Oslo City Hall

The twin-towered brick city hall facing Oslo's harbor — a monumental civic building best known as the venue where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each December. Behind its severe brick exterior lie grand halls covered in murals and reliefs depicting Norwegian history, life, and labor, a sweeping program of 20th-century national art. The waterfront setting and the towers make it unmistakable. For visitors, the interior is the surprise — free to enter, and far richer than the austere outside suggests — while the building's role in the Peace Prize gives it a weight that resonates well beyond the city.