The architect - Sverre Fehn
The Norwegian Glacier Museum was designed by civil architect M.N.A.L. Sverre Fehn, who has won many international architectural awards.
Sverre Fehn was born in Kongsberg in 1924. He studied architecture at the Oslo School of Architecture, where he graduated in 1948. From 1971 to 1993 he was a professor at the School of Architecture.
Sverre Fehn was commissioned to design the Norwegian Glacier Museum in 1989, and the museum opened in 1991. In 2002, it was decided that the Glacier Museum should be expanded with an extension to house an exhibition about climate change. This was a challenge for Sverre Fehn, who then had to revisit the idea of a building that was actually fully constructed.
He designed the new building around the existing cinema (see picture below), and construction began in the fall of 2006. In July 2007, the Ulltveit-Moe Climate Center opened. Sverre Fehn died on February 23, 2009.
Sverre Fehn has had many exhibitions in Norway and abroad, including in France, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, Spain and Italy. He has also lectured at various universities, including in the USA and the UK. In 1997 Sverre Fehn was awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize for his work. The buildings he has designed were often museums or galleries, but also private houses.
Some examples:
Norwegian Glacier Museum, Fjærland
Ivar Aasen-tunet, Ørsta/Volda
Aukrust Center, Alvdal
Norwegian Museum of Photography, Horten
Hedmarksmuseet and Domkirkeodden, Hamar
Norwegian Museum of Architecture, Oslo
The Norwegian Pavilion at the 1958 World Exhibition in Brussels
The Nordic Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 1962
Villa Schreiner
Villa Busk
At byggutengrenser.no you can read more about the building Norwegian Glacier Museum , which was awarded the Betongtavlen award for 1992 and the Houen Foundation's diploma for 1994 by architect Sverre Fehn.
Sketch of Norwegian Glacier Museum with the distinctive climate exhibition building on the north side.
