Frits Schlegel

Mariebjerg Chapel and Crematory, 1936

Frits Schlegel (4 May 1896 - 5 March 1965) was a Functionalist Danish architect active during the transition from traditional craftsmanship to industrialized construction methods in the building industry. He was among the first architects in Denmark to experiment with poured-in-place concrete.^[1] His work was part of the architecture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.^[2]

Biography[]

Schlegel was born in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. He completed an apprenticeship as a mason in 1915 and studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1916 to 1923, winning the small gold medal in 1924 (for a stadium design) and the large gold medal in 1927 (for a university in Aarhus).^[3] After working at the offices of (1916–34) and Gudmund Nyeland Brandt (from 1920), Schlegel set up his own office in 1934 which he operated until his death in 1965.^[4]

His early works show inspiration from the French architect Auguste Perret.^[1] His most important works include Tivoli Concert Hall in the Tivoli Gardens, Mariebjerg Chapel and Overformynderiet in Copenhagen.

Particularly in the 1930s, Schlegel also designed a number of furniture lines with inspiration from the Bauhaus movement.

Selected projects[]

Ehlersvej 17

• (with Vilhelm Lauritzen, 1923)
• Søndermark Crematory, Søndermark Cemetery, Copenhagen (with , 1926–27)
• Mariebjerg Chapel (1936)
• Overformynderiet, Copenhagen (1937)
• Giraffe House, Copenhagen Zoo, Copenhagen (1939)
• Statsanstalten for Livsforsikring (with Mogens Lassen, 1950–53)
• Tivoli Concert Hall, Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen (with Hans Hansen, 1954–56)
• Bikuben building, Nørre Vold, Copenhagen (1956)

Bibliography[]

• Andersson Møller, Vibeke, Arkitekten Frits Schlegel, Arkitektens Forlag. 2004. ISBN 87-7407-300-1 / ISBN 978-87-7407-300-0 ^[3]

References[]