Every design for Gjøvik

Down where the Hunnselva river runs out into Mjøsa, the story of the Mustad works explains how Gjøvik earned its living. The town grew from a farm the Norse called Djúpvík – the deep inlet – and was a village in Vardal parish until it was granted town status and broke away to stand on its own. Industry shaped it from then on: O. Mustad & Son became one of several large companies based here, and Mustad Bedriftsmuseum keeps that working past within reach, while the old Gjøvik gård and the Eiktunet museum hold on to older layers still.

What sets Gjøvik apart, though, lies inside the rock. The Olympic Cavern Hall is the world's largest sports venue built into the side of a mountain, made for the Winter Olympics in nearby Lillehammer, and few towns of this size can claim anything like it. The Gjøvikbanen railway tied the western shore of Mjøsa to Oslo, and the town has since grown together with Raufoss into one urban area.

On the map you can trace it all: the river, the long lakeshore, the slopes rising towards Hovdetoppen. For anyone who grew up here, those lines are the walk to school, the summer evenings by the water and the way home.