Norum, Carl

Karl Norum was born in a poor family, his father was a farmer, his mother died when he was four years old, raised by his father and stepmother.

Karl Norum was educated at the Trondheim Technical School in 1872-1875. The school was the forge of many prominent Norwegian architects, but it provided an unfinished architectural background. According to the existing educational system, it was necessary to complete education abroad, mainly in German universities, but the family of Karl Norum had no means for this. Subsequently, Norum was not only a teacher in the school, but also as a member of the city council, he took part at the national level in journalistic controversy and lobbying for the creation of the Technical Institute of Norway on the basis of the school in Trondheim, as opposed to the votes of the supporters of the institute in Oslo. It was the first of its kind educational institution established in the country.

In 1875-1880 he worked as a surveyor in the construction of railways.

Despite the formal absence of architectural education in 1880, Norum was adopted as a draftsman at the construction firm of Jacob Digre. Jacob Digre started as an ordinary carpenter at the Trondheim shipyards, later he opened his company, which became one of the largest construction companies in Norway of his time, specializing in the construction of stone and wooden buildings. Digre had its own sawmill, a carpentry factory and a design bureau dealing with architectural and design tasks ^[1] . Jacob Digres Ferdighusfabrik’s Jacob Digres enterprise was one of the three leaders in the prefab wooden houses factory. The other two are “M. Thams & Co ^[2] and Strømmen Trævarefabrik ^[3] . Jacob Digre had five sons who were engaged in family business, the eldest son Juhan Digre was educated at the Danish Royal Academy in Copenhagen and was the chief architect of the enterprise ^[4] . Karl Norum was an apprentice of Johan Digre. Johan Digre died in 1886 at the age of 42, after which Norum took the post of chief architect. In this position, Karl Norum worked until the end of his life, for 25 years ^[5] .

“Villa Shuren” is the first independent architectural work of Karl Norum, it was implemented in 1880-1881 and survived to the present day. The wooden villa was purchased by the widow of a rich merchant, all designs are made in the factory Digre. The building is made in an original style, combining elements of a Swiss chalet, neo-Gothic and the influence of national romanticism, in its content it is close to dragestil, but there are no dragon heads in decorative elements ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

In 1888, the Digre prefabricated house for the Noruma project was presented at in Copenhagen. The house was awarded a medal, it was made in the Norwegian traditions of wooden construction, but as was the case with the “Villa Schuren”, there were no dragon motifs in decorative elements ^[5] . Now it is located on the territory of the Tivoli amusement park , at Copenhagen, 10 Tietgensgade ^[9] .

Being the chief architect at the Digre factory, Karl Norum developed at least 16 types of wooden prefabricated houses ^[6] , some of these works made in dragestil made their unique contribution to the architectural appearance of Balestrann ^[10] . In 1890, according to the Noruma project, the Villa Normann was designed for the artist Adelsten Norman at the Digre factory. The villa was built in Balestraранna, where in the summer months the artist painted paintings with picturesque fjords. The villa is a wooden building in dragestil with a large number of carved parts, some elements are painted with white paint, the walls themselves are painted with red Falun . Even in the process of construction, the villa became the object of attention of local residents. After the end of construction work, its popularity only increased, and the construction of coastal villas in this style became the local architectural fashion ^{[11] [12]} . Almost at the same time, the “Villa Stranheim” was built by landscape painter Hans Dahl , who was a friend and classmate at the Düsseldorf Academy of Adelsten Norman ^{[13] [14]} . The local nature attracted not only Norwegians, but also foreigners, Balestrand was popular with the British, Americans and Germans. In 1906, "Kuperhuset" was built - a residential house and workshop ( studio ) of the English landscape painter , it was made in dragistil, but with some elements typical of English traditions. From the 1990s to 2014, Cooper's home served as a location for the Norwegian Museum of Tourism ^{[15] [16]} . In 1907, “Villa Balderslund” was built, it belonged to a rich American woman from Philadelphia, Gertrude Abbott, known for her donations for the construction of the Church of St. Olaf ^{[17] [18]} .

Karl Norum was successful in building churches. In the years 1895-1897, Frey Church was built in the Dragestyle in the commune of the same name . The two stone churches of Norum in Steinhier and Namsus were destroyed in 1940 during the bombing of World War II ^[19] . Norum also collaborated with other architects on the wooden churches in Sortland and Stangwick.

In 1902, according to the Norum project, a church was built in his hometown - the . In 1899, the Noruma project was chosen to build a new church. It is not known whether he received any preferences, but a stone building was a prerequisite for the competition, since over the past thirty years, two previous wooden buildings of the city church had burned down in a fire.

