Frode Rinnan
Encyclopedia
Frode Rinnan was a Norwegian architect and politician for the Labour Party
.
as a son of ship inspector Carl Julius Rinnan (1881–1963) and his wife Thonny Nielsen (1880–1975). After finishing
his secondary education in 1925, he enrolled at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
where he graduated in architecture in 1930. He chaired the Student Society in Trondheim in the autumns of 1928 and 1929. He worked as an assistant of architect Ole Øvergaard
from 1931 to 1932, before working in the publishing house Fram Forlag
for a year. He was a member of the revolutionary socialist group Mot Dag
and the pacifist group Clarté
. He was also active in Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund
with planning of sports venues.
He later worked in HSB
in Gothenburg
before starting his own architect's office Rinnan og Tveten together with Olav Tveten
. During the German occupation of Norway, which started in 1940, Rinnan joined the Norwegian resistance movement
. He was arrested on 11 June 1941 for working on an illegal newspaper. He was imprisoned at Møllergata 19
until July 1941, then at Grini concentration camp until April 1942, then at Møllergata again until August 1943, then at Grini again until 30 September 1943. He was then shipped to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
, where he was incarcerated until the war's end.
(in 1961 the department became the Oslo School of Architecture
. Also, he soon became famous for his own works. He was hired by the state to conduct work for the 1952 Winter Olympics
, and designed the Holmenkollen ski jump
, the speed skating arena Bislett Stadion
and the ice hockey arena Jordal Amfi
. He was also a consultant for the sports department of Oslo municipality, and designed the swimming arena Frognerbadet
and the indoor multi-sports arena Njårdhallen
. Holmenkollen and Bislett have since been torn down and rebuilt (2008 and 2004 respectively).
In the 1950s and 1960s Rinnan worked with several grand building projects for Oslo municipality. He planned several entirely new neighborhoods in the city, including Tveita
and Lambertseter
; the latter called "the first Norwegian dormitory town". For the Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag he and Olav Tveten designed housing co-operatives at Nordre Åsen, Keyserløkka
, Valle-Hovin
, Teisen
, Oppsal
, Haugerud
, Trosterud
and Hovseter
between 1948 and 1976. Rinnan also worked with the University of Oslo
's expansion at Blindern
between 1958 and 1963.
Rinnan also continued the political work. He represented the Norwegian Labour Party
in Oslo city council from 1956 to 1963. Together with left-wingers such as Karl Evang
, Vilhelm Aubert
, Kristian Gleditsch
, Johan Vogt
and Reidar Aulie
, Rinnan discussed starting a new, fortnightly publication to represent the leftist opposition within the Labour Party. It did not happen, but some of the people involved later started Orientering
. Rinnan had formerly been an editorial board member of the periodical Plan, from 1933 to 1936. From 1959 to 1963 he presided over the National Association of Norwegian Architects; he became an honorary member here in 1980.
Rinnan was married twice. He died in February 1997 in Oslo.
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
.
Early career
He was born in TrondhjemTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
as a son of ship inspector Carl Julius Rinnan (1881–1963) and his wife Thonny Nielsen (1880–1975). After finishing
Examen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...
his secondary education in 1925, he enrolled at the Norwegian Institute of Technology
Norwegian Institute of Technology
The Norwegian Institute of Technology, known by its Norwegian abbrevation NTH was a science institute in Trondheim, Norway. It was established in 1910, and existed as an independent technical university for 85 years, after which it was merged into the University of Trondheim as an independent...
where he graduated in architecture in 1930. He chaired the Student Society in Trondheim in the autumns of 1928 and 1929. He worked as an assistant of architect Ole Øvergaard
Ole Øvergaard
Ole Bernhard Øvergaard was a Norwegian architect.Ole Bernhard Øvergaard was born in Fredrikstad, in Østfold county, Norway. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1916. Important buildings designed by Øvergaard include the Norwegian Radium Hospital...
from 1931 to 1932, before working in the publishing house Fram Forlag
Fram Forlag
Fram Forlag was a Norwegian publishing company. It was established as a publishing house for the organization Mot Dag in 1929, with Erling Falk as the founder and Torolf Elster as an early associate. The company was taken over by Tiden Norsk Forlag in 1936....
for a year. He was a member of the revolutionary socialist group Mot Dag
Mot Dag
Mot Dag was a Norwegian periodical and a communist organization with the same name.It was established in 1921 under the initiative of Erling Falk, partly with origins in the debate forum in the Social Democratic student government in Oslo ; partly from a Falk-led study circle which from 1919...
and the pacifist group Clarté
Clarté (Norway)
Clarté was a socialist and pacifist organisation in Norway.It was founded in 1925, and had its roots in a French-based international organization of the same name...
