Kjeller, much like many Norwegian landscapes, is named after the farm that once operated in the area. The old farmhouse overlooking the airport and its grass fields still stands today as a proud reminder of the history and development of the site.
At the airport ground, a rich history of connection is depicted. Historically the marsh connected the hills of Skedsmo to the Nitelva and Lillestrom through the Sogna Elva, which was fed by streams originating in the ravines in the higher ground of Skedsmo. As the site of the first airport in Norway, it connected the country to the world. Underneath the surface, the geology depicts a linearity of the bedrock that follows the direction of the airport’s runway.
Locating Kjeller in the larger scale map, its watershed tells a powerful story of where the site lies in the landscape of Norway. Kjeller lies not only at the end of the Nitelva watershed but as a gateway and a buffer for the Leira and Glomma rivers. This is an important hydrological node in the largest watershed of the country.
