Architect Lars Backer

The Birth of Norwegian Functionalism
With the construction of Restaurant Skansen, Ekeberg Restaurant and Horngården, Lars Backer introduced functionalism to Norway. Many had been waiting for the dawn of a new age – now it had come.

The mid-1920s represented a period of transition in Norway. Neoclassicism continued to dominate. Power plants, banks, residential buildings, sports facilities, museums and cinemas were marked by the legacy of antiquity. Lars Backer contributed with Frogner cinema, the beautiful Villa Larsen, and an university project in classical style. At the same time, Backer and others wrote about the necessity of a new type of architecture. The Norwegian breakthrough came in 1927 with Restaurant Skansen. Backer died only three years later at the age of 38. The exhibition sheds light on Backer’s life, his contribution to Norwegian architecture, and the time he lived in.