. He was also active in Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund
Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund
Arbeidernes Idrettsforbund was a sporting organization in Norway between 1924 and 1946. As of 1935, AIF had around 50,000 members. AIF published the magazine Arbeideridrett.-Foundation and early growth:...
with planning of sports venues.
He later worked in HSB
HSB (Sweden)
HSB is a cooperative association for housing in Sweden. Members of the association are HSB's customers, i.e. individuals or groups that have bought properties from HSB. Any entity that buys any property from HSB will automatically become a member....
in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
before starting his own architect's office Rinnan og Tveten together with Olav Tveten
Olav Tveten
Olav Tveten was a Norwegian architect.He was born in Bærum, and finished his education at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1932. From 1935 he had his own architect's office in Oslo together with Frode Rinnan...
. During the German occupation of Norway, which started in 1940, Rinnan joined the Norwegian resistance movement
Norwegian resistance movement
The Norwegian resistance to the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany began after Operation Weserübung in 1940 and ended in 1945. It took several forms:...
. He was arrested on 11 June 1941 for working on an illegal newspaper. He was imprisoned at Møllergata 19
Møllergata 19
Møllergata 19 is an address in Oslo, Norway where the city's main police station and jail was located. The address gained notoriety during the German occupation from 1940 to 1945, when the Nazi security police kept its headquarters here...
until July 1941, then at Grini concentration camp until April 1942, then at Møllergata again until August 1943, then at Grini again until 30 September 1943. He was then shipped to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
, where he was incarcerated until the war's end.
Post-war career
After the war Rinnan became a teacher in the department of architecture at the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art IndustryNorwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry
The Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry was established in 1818.In 1996 the National Academy of Craft and Art Industry became part of Oslo National Academy of the Arts .-Noted alumni:-External links:*...
(in 1961 the department became the Oslo School of Architecture
Oslo School of Architecture and Design
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design, AHO, is one of Norway's three architectural schools.AHO is an autonomous institution within the Norwegian university system. The school was established directly after World War II as a «crisis course» for students of architecture who were unable to finish...
. Also, he soon became famous for his own works. He was hired by the state to conduct work for the 1952 Winter Olympics
1952 Winter Olympics
The 1952 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VI Olympic Winter Games, took place in Oslo, Norway, from 14 to 25 February 1952. Discussions about Oslo hosting the Winter Olympic Games began as early as 1935; the city wanted to host the 1948 Games, but World War II made that impossible...
, and designed the Holmenkollen ski jump
Holmenkollen ski jump
Holmenkollbakken is a large ski jumping hill located at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. It has a hill size of HS134, a construction point of K-120, and a capacity for 30,000 spectators. Holmenkollen has hosted the Holmenkollen Ski Festival since 1892, which since 1980 have been part of the FIS Ski...
, the speed skating arena Bislett Stadion
Bislett stadion
Bislett Stadion is a sports stadium in Oslo, Norway. Bislett is Norway's most well known sports arena internationally, with 15 speed skating world records and more than 50 track and field world records having been set here...
and the ice hockey arena Jordal Amfi
Jordal Amfi
Jordal Amfi is an indoor sporting arena located in Oslo, Norway. The capacity of the arena is 4,450 and was opened in 1952. It is the home arena of the Vålerenga ice hockey team.-History:Jordal Amfi is one of Norway's most legendary sporting arenas...
. He was also a consultant for the sports department of Oslo municipality, and designed the swimming arena Frognerbadet
Frognerbadet
Frognerbadet is a pool complex in the borough of Frogner in Oslo, Norway. It was designed by architect Frode Rinnan.Located adjacent to Frognerparken, it opened in 1956, and doubles as a public bath and swimming pool and a professional swimming venue. Also, the festival Norwegian Wood is hosted...
and the indoor multi-sports arena Njårdhallen
Njårdhallen
Njårdhallen is an indoor sports arena located in Vestre Aker, Oslo, Norway. It was designed by architect Frode Rinnan.It was opened in 1960, and designed by Frode Rinnan. It is mainly used by the sports club Njård for indoor sports such as basketball and handball. Formerly, mainly in the 1960s and...
. Holmenkollen and Bislett have since been torn down and rebuilt (2008 and 2004 respectively).
In the 1950s and 1960s Rinnan worked with several grand building projects for Oslo municipality. He planned several entirely new neighborhoods in the city, including Tveita
Tveita
Tveita is a neighborhood in the borough of Alna in Oslo, Norway.The area was built up between 1963 and 1967. It is served by the station Tveita on the Oslo Metro, and among the facilities is a shopping mall.-References:...
and Lambertseter
Lambertseter
Lambertseter is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway, and is part of the borough of Nordstrand.Lambertseter was built over a short period starting from 1951, and was the very first modern suburb of Oslo...
