Karen Clemmensen (née Mundt; 31 December 1917 – 21 December 2001) was a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish ance ...
architect and designer. The firm she set up with her husband
Ebbe
Ebbe is a Scandinavian masculine given name. The feminine version is Ebba. It is mainly now found in Denmark and Sweden and may refer to:
* Ebbe Carlsson (1947–1992), Swedish journalist and publisher
* Ebbe Frick, Swedish sprint canoer
*Ebbe ...
designed both traditional and more modern
Functionalist buildings. Often inspired by Japanese and American trends, their work includes
Kildeskovshallen
Kildeskovhallen is a sports venue in Gentofte Municipality, Gentofte in northern Copenhagen, Denmark.
History
The original venue was designed by Karen and Ebbe Clemmensen and built in two phases. The swimming venue was built in 1966-1969. It was ...
in
Gentofte and
LO-skolen in
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...
.
Early life
Karen Clemmensen was born in
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 ...
to an artistic family. Her father Holger Mundt (1887–1957) was an architect and her mother Harriet Fischer-Jørgensen (1889–1975) a painter. After completing her schooling at
Sønderborg Statsskole in 1935, she attended the
Danish Academy until 1942. From 1939 to 1941, she worked part-time for
Kaj Gottlob
Niels August Theodor Kaj Gottlob, usually known as Kaj Gottlob, (9 November 1887 – 12 May 1976) was a Danish architect who contributed much to Neoclassicism and Functionalism both as professor of the School of Architects at the Royal Danish Aca ...
, also a successful architect.
[Helle Bay, "Karen Clemmensen (1917-2001)"]
''Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon''. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
Career
While at the Academy, the pair met
Eva and Nils Koppel and
Tobias Faber who found work for them in a
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
studio during the war years. It was here they came in contact with
Japanese architecture
has been typified by wooden structures, elevated slightly off the ground, with tiled or thatched roofs. Sliding doors (''fusuma'') and other traditional partitions were used in place of walls, allowing the internal configuration of a space to ...
, including the Zui Ki Tei teahouse in the
Ethnographic Museum Ethnographic museums conserve, display and contextualize items relevant to the field of ethnography, the systematic study of people and cultures. Such museums include:
List by country/region Albania
* Ethnographic Museum of Kavajë,
* Gjirokast ...
, which influenced many of their later projects. After the birth of her first child in 1945, Eva Koppel worked for the city architect while setting up her own firm with her husband. For the first 10 years, there were no major projects. In 1947, together with Holger Mundt, they restored
Kliplev Church in the south of
Jutland
Jutland ( da, Jylland ; german: Jütland ; ang, Ēota land ), known anciently as the Cimbric or Cimbrian Peninsula ( la, Cimbricus Chersonesus; da, den Kimbriske Halvø, links=no or ; german: Kimbrische Halbinsel, links=no), is a peninsula of ...
. After Ebbe had been given a post at the Academy, the couple built a house for themselves in
Gentofte in 1953 adopting a simple Functionalist style.
From the mid-1950s, as a result of success in a number of competitions, they received several important commissions, their designs often inspired by Tetsurō Yoshida's ''Das japanische Wohnhaus'' or by the American architects
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloyd ...
and
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
. Japanese influence can be seen in their use of timber overhangs and an atrium yard at Skive Seminarium (1959) while Blågård Seminarium and Enghavegård School both have a more international
Cubist appearance with glazed facades and flat roofs. Subsequent educational institutions such as Højstrupgård and the LO-skole in
Helsingør
Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northern ...
also had an atrium yard as their central feature as well as structures of various sizes to suit the needs of the courses to be taught. Care was also taken to provide a high level of interior decoration with the assistance of appropriate experts. The swimming facilities at Kildeskovhallen (1972) in Gentofte present an elegant blend of modern and traditional design with huge glazed facades looking out towards the forest.
[
The couple also undertook church restoration work, arranged exhibitions of furniture, crafts and graphics and designed textiles. Karen produced some fine graphic works including Christmas wrapping designs. As a result of her graphic work, she was awarded the Knod V. Engelhardt Memorial Scholarship in 1948. Together with her husband, she received the Eckersberg Medal in 1961. Karen Clemmensen was also a member of several adjudicating panels for school projects, urban planning, and architecture awards.Hanne Marcussen, "Karen Clemmensen"]
''Kunstindeks Danmark & Weilbachs kunstnerleksikon''. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
See also
*
Architecture of Denmark
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clemmensen, Karen
1917 births
2001 deaths
Architects from Copenhagen
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni
Danish women architects