Why building a library is a sign of faith in the future

Planning for the future is an optimistic act. It assumes that civilised life will go on, we’ll continue to live and work in communities that collaborate and support each other. That we trust the next generation to carry on – and to correct the mistakes of our generation, and previous ones.

In Oslo, one Europe’s fastestgrowing capitals, we’re building the Bjørvika development – 5,000 apartments, offices, shops, restaurants and cultural spaces at the mouth of the Akerselva river.

It has transformed 650,000 square metres of what was a port, moving road and rail tracks to create a community and facilities and public space where the city has built a new opera house, Munch museum and public library. 40% of the area is designated as common land and I’m responsible for the artistic input in that common space. Our less ‘conventional’ projects include Losæter – a hub of community activity based around art and urban food production – and the Future Library.

I commissioned the artist Katie Paterson and it was her idea to grow a forest. She wanted to create something that would take 100 years. I totally panicked – I couldn’t imagine how I would convince my board. She said ‘we’re going to plant 1,000 trees’ – imagine planting 1,000 trees on property with that sort of value.

It challenged me to broaden my thinking and, today, a forest is growing on the hill. We’ve planted 1,000 baby spruce trees. These trees will become an anthology of books, in 94 years now. Every year we invite an author to write a script which will stay unread and unpublished for 100 years. Margaret Atwood was the first author we asked; she said yes after three days. And the family tree is growing: David Mitchell is the second author; Icelandic author Sjón, London-based Turkish writer, Elif Shafak and South Korean author Han Kang have also agreed.

A room in the new public library has been designed by Katie Paterson in collaboration with the building’s architects and the manuscripts will be kept there in trust. Because libraries are also an act of community and accessibility and underline our belief in education for all.

The reception has been astonishing. When Margaret Atwood was here, we measured the outreach at 108 million people and I never spent any money on communication. That is the power of the story.

Stephen Hawking talks about ‘cathedral thinking’: it’s not about inheriting a watch, or property, it’s about inheriting a large scale task.

A project that one generation starts, and the next will fulfil. We need cathedral thinking. We need to slow down in this heaving, technical world. Margaret Atwood got involved because she said it was an ‘act of optimism: a very hopeful project. The world is changing,’ she said, ‘... and we need a vicious creativity. A strong new narrative about how we can change the world. If we can envision the future through stories, we can change with it.’

I’m often asked ‘how can I believe that this will happen?’ It’s about trust. I have to trust the next generation that they’ll complete the work. I have no other choice. But it’s mutual. They have to trust me: that we start this, so that we have something to hand over.

Anne Beate Hovind is art director at development Bjørvika Utvikling, Norway’s biggest ever transformation project. Find out more about Future Library at futurelibrary.no