Nils Slaatto

{{short description|Norwegian architect (1922-2001)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Infobox architect

|name=Nils Slaatto

|nationality=Norwegian

|birth_date=22 June 1923

|birth_place=Lillehammer, Norway

|death_date=16 March 2001

|death_place=Asker, Norway

|practice= Lund+Slaatto Arkitekter

|significant_buildings=Asker Town Hall

The Ål cabin

Chateau Neuf

St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery

Det Norske Veritas I

Det Norske Veritas II

|significant_projects=

|awards=

}}

File:ChateauNeufOslo.jpg

File:St. Hallvard kirke c1987–92 OMU OMu.D0626.jpg

File:Asker raadhus main entrance 2010 05 30.JPG

Nils Slaatto (22 June 1922 – 16 March 2001) was for more than two decades one of Norway's most prominent and influential architects, having a strong and distinctive impression on Norwegian architecture. Slaatto cooperated with Kjell Lund in an architectural firm partnership for many years.{{Cite web |last=Ulf Grønvold |title=Nils Slaatto |url=https://nbl.snl.no/Nils_Slaatto |access-date=20 October 2009 |publisher=Norsk biografisk leksikon}}{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Kjell Lund |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Kjell_Lund |editor-last=Henriksen, Petter |language=Norwegian |accessdate=7 February 2010}}

Background

Nils Slaatto was born in the town of Lillehammer in Oppland county, Norway. His father, Oddmund Eindride Slaatto, was a functionalist architect in Oslo in the years between the two world wars. His mother, Anine Wollebæk, was also an architect, graduating from the University of Technology, but never practised.

During 1938–39, Nils Slaatto took carpentry at the Technical School in Oslo before he enrolled in the Norwegian Institute of Technology, Faculty of Architecture, where he graduated in 1947. The post-war period offered numerous tasks; the most demanding was the rebuilding of northern Norway, where Slaatto participated in the reconstruction of Finnmark as district architect in Vadsø Municipality and Tana Municipality from 1948 to 1950. Large parts of the area suffered major damage during the war because of the Germans' use of the scorched-earth tactic.{{Cite web |last=Elisabeth Seip |title=Nils Slaatto |url=https://nkl.snl.no/Nils_Slaatto |access-date=September 1, 2017 |publisher=Norsk kunstnerleksikon}}

Career

In 1957, Nils Slaatto and Kjell Lund, a fellow graduate from the Norwegian Institute of Technology, were invited to take part in a limited competition for an extension to the Akershus County Agricultural College at Hvam. In 1958, after winning the competition, they were able to start their architectural firm Lund & Slaatto Arkitekter AS, a partnership that lasted for three decades. As youngsters, Slaatto and fellow Lillehammer native, Lund, had both wandered around Maihaugen, an open-air museum consisting of many types of old wooden farm buildings They were influenced by this Norwegian wood architecture, adapting age-old techniques to modern production demands. An example is the "Ål cabin" in the Hallingdal Valley, designed in cooperation with Jon Haug.{{Cite web |last=Bjørn Cappelen |title=Lund & Slaatto Arkitekter AS |url=https://snl.no/Lund_%26_Slaatto_Arkitekter_AS |access-date=September 1, 2017 |publisher=Store norske leksikon}}{{Cite web |title=Firmaets Historie |url=http://www.lsa.no/historie/ |access-date=September 1, 2017 |publisher=Lund+Slaatto Arkitekter AS}}

The architectural firm of Lund & Slaatto was awarded the Houen Foundation Award for three of their designs:

St. Hallvard's Church and Monastery at Enerhauggata in Oslo, DNV GL headquarters at Høvik in Bærum, and St. Magnus Catholic Church at Romeriksgata in Lillestrøm.{{Cite web |title=Lund & Slaatto |url=https://www.arkitektur.no/houens-fonds-diplom |access-date=September 1, 2017 |publisher=Houens Fonds Diplom}}

Personal life

In 1949, Slaatto married Margit Bleken of Trondheim, the sister of the famous Norwegian artist Håkon Bleken. When they moved to Oslo, Slaatto started as the leader of the Farmers' Architectural Office.

Selected works

{{Commons category|Lund & Slaatto}}

Achievements

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • Grønvold, Ulf (1988) Lund & Slaatto (Universitetsforlaget (1988) {{ISBN|82-00-02633-7}}
  • Moe, Ingvild Simers (2006) [https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/24634 Eidsvolls plass og Studenterlunden En studie av byrommets funksjonelle, estetiske og symbolske kvaliteter med utgangspunkt i Lund og Slaattos engasjement på 1970- og 80-tallet] (Masters Theses in Art History at University of Oslo)