Every design for Ålesund

Ålesund is spread across islands at the edge of the open sea: the old centre sits on Hessa, Aspøya and Nørve, with the narrow sound between them giving the town its shape, and the newer districts reach out onto Uksenøya and across to Sula. Fishing brought people here, especially the spring catch of cod in the Borgundfjorden, and the sea has set the rhythm of the town ever since.

Jugendstilsenteret, the national centre for Art Nouveau, explains what makes Ålesund look the way it does. After the great town fire, almost the entire centre was rebuilt within a few years, so the streets share an unusually consistent architecture of towers, turrets and decorated facades. Fiskerimuseet and Kunstmuseet Kube tell other parts of the story, and out at the end of the breakwater Molja fyr marks the harbour entrance. During the war the town earned the name 'Little London' for its role in the resistance and the escapes across the North Sea to Scotland and England.

If you grew up here, the map will show you the sound you crossed every day, the islands you knew by name and the way home past the old Art Nouveau facades.