Gamle Stavanger — Wooden Housing Behind the Harbour Economy
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Transcript
Gamle Stavanger’s white wooden houses are now among the city’s most photographed streets, but they were not built as a museum district. This was a working neighborhood near the harbour, occupied by sailors, craftsmen, factory workers and families tied to maritime trades. Small plots and timber construction kept housing relatively economical, while proximity to docks and later canneries mattered more than prestige. Preservation changed the area’s meaning in the twentieth century. What had been ordinary housing became heritage. That shift is worth noticing because successful conservation often freezes the appearance of a district while its social function changes completely.