Henrik Bull

Henrik Bull ( born March 28, 1864 in Christiania (now Oslo), † June 2, 1953 in Oslo) was a Norwegian architect.

The son of the town planner Georg Andreas Bull and nephew of the violinist Ole Bull was educated at Christiania Tekniske Skole ( 1883-84 ) of his native city and at the Royal Institute of Technology ( 1884-87 ) in Berlin- Charlottenburg. His first architectural firm he opened in the age of 24 in 1888 in Oslo.

Earlier in his career he made a name for himself as a church architect. He designed among other things, influenced by the North German brick Gothic architecture St. Paul's Church (1889-1892) in the Oslo district Grunerløkka. The wooden church of Uvdal (1893, Buskerud ) is strongly influenced by the so-called dragon style of those years and thus is similar to the Norwegian stave churches of the Middle Ages.

Around the turn of the century Bull created three distinctive buildings in central Oslo. His Nationaltheatret ( 1891-99 ) combines rather idiosyncratic way, the sense of form of Art Nouveau with aspects of Neo-Classicism and Neo-Rococo. An even more significant influence of Art Nouveau, whom he had met during his years in Berlin, have the Historical Museum (1898-1902) and only partially realized his plans Government buildings (1899-1906, now Ministry of Finance) on. Bulls effort directed at this time on developing the German - Austrian variety of Art Nouveau using typical elements of his native country (eg the animal ornament ) to a specific Norwegian Art Nouveau. After the death of the Norwegian architect Christian Christie in 1906, Bull was also temporarily involved in the reconstruction of Nidarosdomes in Trondheim.

Under Bulls later works several neo-baroque villas in the west of Oslo and the winter studio of his friend the painter Edvard Munch in Ekely (1929 ) are noteworthy.

At times, Bull has also worked as an interior architect and designer of consumer goods. In 1900 he won at the World Exhibition in Paris a gold medal for a building designed by him dining room. Its 1911 for the Oslo company Freia chocolate bar designed Lohengrin, which was initially available only at the National Theatre, was declared a national treasure in 2009. Between 1912 and 1934, Bull was director of the State handicraft and industrial art school.