Kjetil Trædal Thorsen is a Norwegian

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 ...

. In 1987, he co-founded the architecture firm

Snøhetta Snøhetta is the highest mountain in the Dovrefjell mountain range in Norway. At , it is the highest mountain in Norway outside the Jotunheimen range, making it the 24th highest peak in Norway, based on a topographic prominence cutoff. At , i ...

History

Thorsen was born on 14 June 1958 on the Norwegian coastal island of

Karmøy Karmøy is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is southwest of the town of Haugesund in the traditional district of Haugaland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Kopervik. Most of the municipality lies on ...

. After several years in Germany and England, he studied

architecture 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 construction, constructi ...

in Graz, Austria. He had practiced at the office of Espen Tharaldsen (Arbeidsgruppen Hus) in Bergen (1982–1983), Ralph Erskine in Stockholm (1983–1984) and David Sandved in

Haugesund Haugesund () is a municipalities of Norway, municipality and List of towns and cities in Norway, town on the North Sea in Rogaland county, Norway. As of December 2023, the municipality of Haugesund has a population of 37,855. The vast majority of ...

(1985). In 1987, he formed an architectural practice in Oslo with a group of young architects. They named it Snøhetta after the tallest mountain in the Dovrefjell National Park.

Designs

Thorsen led several award-winning design competitions for public buildings around the world. He led the Snøhetta teams designing the museum built for the Winter Olympics in

Lillehammer, Norway Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, the 2007

Serpentine Gallery The Serpentine Galleries are two contemporary art galleries in Kensington Gardens, Westminster, Greater London. Recently rebranded to just Serpentine, the organisation is split across Serpentine South, previously known as the Serpentine Galler ...

temporary Pavilion in London designed with

Olafur Eliasson Olafur Eliasson (; born 5 February 1967) is an Icelandic–Danish artist known for sculptured and large-scaled installation art employing elemental materials such as light, water, and air temperature to enhance the viewer's experience. In 1995, ...

, the new

Bibliotheca Alexandrina The Bibliotheca Alexandrina (Latin, 'Library of Alexandria'; , ) (BA) is a major library and cultural center on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt. It is a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria, once one of the larg ...

library in Alexandria, Egypt, and the new

Oslo Opera House The Oslo Opera House () is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera house in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by S ...

in Oslo, Norway. He was a founder of Norway's foremost architecture gallery, Galleri Rom in 1986.

Associations

Thorsen had been a professor at the Institute for Experimental Studies in Architecture of the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

since 2004.He will Chair the Holcim Foundation Awards 2025 jury for region Europe.

Decorations and honorary degrees

*2008 Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St Olav *2010

Global Award for Sustainable Architecture The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture is an international architecture founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. Description Each year, the award honors five architects who "contribute to a more equitable and sustainable d ...

*2011 Honorary doctor (dr.h.c.) of

Norwegian University of Science and Technology The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Norway and the largest in terms of enrollment. The university's headquarters is located in Trondheim (city), Trondheim, with region ...

(NTNU) *2013 Prince Eugen Medal for architecture

References

Sources

External links

Snøhetta official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorsen, Kjetil 1958 births Living people Architects from Oslo Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck