The exhibition presents the buildings of Kari Nissen Brodtkorb alongside the work of four historical predecessors: Lilla Hansen, Kirsten Sand, Kirsten Sinding-Larsen and Maja Melandsø. All are women who ran their own architectural offices during their careers, and it is the years when they had their own practices that form the focus of the exhibition.
Spanning more than fifty years, Brodtkorb’s career is explored from her own vantage point, through a selection of photographs, newspaper cuttings and objects from the architect’s private archive. The exhibition also presents drawings by and publications about the four predecessors.
Although all five architects were recognised in their time, few traces of their work can be found in museums and archives, and they are rarely mentioned in Norwegian architectural history.
Kari Nissen Brodtkorb
Kari Nissen Brodtkorb (b. 1942) was not put off when her architecture professor in the 1960s declared that architecture was so demanding that “all the young ladies in this room should take the first train home”. For over thirty years, from 1985 to 2017, she ran her own architectural practice, designing over a hundred buildings.
Brodtkorb’s architecture is characterised by a sensitivity for place, a distinctive use of brick and steel, openings that let light into courtyard spaces, and attention to detail. Her buildings at Aker brygge , Sørenga and Gullkroken in Oslo, to mention just a few, illustrate her ability to combine aesthetics and functionality, while creating architecture that is adapted to its surroundings.
Brodtkorb has won many awards, including the Anders Jahre Culture Prize in 2014 and the Houens Foundation Award for Stranden in 1994.
The four predecessors
Lilla Hansen (1872–1962) set up her own practice in 1906. She gained recognition in particular for the large residential block at Thomas Heftyes gate 42 in Oslo, which was completed in 1912. Hansen worked on housing developments and also designed a number of health facilities.
Kirsten Sand (1895–1996) became the first Norwegian woman to complete, in 1919, a full architectural training at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (now NTNU). She ran her own practice for ten years and served as district architect for Nord-Troms after World War II.
Kirsten Sinding-Larsen (1898–1978) set up her own architectural practice in 1933, designing primarily housing and health facilities until around 1960. She contributed actively to a range of debates, most notably relating to building standards in the Norwegian housing sector.
Maja Melandsø (1906–1981) is best known for the commercial building Melandsøgården in Trondheim, completed in 1932. From 1945 to 1957 she worked on postwar reconstruction with a focus on housing in Kristiansund. She founded her own architectural practice in Trondheim in 1962.
Project director: Linn Hellebust Kristiansen
Senior curator exhibitions and collections: Birgitte Sauge
External co-curator: Kari Nissen Brodtkorb
Curator education: Johanne Nordby Wernø
Communications adviser: Hanne Marie Willoch