; the latter called "the first Norwegian dormitory town". For the Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag he and Olav Tveten designed housing co-operatives at Nordre Åsen, Keyserløkka
Keyserløkka
Keyserløkka is a neighborhood in the borough of Grünerløkka in Oslo, Norway.It was originally farmland under Tøyen. In 1850 it was given to professor Rudolf Keyser. It was later sold to the municipality, and built up with larger buildings between 1949 and 1956.-References:...
, Valle-Hovin
Valle-Hovin
Valle-Hovin is a neighborhood in Oslo, Norway, best known for the sports and music venue of the same name.It consists of two neighborhoods with unclear boundaries, Valle and Hovin. Valle was a farm under Nonneseter but was bought by privates in 1765; the farm Hovin was probably under Torshov, then...
, Teisen
Teisen
Teisen is a neighborhood in the borough of Alna in Oslo, Norway.It was a residential area in the 19th century, but from the 1950s it was built up with apartment blocks....
, Oppsal
Oppsal
Oppsal is a suburb in the borough of Østensjø in Oslo, Norway.The modern history of Oppsal starts with villas and summer homes built during the Interwar period. The Oslo Tramway was extended to Oppsal in 1926....
, Haugerud
Haugerud, Oslo
Haugerud is a neighborhood in the borough of Alna in Oslo, Norway.Its origin was a farm of the same name. It first had a private owner in 1670. Some of the land was parceled out in the early 1900s, and the rest of the land was bought by the municipality in 1947, and built up with apartment blocks...
, Trosterud
Trosterud
Trosterud is a neighborhood in Alna borough in Oslo, Norway.The neighborhood is known for its tall yellow housing blocks and the fresh water lake Lutvann is located there. The population of Trosterud today is a mixture of different nationalities and ethnicities...
and Hovseter
Hovseter
Hovseter is a neighborhood in the borough of Vestre Aker in Oslo, Norway.It was mainly built up in the 1970s. It is served by the station Hovseter on the Oslo Metro, and the Norwegian National Road 168 passes near.-References:...
between 1948 and 1976. Rinnan also worked with the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
's expansion at Blindern
Blindern
Blindern is the main campus of the University of Oslo, located in Nordre Aker in Oslo, Norway.-The campus:Most of the departments of the University of Oslo are located at Blindern; other, smaller campuses include Sentrum , Gaustad , St...
between 1958 and 1963.
Rinnan also continued the political work. He represented the Norwegian Labour Party
Norwegian Labour Party
The Labour Party is a social-democratic political party in Norway. It is the senior partner in the current Norwegian government as part of the Red-Green Coalition, and its leader, Jens Stoltenberg, is the current Prime Minister of Norway....
in Oslo city council from 1956 to 1963. Together with left-wingers such as Karl Evang
Karl Evang
Karl Evang was a Norwegian physician and civil servant.He was born in Kristiania as a son of assisting secretary Jens Ingolf Evang and Anna Beate Wexelsen . He was a brother of Vilhelm Evang, and a relative of Vilhelm Andreas Wexelsen, Per Kvist and Gunnar Jahn. He met physician Gerda S...
, Vilhelm Aubert
Vilhelm Aubert
Johan Vilhelm Aubert was an influential Norwegian sociologist. He was a professor at the University of Oslo from 1963 to his death, first at the Department of the Sociology of Law and then at the Department of the Sociology of Law...
, Kristian Gleditsch
Kristian Gleditsch
Kristian Gleditsch, MBE was a Norwegian Mot Dag activist and geodesist.He was born in Tromsøysund as a son of headmaster Karl Kristian Gleditsch and Petra Birgitte Hansen . His family moved to Trondhjem and then Fredrikshald in 1905. From 1913 he lived with his sister Ellen Gleditsch...
, Johan Vogt
Johan Vogt
Johan Vogt was a Norwegian economist, translator, non-fiction writer and journal editor.He was a member of Mot Dag from 1921, and chaired the Norwegian section of Clarté from 1927. He was a professor at the University of Oslo from 1957 to 1970. He was awarded the Fritt Ord Award in 1976, as the...
and Reidar Aulie
Reidar Aulie
-Biography:Reidar Aulie was born in Oslo, the son of Nils Baltazar Aulie and Martha Valstad . He grew up in a middle class home in Oslo. Reider Aulie was the younger brother of Andreas Aulie , a lawyer who was the Norwegian attorney general from 1946 until 1967...
, Rinnan discussed starting a new, fortnightly publication to represent the leftist opposition within the Labour Party. It did not happen, but some of the people involved later started Orientering
Orientering
Orientering was a Norwegian newspaper which was initially published in December 1952 as an alternative voice. It was absorbed into Ny Tid in 1975....
. Rinnan had formerly been an editorial board member of the periodical Plan, from 1933 to 1936. From 1959 to 1963 he presided over the National Association of Norwegian Architects; he became an honorary member here in 1980.
Rinnan was married twice. He died in February 1997 in Oslo.