Sverre Fehn (14 August 1924 – 23 February 2009) was a Norwegian architect.

Life

Fehn was born at

Kongsberg Kongsberg () is a historical mining town and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Buskerud, Viken (county), Viken Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The city is located on the river Numedalslågen at the entrance to the valley of Numedal. K ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a former county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Oppland, Sogn og Fjordane, Hordaland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Har ...

, Norway. He was the son of John Tryggve Fehn (1894–1981) and Sigrid Johnsen (1895–1985). He received his

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

education at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

. He entered his course of study in 1946 and graduated during 1949. Among other instructors, he studied under Arne Korsmo (1900–1968).Grimes, William: ''Sverre Fehn, 84, Architect of Modern Nordic Forms, Dies''
in

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, February 27, 2009 In 1949, Fehn and architect Geir Grung (1926–1989) won the competition for the Museum Building for the Sandvig Collections at

Maihaugen Maihaugen (''De Sandvigske Samlinger på Maihaugen, Lillehammer'') is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Lillehammer, Norway. Maihaugen, with close to 200 buildings, is one of Northern Europe's largest open-air museums and is one of th ...

in Lillehammer. In 1950, Fehn joined PAGON (Progressive Architects Group Oslo, Norway). The group, which was led by Arne Korsmo, had the goal of implementing and promoting modern architecture. In 1952–1953, during travels in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria ...

, he discovered

vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...

, which was to deeply influence his future work. Later he moved to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, where he worked for two years in the studio of

Jean Prouvé Jean Prouvé (8 April 1901 – 23 March 1984) was a French metal worker, self-taught architect and designer. Le Corbusier designated Prouvé a constructeur, blending architecture and engineering. Prouvé's main achievement was transferring ma ...

, and where he knew

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

. On his return to Norway in 1954, he opened a studio of his own in Oslo. At the age of 34, Fehn gained international recognition for his design of the Norwegian Pavilion at the 1958 Brussels World Exhibition. In the 1960s he produced two works that have remained highlights in his career: the Nordic Pavilion at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

(1962) and the Hedmark Museum in Hamar (1967–79). Other notable works include the Norwegian Glacier Museum at Fjærland (1991-2002) and the

National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in Oslo (2003–08). He was a professor at Oslo's School of Architecture from 1971 to 1995 and principal from 1986–1989. He additionally lectured throughout Europe including at

, Stuttgart and

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

. He also lectured in the United States at the

Cranbrook Academy of Art The Cranbrook Educational Community is an education, research, and public museum complex in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. This National Historic Landmark was founded in the early 20th century by newspaper mogul George Gough Booth. It consists of Cra ...

Bloomfield Hills Bloomfield Hills is a small city (5.04 sq. miles) in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a northern suburb of Metro Detroit and is approximately northwest of Downtown Detroit. Except a small southern border with the city of Birm ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Projects

Fehn designed over 100 buildings;Swedish Architecture Museum: ''Architect Sverre Fehn''
retrieved 29 December 2011 Some of the most notable are: *1958 – Norwegian Pavilion at the

Brussels World's Fair Expo 58, also known as the 1958 Brussels World's Fair (french: Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles de 1958, nl, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling van 1958), was a world's fair held on the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in Brussels, Bel ...

, Belgium *1962 – Nordic Pavilion at the

, Italy *1963 – Villa Schreiner, Oslo *1963-64 – Villa Norrköping, Sweden *1967 – Casa Bødtker House, Oslo *1967-79 – Hedmark Museum in Hamar, Norway *1990 – Villa Busk, Bamble *1991-2002 – Norwegian Glacier Museum, Fjærland *1993-96 – Aukrust Centre in Alvdal *2000 –

Ivar Aasen-tunet Ivar (Old Norse ''Ívarr'') is a Scandinavian masculine given name. Another variant of the name is Iver, which is more common in Norway. The Old Norse name has several possible etymologies. In North Germanic phonology, several of the elements c ...

Ørsta is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre region of Western Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ørsta. Other villages in the municipality include Hovdebygda, Flåskje ...

*2007 – Gyldendal House, Oslo *2003-08 –

, Oslo File:Isbremuseet.jpg, Norwegian Glacier Museum in Fjærland File:Aukrustsenteret facade.jpg, Aukrust Centre in Alvdal File:Norwegian National Museum of Architecture 2010.jpg, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design File:Storhamar barn N.jpg, Storhamar barn at Hedmark File:Økern alders og sykehjem 1.jpg, Økern Nursing Home in Oslo

Awards

In 1961, he was awarded the

Houen Foundation Award The Houen Foundation Award ( no, Houens fonds diplom) 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 phil ...

, jointly with Geir Grung, for the design of the Økern Nursing Home in Oslo. He received the Houen Foundation Award for his design of the Hedmark Museum at Hamar in 1975. In 1994 he was appointed Commander in the

Order of St. Olav The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav ( no, Den Kongelige Norske Sankt Olavs Orden; 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 ...

. In 1998, he was awarded the Norsk kulturråds ærespris. Sverre Fehn was awarded the first

Grosch medal Grosch medal (Grosch-medaljen) is a Norwegian architecture prize awarded bi-annually. Foundation and purpose The prize was established on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Christian Heinrich Grosch, and the first medal was awarded to Sverre F ...

in 2001. In 2003, he was awarded the

Anders Jahre Cultural Prize Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres via metathesis. In Sweden, Anders has been one of the most common names fo ...

(''Anders Jahres kulturpris''). His highest international honour came in 1997, when he was awarded both the

Pritzker Architecture Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international architecture award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment, which has produ ...

and the Heinrich Tessenow Gold Medal (''Heinrich-Tessenow-Medaille'').

Personal life

In 1952, he married Ingrid Løvberg Pettersen (1929–2005). Fehn died in his Oslo home at the age of 84. He was survived by his son Guy Fehn and four grandchildren.

References

Other sources