Magnus Poulsson (14 July 1881 – 18 March 1958) was a Norwegian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

Early life and education

Magnus Poulsson was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

, Buskerud, Norway, on 14 July 1881. His parents were Søren Anton Poulsson (1847–1934) and Ina Bolette Jørgensen (1851–1922). His brother Jens Jørgensen Poulsson was father of artist Else Poulsson and Colonel

Jens-Anton Poulsson Jens-Anton Poulsson DSO (27 October 1918 – 2 February 2010) was a Norwegian military officer. During World War II he was a Norwegian resistance member, especially noted for his role in the heavy water sabotage 1942–1943. He continued ...

. Poulsson studied at ''Den kongelige Tegne- og Kunstskole i Christiania'', now the

Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry The National College of Art and Design () was established in 1818. In 1996, the National College of Art and Design became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (''Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo'', KHiO), along with the Norwegian National Academy of ...

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 ...

from 1900 to 1903, at the

Royal Institute of Technology KTH Royal Institute of Technology (), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technology and is Sweden's largest technical university. Since 2018, KTH consist ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

from 1903 to 1905 and apprenticed from 1905 to 1909.

Career

Poulsson established his own practice in Oslo during 1909 and worked closely with

Arnstein Arneberg Arnstein Rynning Arneberg (6 July 1882 – 9 June 1961) was a Norwegian architect. He was active professionally for 50 years and is often considered the leading architect in Norway of his time. Personal life Arnstein Rynning Arneberg was b ...

. Magnus Poulsson is most famous for designing the

Oslo City Hall Oslo City Hall () is a municipal building in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It houses the city council, the city's administration and various other municipal organisations. The building as it stands today was constructed between 1931 and 1950, wi ...

, together with

. He is also known for his work on Bærum City Hall (''Bærum Rådhus'') in

Sandvika Sandvika () is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bærum in Norway. It was declared a List of cities in Norway, city by the municipal council (Norway), municipal council in Bærum on 4 June 2003. Sandvika is situated approximately ...

(1925 and 1958), KNA Hotel in

(1931), Eystein church in Hjerkin and

Haslum Haslum is a district in the municipality of Bærum, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Chapel in

Bærum Bærum () is a list of municipalities of Norway, municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Akershus County, Norway. It forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a populatio ...

. Poulsson's work also included private residences, office buildings, churches and interiors. Magnus Poulsson was particularly known for recreating the tradition of Norwegian folk wooden architecture. Poulsson was chairman of the Ancient Monuments Society 1917–1930 and chairman of the supervisory committee for the

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral () is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II ( 995–1030, reigned 1015–1028), who became the patron saint of th ...

reconstruction from 1931 to 1958. He was an honorary member of the Danish AKAD and a member of the Swedish Royal Academies for Fria Art Erna.

Awards

Houen Foundation Award The Houen Foundation Award () is Norway's most important award for architecture. It was established in 1893 by Anton Christian Houen (1823–1894). A successful merchant and businessman, Houen established several philanthropic legacies and f ...

– Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab, Karl Johans gate 1, Oslo (1925) * Houen Foundation Award – Bærum Rådhus, Sandvika (1930)''Magnus Poulsson'' (Houens fonds diplom)
* Commander of the

Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav (; or ''Sanct Olafs Orden'', the old Norwegian name) is a Norwegian order of chivalry instituted by King Oscar I on 21 August 1847. It is named after King Olav II, known to posterity as St. Olav. Just be ...

(1950) *

Medal of St. Hallvard The Medal of St. Hallvard () is the highest award of the City of Oslo, Norway. It is awarded to people who have made a particularly noteworthy contribution to the City of Oslo. It is named after the city's patron, Saint Hallvard (ca. 1020–1043) ...

(1956)

References

1881 births 1958 deaths Architects from Oslo People from Drammen {{Norway-architect-stub