One of the most famous works of Karl Norum is the , built in dragestil. In 1898, 26 families from Neiden , located in Finnmark , on the border lands with Finland and Russia, turned to the authorities with a request to build a chapel and a cemetery. The authorities decided to build a church with 155 seats in the national-romantic dragon style. On the one hand, the authorities feared Russian-Finnish expansion, including cultural and religious missionary, and the Norum project was supposed to emphasize Norwegian solidarity and national unity in the border lands ^{[20] [21]} . On the other hand, it should be noted that the local population were mainly Kvens and Sami-Skolts , and the decision to build an artsy church in the national style was carried out in the context of the Norwegian policy being pursued ^[22] . The wooden building was constructed at the Digre factory in the vicinity of Trondheim, it took several years to deliver and assemble the parts, the church was consecrated in 1902. The building of the church has a number of common features, with the buildings of the villas in Balestranna ^[6] . Later Norum and Digre were built three more wooden churches, sustained in the same style ^[22] .

In 1905, the construction of the Buxnes Church (Buksnes kirke) in Gravdale on the Lofoten Islands was completed . The construction issue arose after the previous building of the local church burned down as a result of lightning. In the construction of the church, the same architectural techniques were used as in Naiden, but the church in Gravdal has a larger size and is designed for 800 people. Additional measures were also taken to protect the building from storms ^[23] .

In 1907, two more churches were built - the Veøy Kirke Church in Molde and the Holm Kirke Church in Ryoum. They are not only similar to the churches in Nijden and Gravdal, but are also an exact copy of each other, probably based on the same drawings. The churches are located in neighboring communes on the opposite shores of the Langefjørden fjord. Previously, the locals were parishioners of the Old Church of Vej, which is located on the island of Vej. The old stone church was built around 1200 and was a parish church in the county . It could only be reached by swimming in boats, which caused certain inconveniences, and over time its use became inexpedient, and with the completion of the construction of new churches, it was transformed into a museum ^[24] .

In 1899, a variety theater and restaurant “ ” (Hjorten Revy) was built in Trondheim. "Yorten Revue" consisted of a number of buildings and had a large backyard garden, where revue was held in the summer, the main building was mainly used as a restaurant. The building was built in a pronounced dragestil, it is the only known building built by Norum from wood and in this style in Trondheim. The building designed by Karl Norum replaced the old one that had served since the establishment of the institution in 1867. The new theater was built on a new site, but as a former building it was located in the district . In those days, this area of ​​the city was sparsely inhabited, and was considered a city center of entertainment, due to the large number of places of entertainment. "Yorten Review" belonged to German citizens, who established business relations with similar institutions from other cities, in particular from Hamburg and Berlin. Invited foreign artists and musicians often performed on the stage. The last performance was given in 1947, the restaurant continued to operate until 1955, after which it was also closed. The dilapidated and unused building stood for several more years, and was demolished in 1961, and in its place a nursing home was built.

Several stone buildings designed by Norum in Trondheim are in neo-baroque style, influenced by historicism . Among them are the five-star Britania Hotel (1895), the house of the merchant Matheson (1896–1898), the building of the Trondheim Masonic Lodge (1900–1902, together with architect L. Solberg and J. Christensen) ^[5] .

In 1903, a store building was built on one of the main streets of Trondheim at Nordre gate 9. The building is one of the characteristic examples of Art Nouveau architecture in the city. The four-storey building is painted with yellow plaster. Later, the facade of the building was redesigned, as a result of which the original round windows on the ground floor were lost.

Then Karl Norum was involved in the restoration work in Alesund. After returning to Trondheim, the customs buildings (1910) ^[25] and the main post office (1909–1911) ^[26] were constructed in the modernist style.

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  Trondheim Masonic Lodge, Kongens gate 3

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  House of the merchant Mateson, Olav Tryggvasons gate 14

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  Store building, Nordre gate 9

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  Main Post Office Building, Dronningens gate 10

In 1904-1907, Karl Norum worked in Alesund among other architects who rebuilt the city after a that occurred on the night of January 24, 1904. About 30 architects and 20 construction firms worked on the restoration of the city, and all buildings were erected in the modernist style (Art Nouveau, Jugendstil). According to Norum’s projects, up to ten buildings were constructed in the city. The most famous of them is located at Kongens gate 10 B, it is known not because of architectural delights, but is considered the narrowest residential building in Norway ^[27] . The width of the building is 2 m 94 cm, it was built in view of the firewall type of building. On the ground floor there was a tinsmith workshop by the name of Larsen, the two upper floors were used as living quarters.

Another famous building designed by Norum in Alesund is located on Notenes gate 9 (“Rønnebergbua”). The building was built for the company “Carl E. Rønneberg & Sønner” and belonged to the family of Ronnenberg, one of the oldest and most influential merchant dynasties in the city. The facade of the building is painted with white plaster, the walls are partially lined with rough natural stone, a similar technique was used in the construction of the main post office in Trondheim ^[28] .

• Norsk biografisk leksikon: Karl Norum (Nor.)
• Norsk kunstnerleksikon: Karl Norum (Nor.)
• Strinda historielag: Karl Norum (Nor.)
• artemisia.no: Arkitekter: Karl Martin Norum (1852–1911) (Nor.)