From the Autumn of 1945, the Norwegian Directorate for Reconstruction (later Housing Directorate) organised competitions where the country’s architects were asked to design standardised blueprints of homes and outhouses suitable for the region. Most of the architects and engineers who participated in this work were southerners.
A dedicated administrative unit, the Finnmark Office, was established in order to organise and co-ordinate the reconstruction effort. The office was located in Harstad and had more than 800 employees. There were seven regional offices, each responsible for their own area. The blueprints were developed in the regional offices, in the Finnmark Office or in Oslo. Later, the Housing Directorate in Oslo assumed the main responsibility for the drawings, but with frequent contributions from the regional offices in the north. Specific blueprints were developed for towns or urban areas and for coastal and inland districts. Over half the drawings are based on the already well-known principle of arranging all the rooms, each with a specific
function, around the chimney (korsplanløsning). The houses were to have gable roofs – a roof type which for generations had proved to be best suited to harsh weather conditions. Coastal homes needed kitchens looking out to sea. In other areas it was more important to have a clear view of the animal shelter or the road. Only urban homes would have a flushing toilet, others had to make do with an outdoor privy.
The houses were meant to display a certain “Norwegian-ness” in the architecture, and combine Norwegian building traditions and functionalism. The idea was for them to be relatively homogenous, in the main based on the blueprints. They should be simple and serve the residents well in relation to their individual living requirements.