The brick building is one of the newer buildings at Dikemark that were built around 1970 but is now completely abandoned. It was originally a dormitory with school part for nursing students. It was closed in 1990. It was used as an immigrant asylum during the war in the old Yugoslavia. During that time the building was quite vandalized and it is perhaps why it stands empty today.

The student dormitory building

Statue on the parking lot

The entrance

Exterior 1

Exterior 2

They really don’t want anybody to enter

Growing through

Mailbox to the school

A stair outside

The terrace

Part of the building

Old truck

The pictures below are from some of the other Dikemark hospital buildings. Some are still in use but they are closing down and all activity will cease in 2011. What then happens to Dikemark is uncertain. Most of the buildings are empty and it is important to preserve buildings before it falls together as in Lier.

Dikemark opened in 1905. Christiania (former name of Oslo) community bought Dikemark farm in 1898 farm to build a replacement facility for the city’s oldest asylum, Christiania Sindsygeasyl. The area was beautiful, suitable for power generation with waterworks and agriculture – the perfect place to treat patients. The farm gave patients something to do that was important for recovery, said doctors.

Dikemark was raised using the “colonization principle” where each department had its own building. It reminds me of a village where the houses (about 21 houses in 1910) are scattered around with roads in between. This meant that patients received a lot of fresh air when they were walking between buildings. In the 70ties-80ties there were 900 patients and 1500 employees here.

Administrative building

Dikemark building

These buildings are quite beautiful