Roar Tønseth (1895—1985) was 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 ...

. He had an unusually long career as an architect, stretching from before 1920 to the early 1980s. Roar Tønseth was the son of Johannes Tønseth (1860-1896) and Henrikke Ryjord (1869-1940). His uncle was architect Nils Ryjord, who, in addition to his own architectural practice, played a key role in the restoration work at

Nidaros Cathedral Nidaros Cathedral () 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 ( 995–1030, reigned 1015–1028), who became the patron saint of th ...

. Tønseth married Anna Bolette ('Annikken') Aschenberg in 1926. After graduating with his

examen artium Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1 ...

, Roar Tønseth became a bricklayer apprentice to his uncle Nils Ryjord in 1913. The following year, he began studying

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 ...

at the Norwegian University of Technology. He graduated as an architect in 1919. From 1919 to 1921, Tønseth was then employed as an assistant to Professor

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and architect

Morten Anker Bachke Morten is a common male given name in Denmark and Norway. Approximately 22,138 have this name as a given name in Norway and about 52 people have it as a surname. The origin of the surname is less clear. Notable people with the name include: People ...

. Starting in 1921, he worked for two years as an assistant to architect

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. In 1923, Tønseth started his own architectural practice in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

. He designed many buildings and is notable for the number of church buildings and tourist cabins that he designed. Roar Tønseth won first prize in a number of architectural competitions during his career. Roar Tønseth was arrested and imprisoned by the occupation authorities during World War II. He was arrested on 1 March 1943 at Vollan. On 5 July 1943 he was transferred to Falstad prison camp, and on 18 March 1944 he was transferred to Grini prison camp outside Oslo, where he was held captive until peace came in May 1945. In 1937, Tønseth was elected to the board of Trondheim's Art Association, a position he continued in after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. From 1945 to 1947 he was the chairman of the association. From 1938 to 1950 he was also a member of the board of the Trondheim Museum of Art and Design.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tonseth, Roar 1895 births 1985 deaths Architects from Trondheim Vollan concentration camp survivors Falstad concentration camp survivors Grini concentration camp survivors