Julius Frederik Macody Lund (born 18 November 1863 in Stavanger

Stavanger

Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...

, died 16 December 1943 in Farsund

Farsund

is a town and municipality in the county of Vest-Agder, Norway.The town of Farsund was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 , although already recognized as a trading center in 1795...

) was a controversial Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 historian

Historian

A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

, most known and remembered for his engagement in the restoration of Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the...

.

When architect Christian Christie

Christian Christie

Eilert Christian Brodtkorb Christie was a Norwegian architect.-Personal life:He was born in Bergen as a son of customs officer Werner Hosewinckel Christie and Hansine Langsted...

 presented his ideas for a restoration of the west section and the west front, an alternative idea was published by Macody Lund, introducing the screenfront and the rose window. Both of these ideas were included in Olaf Nordhagen

Olaf Nordhagen

Johan Olaf Brochmann Nordhagen was a Norwegian architect, engineer and artist.He was born in Christiania as a son of artist Johan Nordhagen and Christine Magdalene Brochmann Johansen . He was a brother of Rolf Nordhagen and through him an uncle of Per Jonas Nordhagen...

's 1907 plan for the restoration of the cathedral.

In 1915 Macody Lund published his theory that Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral

Nidaros Cathedral is a Church of Norway cathedral located in the city of Trondheim in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. It was the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nidaros from its establishment in 1152 until its abolition in 1537. Since the Reformation, it has been the cathedral of the...

 was constructed on the basis of the ideas of the golden ratio

Golden ratio

In mathematics and the arts, two quantities are in the golden ratio if the ratio of the sum of the quantities to the larger quantity is equal to the ratio of the larger quantity to the smaller one. The golden ratio is an irrational mathematical constant, approximately 1.61803398874989...

. He gained support for this idea in the Parliament of Norway, and received financial aid from the parliament to develop an alternative proposal for the restoration of the west section and the west front, in competition with Nordhagen's work. These "system controversies" led to great delays in the work at the cathedral, as no work could be done before this dispute was settled. Macody Lund published his views in Ad Quadratum (1919). The dispute was settled in 1922, when an international experts commission rejected Macody Lund's theories. In 1923, Stortinget decided to continue the cathedral's restoration based on Nordhagen's plan. The commission's verdict was, however, without a full argumentation. Macody Lund thus saw an opportunity to continue his argument, which he published in Ad Quadratum II: Dom med præmisser over den internasjonale domskommissions dom uten præmisser (1928) ("A verdict with premises on the international experts commission's verdict without premises").

He was given a Lifetime government grant in 1929.