Frederik Hvalsøe

Danish architect Frederik Hvalsøe was educated as a bricklayer in 1903 and attended the Academy of Art in Københaven (Copenhagen) from 1905-16. He established his architectural firm with with Arthur Wittmaack in 1916. Both designed a wide range of typical buildings in and around København that still characterize the city today. Over the years, they changed their style from historicism to neoclassicism and functionalism. In the process, they succeeded in introducing special stylistic features.

Hvalsøe traveled to Germany and Switzerland in 1909, moved to Italy in 1921, and later took a shorter study tour to other European countries. He entered the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam in the architecture category along with Wittmaack, submitting plans for the Swimming pool of Copenhagen. This so-called Østerbro Svømmehal was built in 1926-30 in neoclassical style with gray, polished facades and narrow windows as part of a sports park to become Denmark’s first public indoor swimming pool. It is still in use.