Hack Kampmann (6 September 1856 – 27 June 1920) was a Danish
architect, Royal Inspector of Listed State Buildings in
Jutland and professor at the architecture department of the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Marselisborg Palace in
Aarhus, built between 1899 and 1902, is among his best known works.
[1][2]
Biography
His parents were Christian Peter Georg Kampmann, a parish priest, and Johanne Marie Schmidt. He entered the architecture department of the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1873 and graduated in 1882, receiving the school's prestigious small gold medal ("Lille guldmedalje") for the design of a "Swimming bath in the Italian Renaissance style".
Kampmann went on numerous study trips throughout Europe, paid for by several scholarships, including northern
Italy,
Greece and
Sweden. He also attended the
École des Beaux-Arts in
Paris in 1882 and worked with professor
Jacques Hermant.
Back home in Denmark, he became a prolific architect, designing private villas, private art museums, commercial buildings, churches, as well as both small state buildings, such as post offices, and large ones such as royal palaces. Among his major works are the Provincial Archives of Northern Jutland (1890–91) in Viborg, Jutland; the
Aarhus Theatre (1898–1900);
Marselisborg Palace (built 1899–1902 as a wedding gift from the people to Crown Prince Christian (later
Christian X); the extension to the
Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen; and the
Copenhagen Police Headquarters, Copenhagen (1918–1922).[3]
Kampmann was initially one of the leading Danish proponents of
National Romantic style. However, during the 1920s he adopted the
Nordic Classicism style, becoming one of its main initiators. One of his more notable works is one of the culminations of the style, the Police Headquarters in Copenhagen (1918–22) (in a team with Aage Rafn, Holger Jacobsen and F. Fredriksen) was among the initiators of 1920s
Nordic Classicism. This last building was completed after his death in summer 1920 by his two sons, Christian and Hans Jørgen Kampmann, together with Rafn. Kampmann also was responsible for a number of building restoration projects, notably
Aarhus Cathedral (1907–20).
As professor of architecture at the architecture department of the
Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts from 1908 to 1918 he lectured on domestic architecture as well as the great architecture of the world, especially the visual effects of the Greek temple. In his watercolours he managed to capture the overall impression; the characteristic "wet style" seen in the watercolours of Aage Rafn, Steen Eiler Rasmussen and Aarne Jacobsen goes back to Kampmann. Kampmann is one of the most influential architects in Danish architectural history.[4]