Kari Irene Nissen Brodtkorb (born 1942) is a Norwegian architect and educator. Recognized as one of Norway's leading housing designers, in 1994 she was awarded the cherished

Houen Foundation Award The Houen Foundation Award ( no, Houens fonds diplom) is Norway's most important award for architecture. It was established in 1893 by Anton Christian Houen (1823–1894). A successful merchant and businessman, Houen established several phila ...

for her ''Stranden'' complex located on

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

's Aker Brygge. Brodtkorb taught at the

Oslo School of Architecture and Design The Oslo School of Architecture and Design ( no, Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo, AHO) is an autonomous institution within the Norwegian university system. The School offers a unique research-based education with a strong international stan ...

in the early 1990s.

Biography

Born on 3 March 1942 in Oslo, Brodtkorb was the daughter of the business administrator Roald Nissen and Ragnhild Marie Heiding, a secretary. On graduating from the

Norwegian Institute of Technology The Norwegian Institute of Technology (Norwegian: ''Norges tekniske høgskole'', NTH) was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 58 years, after which it was m ...

in 1965, she worked as an architect for Harald Hille's firm (1966–71) and for Anker & Hølaas (1977–85) where she became a partner. From 1985, she ran her own firm in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

. She adopted an innovative approach to residential architecture, combining high engineering standards with distinctively attractive designs. Her developments in Oslo, in a white European modernism style, include 30 townhouses on Gullkroken, 110 apartments on Hofftunet and 60 homes in Smestad. Her masterpiece is the ''Stranden'' housing complex on Aker Brygge. Completed in 1990, it consists of 120 apartments specially designed for affluent residents. Combining brick with black-painted steel, it draws on the area's shipyard architecture while integrating offices, shops and restaurants. It has been awarded several prizes including the Houen Foundation Award. After teaching for a period at the Oslo School of Architecture in the early 1990s, she went on to design residential buildings throughout the country. Brodtkorn stands out as an outstanding female architect in a profession dominated by men. In 2014, together with

Kristin Jarmund . Kristin Jarmund (born 26 September 1954) is a Norwegian architect. Education, carieer and awards Jarmund is a graduate of the Norwegian Technical University in Trondheim (Norwegian Institute of Technology) and the Architectural Association S ...

, Brodtkorb was awarded the Anders Jahres Cultural Prize for her "artistically sensitive designs and her contribution to promoting humane architecture in a socially developmental context".

References

External links

Website of Arkitektkontoret Kari Nissen Brodtkorb
in Norwegian {{DEFAULTSORT:Brodtkorb, Kari Nissen 1942 births Norwegian women architects Academic staff of the Oslo School of Architecture and Design Living people