.
Reindeer are everywhere

For a town so close to the North Pole, the climate is surprisingly warm, a fact attributable to the jet stream. The summer highs are usually around +5 or +6 degrees and the winter lows between -20 and -30 degrees. In the time I was there, early June, the temperature varied between -3 and +3 degrees. From April 19 until August 23 the sun never sets, and from October 26 until February 16 the sun never rises. During these times there is little rhythm to the day. I expected 24-hour sun to be refreshing, but it actually grew to be depressing. The sun moves so little in the sky that the lighting conditions never change and the monotony can be depressing. This is evidently the case in the winter as well, though the moon often provides enough light reflecting off the snow for people to go about daily routines without artificial light. Many of the locals referred to the summer months as the most depressing because the snow melts leaving behind mud and little vegetation. Strangely enough, February seems to be the favorite time of year as the sun comes closer to the horizon and every thing glows blue it is called the ‘blue’ month.
Over 60% of Svalbard is currently glacier, but like all glaciers this one is rapidly receding. Here the glacier is beginning to break up around the edges creating sea ice, which will become a hazard to boats later in the summer.

Most of the buildings on Longyearbyen were constructed for worker housing and still serve as homes for the local inhabitants. Many of the structures are prefabricated off the islands and shipped to their final location. All structures and utilities are lifted off the ground by a few feet because of the permafrost. Some of the workers’ housing developments have been converted to new uses. The hostel where I stayed used to be housing for workers who worked in a coal mine located directly above where the housing is today. The mine was blown up by German battleships in 1943 and burned for almost twenty years until 1962. The mine and the worker housing that went with it were abandoned until a couple of decades ago when it was converted into a hostel.
Pipes and other utilities have to be placed above ground so they are not damaged in the shifting ground caused by the melting permafrost.
Mine number 2, located above the Spitsbergen guesthouse (hostel), which used to be where the miners lived.
The room I stayed in, prefab number 3. When miners inhabited these building this one was known as the “Jomfrubrent” which meant the cage of virgins. It was the prefab where all the women lived, and remained only for women until 1985.

The main mess hall for the workers. Today it is the reception and breakfast area and has changed very little.
Building number 5, an old workers living unit that is now the Spitsbergen art gallery. It too has had to abide by an approved color scheme.

Color plays a large role in the buildings of Longyearbyen. In 1980 the mining companies decided that the extreme climate induced a large amount of depression amongst the workers and to help counteract the effect, they decided on an architectural color plan for the island. The codes in Longyearbyen strictly control the colors buildings are to be painted. Grete Smedal, a professor at Bergen university, was asked to come up with a long-term color plan for the buildings of Longyearbyen. She used the NCS color system to establish a color scheme for the buildings that harmonizes with the summer and winter landscape. Today these color standards are still in effect, and all new building colors have to be approved by the city. This coloring system also helps to break the monotony of the identical prefabricated houses.

The school is the most playful building covering every color possible.
The snow has melted in the past week and the yellow orange buildings that popped out in the ‘blue’ winter months have begun to fade into the landscape while the blue buildings pop out of the orangey brown earth.



A more recent development but still abiding by the color plans.