Personal life

He was born in Bergen

Bergen

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....

 to architect Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland (1866–1926) and his wife Anna Magdalena Cathrine (1871–1948), née Christie. His grandfather was priest and politician Jacob Kielland

Jacob Kielland (priest)

-Personal life:He was born in Stavanger to Jens Zetlitz Kielland and his wife Christine , née Lange. His grandfather was also named Jacob, so was an uncle. Through his uncle, Jacob was the cousin of diplomat Axel Christian Zetlitz Kielland, mayor Jonas Schancke Kielland and others...

, and through him, Jacob Christie Kielland was the grandnephew of painter Kitty Lange Kielland

Kitty Lange Kielland

-Early life and training:Kielland was born to an affluent family in Stavanger, the older sister of Alexander Kielland. Kielland's mutual interactions with her brother would be important to shaping her as an artist. Although she received some training in drawing and painting, it was not until she...

 and novelist Alexander Kielland

Alexander Kielland

Alexander Lange Kielland was one of the most famous Norwegian realistic writers of the 19th century. He is one of the so-called "The Four Greats" in Norwegian literature, along with Henrik Ibsen, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Jonas Lie.-Background:Born in Stavanger, Norway, he grew up in a rich...

. He had one younger sister, Else Christie Kielland who was a notable painter.

In December 1926 he married translator Anna Sofie Nygaard. They had three daughters.

Career

Jacob Christie Kielland took his architectural education 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...

 in 1919. His father had been a professor there from 1912 to 1918.

After graduation, Jacob Christie Kielland ran his own architect firm in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. In 1930 he was hired as secretary for the city architect of Oslo. He later became director of Oslo Bolig- og Sparelag (OBOS), the largest housing cooperative

Housing cooperative

A housing cooperative is a legal entity—usually a corporation—that owns real estate, consisting of one or more residential buildings. Each shareholder in the legal entity is granted the right to occupy one housing unit, sometimes subject to an occupancy agreement, which is similar to a lease. ...

 in Norway. He left in 1946, to become director of the Norwegian Housing Directorate

Norwegian Housing Directorate

The Norwegian Housing Directorate was a Norwegian government agency concerned with housing.It was a department named Bygningsavdelingen within the Ministry of the Interior, but in 1945, when the German occupation of Norway ended, it was transferred to the Ministry of Provisioning and...

, a position he held until the directorate was abolished in the mid-1960s.

Kielland was issued the Order of St. Olav. He died in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

in 1972.