Johan Olaf Brochmann Nordhagen (16 March 1883 – 6 November 1925) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

educator,

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 ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

and

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

. He is most commonly associated with his restoration designs for

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral ( no, Nidarosdomen / Nidaros Domkirke) is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county. It is built over the burial site of Olav II of Norway, King Olav II (c. 995–1030, reigned 1015–102 ...

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 ...

, Norway.

Biography

Olaf Nordhagen was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was a son of painter and artist

Johan Nordhagen Johan Nordhagen (23 March 1856 – 28 August 1956) was a Norwegian painter, graphic artist, educator and school administrator. Childhood Johan Nordhagen was born in Veldre in the Ringsaker municipality of Hedmark, Norway. He was the son of ...

(1856–1956) and Christine Magdalene Brochmann Johansen (1858–1933). He was a brother of botanist Rolf Nordhagen and through him an uncle of art historian

Per Jonas Nordhagen Per Jonas Nordhagen (born 30 October 1929) is a Norwegian art historian. He was born in Bergen as a son of professor Rolf Nordhagen (1894–1979) and Elisabeth Marie Myhre (1900–1979). He was a grandson of Johan Nordhagen and nephew of Olaf N ...

. In April 1909 in

Ådal Ådal is a valley in the municipality of Ringerike (municipality), Ringerike and was a former municipality in Buskerud County, Norway. The municipality was created in 1857 by a split from Norderhov. At that time Ådal had a population of 2,382. O ...

he married Thora Hval (1887–1960). Nordhagen was educated as an engineer at Christiania tekniske skole in Oslo and worked as an apprentice to architect Bredo Greve for several years before studying at the

Royal Danish Academy of Art The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi - Billedkunst Skolerne) has provided education in the arts for more than 250 years, playing its part in the development of the art of Denmark. History The Royal Dani ...

while also assisting

Martin Nyrop Martin Nyrop (11 November 1849 18 May 1921) was a Danish architect. Early life and education Nyrop was born on 11 November 1849 at Holmsland, Ringkøbing, the son of parish priest Christopher Nyrop (1805–1879) and Helene Ahlmann (1807–1874). ...

with his designs for

Copenhagen City Hall Copenhagen City Hall ( da, Københavns Rådhus) is the headquarters of the Copenhagen City Council as well as the Lord mayor of the Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. The building is situated on City Hall Square in central Copenhagen. Architect ...

. Nordhagen returned to Oslo in 1906 and accepted a number of smaller commissions. His breakthrough, however, came when he won the competition to build the

Bergen Public Library Bergen Public Library ( no, Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek) is a library building and public library institution in Bergen, Norway. Founded in 1872, it is the second largest public library in Norway. In addition to the main building in Bergen's city ...

(''Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek'') in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

(''Jugendstil''), for which he also won the Houen Fund prize (''Houens fonds premie''). Nordhagen designed a number of industrial structures including transformer stations and power plants, including Såheim Hydroelectric Power Station in

Rjukan Rjukan () is a town and the administrative centre of Tinn municipality in Telemark, Norway. It is situated in Vestfjorddalen, between Møsvatn and Lake Tinn, and got its name after Rjukan Falls west of the town. The Tinn municipality council grant ...

(with

Thorvald Astrup Thorvald Astrup (18 May 1876 – 12 August 1940) was a Norwegian architect, particularly known for industrial architecture. He was born in Kristiania (now Oslo), Norway. He was the son of city captain Harald Astrup and Johanne Emilie Smith. ...

). He also designed several churches and completed considerable research around Norwegian traditional architecture. Dating from 1913, he was also a professor at 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 Trondheim. Following the death in 1906 of architect

Christian Christie Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie (24 December 1832 – 13 September 1906) was a Norwegian architect. Personal life He was born in Bergen as a son of customs officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie (1785–1872) and Hansine Langsted (1802–1864) ...

, Nordhagen took over the restoration designs of the

, which he continued until his own death in 1925. His tendency to reinterpret

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

designs rather than seek a faithful reproduction of the original was controversial at the time but was carried out.

Notable projects

*Såheim power station -

Tinn Tinn is a municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional regions of Upper Telemark and Øst-Telemark. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Rjukan. The parish of ''T ...

(1911) *Vemork power station -

Telemark Telemark is a traditional region, a former county, and a current electoral district in southern Norway. In 2020, Telemark merged with the former county of Vestfold to form the county of Vestfold og Telemark. Telemark borders the traditional ...

(1911) *Årlifoss power station -

(1915) *Glomfjord power station -

Meløy Meløy is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the Salten traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Ørnes. Other villages include Eidbukta, Neverdal, Glomfjord, Halsa, Reipå, Stø ...

(1920) *Follafoss power station-

Verran Verran is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1901 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was divided between Steinkjer Municipality and Indre Fosen Municipality. It was part of the Innherred region ...

(1923)

Gallery

File:Såheim Rjukan II.jpg , Såheim power plant File:Vemork main building.jpg , Vemork power station File:Glomfjord_hydroelectric_power_plant.JPG, Glomfjord power plant File:Follafoss kraftverk (10152917953).jpg , Follafoss power plant

References

External links

''Olaf Nordhagen at Kunsthistorie''''Olaf Nordhagen at NTNU Universitetsbiblioteket''
Norwegian University of Science and Technology faculty {{DEFAULTSORT:Nordhagen, Olaf 1883 births 1925 deaths 20th-century Norwegian architects 20th-century Norwegian engineers 20th-century Norwegian male artists Norwegian educators Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts alumni Art Nouveau architects