Karl Martin Norum (1852—1911) was a Norwegian architect, best known for his many church buildings, as well as contributions to the reconstruction after the fire in the city of Ålesund in 1904. Norum is well known for his Art Nouveau and

Dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationali ...

designs. Norum was born in 1852 in

Levanger Levanger is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the district of Innherred. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Levanger. Some of the notable villages in the municipality include Alstadhaug, Ekne ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He was educated at the Trondheim Technical College from 1872 to 1875. From 1875 to 1880, he worked for the Rørosbanen railway line as a surveyor during the construction of the railway line. In 1880, he was hired as a draftsman for the architectural firm of Jakob Digre in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

. In 1884, he was hired as an assistant in the engineering office for the city of

. In 1886, he was hired as the chief architect and designer for the architectural firm of Jakob Digre, where he worked earlier in his career. The firm had several architects and Norum worked here for 25 years. During this time, Norum was known for the

dragestil Dragestil ("Dragon Style") is a style of design and architecture that originated in Norway and was widely used principally between 1880 and 1910. It is a variant of the more embracing National Romantic style and an expression of Romantic nationali ...

style of many of the church buildings he designed such as Stangvik Church (1896),

Frei Church Frei Church ( no, Frei kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Kristiansund Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the village of Nedre Frei on the southern shore of the island of Frei. It is the church fo ...

(1897), Sortland Church (1901), Steinkjer Church (1902), Neiden Church (1902), Levanger Church (1902), Namsos Church (1903),

Buksnes Church Buksnes Church ( no, Buksnes kirke) is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Vestvågøy Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the village of Gravdal on the island of Vestvågøya. It is the church for the Buksnes pari ...

(1905), Veøy Church (1907), Holm Church (1907). He was also involved in the renovation of the Hammerfest Church in 1892. In Trondheim, Norum was also the designer of a number of public and industrial buildings such as the Britannia Hotel (1895), Mathesongården (1898), Hjorten Revue and Variety Theater restaurant (1899), the Bødtker family's villa Kvernbekken (1902), the local

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge, often termed a private lodge or constituent lodge, is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also commonly used as a term for a building in which such a unit meets. Every new lodge must be warranted or chartered ...

, Trondheim hospital on Øya (1902), the main post office (1911), and Tollboden (1911). Most were in designed in an Art Nouveau and built out of stone. While working in Ålesund (1904–1907) to rebuild after a city-wide fire, he was the architect of almost ten buildings, perhaps the most famous being the wide apartment building (located at Kongens gt. 10B) which is the country's narrowest apartment building. He also designed the commercial building "Carl E. Rønneberg & Sønner" on Noteneset.

Media gallery

Schmalstes Haus in Ålesund.jpg, Narrow building in Ålesund Nordre gate 9 Trondheim.jpg, Nordre gate 9 in Trondheim Britannia Trondheim.jpg, Britannia Hotel in Trondheim Gravdal-Buksnes-Stabkirche-08-2019-gje.jpg,

Vestvågøy Vestvågøy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Lofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Leknes. Some of the villages in the municipality include Ballstad, Borg, ...

Frei Kirke 3.jpg,

Kristiansund Kristiansund (, ; historically spelled Christianssund and earlier named Fosna) is a municipality on the western coast of Norway in the Nordmøre district of Møre og Romsdal county. The administrative center of the municipality is the town of ...

Frimurerlosjen Trondheim II.jpg, Trondheim

Hjorten Revy- og Varietéteater - Ilevolden 15 (8464054331).jpg, Hjorten Revue and Variety theatre Holm-kirke-Rauma-2.jpg, Holm Church in Rauma Hovedpostkontoret, Sør-Trøndelag - Riksantikvaren-T324 01 0832.jpg, Main post office in Trondheim Building at Olav Tryggvasons gate 14, Trondheim 20150605 1.jpg, Mathesongården building in Trondheim Neiden kirke i Sør-Varanger NV.JPG, Neiden Church in

Sør-Varanger Sør-Varanger ( sme, Máttá-Várjjat, fkv, Etelä-Varenki, fi, Etelä-Varanki, russian: Сёр-Вара́нгер/Syor-Varánger) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town ...

Sortland kyrkje cropped.jpg, Sortland Church in

Sortland or is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Vesterålen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Sortland. Other population centres in Sortland include Bø, Holand, Holmstad, ...

Stangvik kyrkje3.jpg, Stangvik Church in

Surnadal Surnadal () is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Nordmøre region. The administrative centre is the village of Skei. Other villages in Surnadal include Glærem, Mo, Stangvik, Surnadalsøra, Sylte, Todalsø ...

Tollboden i Trondheim.jpg, Tollboden building in Trondheim Veoy-church-Molde-Norway.jpg, Veøy Church in Molde

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norum, Karl Martin 1852 births 1911 deaths Norwegian ecclesiastical architects Architects from Trondheim