__NOTOC__ Hjalmar Kjær was a Danish

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 ...

who worked extensively in Odense and made notable contributions to architecture in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

in the 19th and 20th centuries. HJalmar Kjær was the son of soap manufacturer Hans Kjær and Kathrine Rasmussen. He attended a technical college before he was admitted to the preparatory course of the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1894 and graduated as an architect in May 1896. Kjær established a design office in Odense in 1898 and lived there for most of his life. His works in Odense spans residential and public buildings, bridges, roads and streets. Outside Odense he designed buildings in the cities of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

and

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

and restored several manors on Fuenen and

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

. Among them are two very different Catholic Apostolic Churches in Copenhagen and Aarhus respectively, the St. Nicholas' Church in Aarhus and the church on ''Krigersvej'' in Østerbro, Copenhagen. In Aarhus he also built the Five Sisters silo complex which was the largest in the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

at the time and the first structure in the city made of reinforced concrete. The building is notable for the five front gabled silos inspired by canal houses in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and other Dutch cities combined with a modern and high-tech engineering solution to industrial needs. The silos have smooth, white facades absent any decoration in the

functionalist style Functionalism may refer to: * Functionalism (architecture), the principle that architects should design a building based on the purpose of that building * Functionalism in international relations, a theory that arose during the inter-War period * ...

prevalent at the time and is today an Industrial Heritage Site. During the National Exhibition of 1909 in Aarhus he also designed Skansepalæet. Hjalmar Kjær was for a period the president of the Odense tourist organisation and a board member of the Craftsmen and Industry Organisation in Odense. He was married to Astrid Blichfeldt on 27 August 1899 in

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

. Kjær was buried in Odense.

Selected works

Odense

* Kastanievejens Bridge, (1908) * Ignaz and Anne Breums Stiftelse, (1909–10) * Klarebro, (1911) * Soldier's Home, (1912) * Fire Station, Klostervej 28 (1916) * Office Building, Pantheonsgade 5 (1918) * Tietgens Bridge (1919–21, changed in 1956) * Public Baths "Badstuen", Østre Stationsvej 26 (1922) * Café Skovbakken, Fruens Bøge (1923) * Paladsteatret, Vestergade 38 (1923) * Giersings Realskole, Nonnebakken 7 (1924) * Nursery, Vindegade 62 (1926, nedrevet)

Aarhus

* St. Nicholas' Church, (1893, defunct) * Skansen og Skansepalæet, (1908–09) * Silo complex The Five Sisters, (1926,

Industrial Heritage Sites of Denmark Industrial Heritage Sites of Denmark refer to a list of 25 heritage sites in Denmark that was designated by the Danish Agency for Culture (''Kulturarvsstyrelsen'', now ''Kulturstyrelsen'') in 2007. The list features Danish industrial buildings rep ...

)

Other

* Catholic-Apostolic Church,

(1906) * Renovation of Knuthenborg Manor on

, Frederiksgave and Wedellsborg Manors on Fuenen (1909–14)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kjaer, Hjalmar 1803 births 1863 deaths Danish architects People from Aarhus Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni