Erik Rolfsen (24 July 1905 – 27 September 1992) was a Norwegian architect. He served as urban manager of

Oslo, Norway Oslo ( or ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of towns and cities in Norway, most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a Counties of Norway, county and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a populat ...

from 1947 to 1973.

Biography

Erik Rolfsen was born at

Ålesund Ålesund () is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The town is the administrative centre of Ålesund Municipality. The centre of the town of Ålesund lies on the islands of Hessa, Aspøya, Ålesund, Asp� ...

in More og Romsdal, Norway. Rolfsen took his final exams at Kristiansund Public School in 1924. He attended the Drawing Academy in Paris during 1926. In 1930 he took his final exam in architecture at the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology ( Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was ...

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. While studying in Trondheim he was also a member of

Mot Dag (, 'Towards Day') was a Norway, Norwegian political group. The group was active from the 1920s to the early 1930s and was first affiliated with the Labour Party (Norway), Labour Party until 1925. After World War II, many of its former members were ...

. He worked in

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal counties of Norway, county. The admin ...

from 1940, but from 1942 to 1945 he was a consultant for the

Norwegian government-in-exile __NOTOC__ Nygaardsvold's Cabinet (later becoming the Norwegian government-in-exile) was appointed on 20 March 1935, the second Labour cabinet in Norway. It brought to an end the non-socialist minority governments that had dominated Norwegian p ...

in London. From 1947 to 1973 he was the director of city planning in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and put their mark on the city during a period of intense development. After the merger of

Oslo Municipality Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022, and ...

and

Aker Municipality Aker was a former independent municipality in Akershus, Norway, that constitutes the vast majority of the territory of the modern city of Oslo. The name originally belonged to a farm which was located near the current Old Aker Church. The church ...

in 1948, Rolfsen prepared a general plan for the new large municipal area. The plan was to connect residential areas and laid the foundation for post-war housing in Oslo. Rolfsen favored a strong future-oriented regional plan, where residential areas, workplaces and education centers were coordinated to reduce travel distances. Central to his urban planning was the preservation of nature as an essential part of the city. Rolfsen was an architect at the Norwegian Cooperative Association of Architects in 1932–38. He was a guest lecturer at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1947 and lecturer in architecture courses at the National Craft and Industrial Art School 1947–49. He was chairman of the Oslo architect Association 1948–49. Rolfsen was a member of the

Norwegian Labour Party The Labour Party (; , A or Ap; ), formerly The Norwegian Labour Party (, DNA), is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Norway, political party in Norway. It is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectru ...

and served in a variety of public committees and advice on urban issues. He presided over the

International Federation for Housing and Planning The International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) is a world-wide network of professionals founded in England representing the broad field of housing and planning. Its membership is drawn from corporate organisations, professional indi ...

from 1954 to 1958.

References

Other sources

*Erik Rolfsen (1975) ''Underveis i Oslo'' (Oslo: Aschehoug) 1905 births 1992 deaths People from Ålesund Norwegian urban planners Architects in government Norwegian civil servants Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century Norwegian architects {{norway-architect-stub