Kay Fisker

• Name — Kay Fisker • Born — 14 February 1893 • Birthplace — Frederiksberg, Denmark • Died — 21 June 1965 • Place of death — Copenhagen, Denmark • Significant Buildings — Aarhus University • Awards — C. F. Hansen Medal (1947) Heinrich Tessenow Medal (1964)

Kay Fisker was born on 14 February 1893 in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen. His parents were pharmacist Asmus Marius Fisker and Petra Louise Jacobsen. He entered the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 1909 and while there worked at the offices of leading Scandinavian architects such as Anthon Rosen, Sigurd Lewerentz, Gunnar Asplund, and Hack Kampmann parallel to his studies.

In 1915, in collaboration with Aage Rafn, Fisker won a competition to design the railway stations along the Almindingen-Gudhjem railway on the Danish island of Bornholm. After graduating, his career as a practising architect was dominated by numerous influential residential projects. Vestersøhus was built from 1935 to 1939 by Fisker and C. F. Møller. It instantly became a model in Denmark for the balcony and bay window blocks of the time. A key building in his production was Aarhus University (1931–43), considered to be one of the most important examples of Danish Functionalism, which he designed in collaboration with C. F. Møller, Povl Stegmann, and Carl Theodor Marius Sørensen. Kay Fisker also designed the Danish Academy in Rome. A later residential project was the Dronningegården housing estate in Copenhagen.

From 1936 to 1963 Fisker was a professor at the Royal Academy and as teacher of the school's class on housing he was known as an inspiring lecturer with great influence on Danish housing culture. In 1953 and 1957 he was a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• Railway stations, Bornholm (1915–15) • Valnøddevænget 10, Helsingør (1918) • Hornbækhus housing, Copenhagen (1922) • Vodroffsvej 2, Frederiksberg (1929) • Århus University, Århus (1932–43) • Vester Søhus housing, Copenhagen (with C. F. Møller, 1935–39) • Fogedgården, Copenhagen (194346) • Dronningegården housing, Copenhagen (with Eske Kristensen, 1943–58) • Voldparken housing, Copenhagen (with others, 1945–51) • Danish Academy in Rome, Rome, Italy (1963–65) • Illustration — Vordroffsvej 2, Frederiksberg (1930) • Illustration — The multi-storey bays and windows are typical of the Nordic funkis style • Illustration — Gullfosshus (1932). Monumental brick structures. • Illustration — Aarhus University, facade detail. • Illustration — Århus Municipal Hospital, now Aarhus University • Illustration — Århus Municipal Hospital, detail. Simple harmonious brick elements. • Illustration — Fogedgården, Copenhagen (104346= • Illustration — Dronningegården. • Illustration — Haus Fisker apartment block in Berlin (1957). Typical modernist elements. • Illustration — Ansgar Kirke, Flensburg, Germany

Kay Fisker is recorded as Kingdom of Denmark.