Vilhelm Lauritzen (9 September 1894 – 22 December 1984) was a leading Danish modern

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 ...

, founder of the still active architectural firm Vilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter.

Biography

Vilhelm Lauritzen was born in

Slagelse Slagelse () is a town on Zealand (Denmark), Zealand, Denmark. The town is the seat of Slagelse Municipality, and is the biggest town of the municipality. It is located 15 km east of Korsør, 16 km north-east of Skælskør, 33 km south-east of Ka ...

, Denmark. He studied at the

Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts () has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Danish Academy of Portraiture, Sculpture, and Architecture in Cope ...

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, graduating in 1921. The following year he founded his own firm, Vilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter, in 1928 and remained active in the firm until 1969. He received the Academy's Gold Medal in 1926 and up through the 1920s he created a number of monumental designs in a classicist style which were never realized.Anne-Louise Sommer: Towards the end of the decade he travelled in Central Europe and became acquainted with the latest trends in

Functionalist architecture In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. An international functionalist architecture movement emerged in the wake of World War I, as part of the wave of Modernis ...

with its technical and structural innovations. This inspired him to a grounded and restrained Modernism and it was with such buildings that he had his breakthrough. His first large commission to be built was the Daells Varehus department store in Copenhagen built in stages from 1928 to 1935 as one of the first examples of

Modern architecture Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architectur ...

in Denmark. He went on to win the competition for the design the first

Copenhagen Airport Copenhagen Airport, Kastrup (, ) is an international airport serving Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, as well as the wider Øresund Region, including Zealand and the southern Sweden, Swedish province of Scania. In 2023 it was the largest ai ...

which was constructed from 1937 to 1939. Another major project included the national Danish Broadcasting Corporation DR Radio

Building A building or edifice is an enclosed Structure#Load-bearing, structure with a roof, walls and window, windows, usually standing permanently in one place, such as a house or factory. Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and functions, a ...

(''Radiohuset'') while its Television Building was designed by his firm with Mogens Boertmann (1918-2017) as its principal architect. Lauritzen also designed furniture, often in connection with his buildings. His lamps, especially his table lamps from the 1930s, manufactured by

Louis Poulsen Louis Poulsen is a Denmark, Danish lighting manufacturer that was founded in 1874. Louis Poulsen Lighting is represented by subsidiaries, distribution offices and agents around the world. Their key sales regions are Scandinavia, Europe, Japan an ...

, continue to arouse interest at auctions.Per H. Hansen & Klaus Petersen: ''Moderne dansk møbeldesign: tendenser, hammerslag og historie'', 2007, Copenhagen, Gyldendal, , p. 230.

Selected buildings

* Daells Varehus,

, Denmark (with Frits Schlegel, 1933 ) * Radiohuset,

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

, Denmark (1936–41) * Copenhagen Airport terminal (1937–1939). The entire terminal was listed, moved and restored in 1998. * Gladsaxe Town Hall,

Gladsaxe Gladsaxe Municipality () is a municipality (Danish, '' kommune'') near Copenhagen in Region Hovedstaden on the island of Zealand (''Sjælland'') in eastern Denmark. The municipality covers an area of , and has a total population of 70,958 (2025). ...

, Denmark (1937) *

Folkets Hus People's Houses () were originally leisure and cultural centres built with the intention of making art and cultural appreciation available to the working classes. The first establishment of this type appeared in Tomsk, Russian Empire in 1882. Soo ...

, Denmark (1935–56) * Terminal 3,

, Copenhagen, Denmark (1995) * Shell House,

, Denmark * Embassy of Denmark in Washington, D.C.,

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, USA (1960)

References

External links

Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauritzen, Vilhelm Danish furniture designers 1894 births 1984 deaths Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Recipients of the Eckersberg Medal Recipients of the C.F. Hansen Medal Architects from Copenhagen Designers from Copenhagen People from Slagelse

Biography

Selected buildings

See also

References

External links