Fehn, Sverre, << fehn, SVEHR ruh >> (1924-2009), became the outstanding Norwegian architect of his generation. Fehn’s architecture blends international Modern styles and the traditions of Scandinavian building materials and styles. His projects show a sensitivity to the site and to the distinctive qualities of light in Scandinavia. Fehn stated that he strove to design buildings that will make people more aware of the beauty of each setting. In 1997, Fehn was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious international award in architecture (see Pritzker Architecture Prize).
Fehn’s commissions included several highly praised museums. One of his first projects was the Handicraft Museum (1956) in Lillehammer, Norway. Fehn designed the project with his frequent collaborator, the Norwegian architect Geir Grung. Fehn’s Archbishopric Museum (1979) in Hamar skillfully combines his own modern designs with the ruins of a medieval building and a barn of the 1800’s. Fehn’s other museum projects include the Glacier Museum (1991) at the mouth of the Fjaerland Fjord; the Aukrust Museum (1996), dedicated to the Norwegian painter Kjell Aukrust, in Alvdal; the Ivar Aasen Centre (2000) for Norwegian language and culture in Ørsta; and the Norwegian Museum for Photography (2001) in Horten.
Fehn also designed a number of distinctive homes. One of the most notable is the Økern Home for the Elderly (1955) in Oslo. This joint project by Fehn and Grung is a low glass-and-concrete design enclosing two gardens. Fehn also gained acclaim for his Villa Busk (1990) in Bamble, Norway. In 1991, Fehn won a competition to build 250 ecologically advanced houses and two golf courses for vacation use near Norrköping, Sweden. The buildings were constructed with traditional building techniques. Some walls in the houses were made of straw and mud while the rear walls were made of glass.
Fehn’s major projects outside Scandinavia were his designs for two pavilions. The first was the Norwegian Pavilion (now demolished) at the World Exhibition in Brussels, Belgium, in 1958. The second was the Nordic Pavilion for the Venice Biennale in Italy in 1962.
Fehn was born in Kongsberg, Norway, on Aug. 14, 1924. He graduated from the Oslo School of Architecture in 1949. He was a professor of architecture at the school from 1971 to 1995. After graduating, Fehn joined a group of young Norwegian architects who formed an organization called the Progressive Architects Group Oslo Norway (PAGON), which had a strong influence on architecture in Norway in the mid-1900’s. During the early 1950’s, Fehn traveled widely, studying traditional architecture in Morocco and absorbing the influence of the Modern architects Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Frank Lloyd Wright. During this period, Fehn also worked in Paris with French architect and designer Jean Prouvé. Fehn opened his own architecture office in 1955. Fehn died on Feb. 23, 2009.
