Vilhelm Lauritzen (1894–1984) is one of the most significant architects in the history of Denmark; he was the trail-blazing figurehead of Danish functionalism.His creations included the Nrrebro Theatre (1931–1922), Daells Varehus department store (1928–1955), Radiohuset (1936–1941), and the first airport constructed in Kastrup (1937–1939), all of which captured the distilled spirit of modern life. Other notable structures that originated from Lauritzen’s design board include the Shellhuset building (1950–51), the Danish embassy in Washington (1955–56), and Folkets Hus (1953-56), currently better known as the Vega concert venue (1958–60). In the European construction genre, the Radiohuset building and the original Kastrup Airport, both of which are currently classified, are regarded as unrivaled monuments to modernism.
Throughout his life, Vilhelm Lauritzen adhered to the principle that architecture is applied art – with equal emphasis on both ‘art’ and ‘applied’. “No life without aesthetics” was another one of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s firmly held beliefs.
Vilhelm Lauritzen mastered both daylight and artificial lighting. He consistently involved daylight in his architectural projects by including large south- and west-facing windows that neatly mixed warm sunlight with the cooler sky light flowing in through windows facing north and east. It was an approach that shifted focus from the limited wall surfaces in the room itself. People, furnishings and fittings are highlighted and shaded in the sculptural light.
Vilhelm Lauritzen upheld the idea that architecture is applied art throughout his life, emphasizing both the word “art” and the word “applied.” Another of Vilhelm Lauritzen’s strongly held convictions was that “there is no life without aesthetics.”
Vilhelm Lauritzen was skilled in both natural and synthetic lighting. He always included daylight into his architectural designs by adding expansive windows facing the south and west that skillfully blended warm sunlight with the cooler sky light entering via windows facing the north and east. It was a strategy that diverted attention away from the small amount of wall space in the actual room. The sculpted light highlights and shades people, objects, and fixtures.