Overview
Hans Christian Hansen
(1803—1883)
Quick Reference
(1803–83).
Distinguished Danish Neo-Classicist, the brother of T. E. Hansen, he was influenced early in his career by C. F. Hansen (to whom he was not related), and by G. F. Hetsch, who brought the influence of Schinkel to the architectural world of Denmark. Hansen completed his studies by travelling in Italy and Greece, and in 1834 became Architect to the Greek Court in Athens, where he remained for eighteen years, making archaeological investigations (he reconstructed the Temple of Niké Apteros and, with Eduard Schaubert (1804–60) and Joseph Hoffer (c. 1810–before 1851), compiled the material for Hoffer's account of horizontal curvature and optical corrections in Greek temples (1838), and designing many important buildings, including the Mint (1834–6), and the University (1839–50), in a refined Greek Revival style influenced by Schinkel. With C. R. Cockerell and others he designed the Anglican Church of St Paul, Athens (1841). He designed the Rundbogenstil Arsenal and Dockyards at Trieste (1852–6), and the City Hospital, Copenhagen (1856–63), in a Byzantino-Rundbogenstil. Other works include the Observatory (1859–61) and the Zoological Museum, Copenhagen (1863–70). He was a pioneer in the study and application of polychromy in architecture.
Middleton & Watkin (1987);Placzek (ed.) (1982);van Vynckt (ed.) (1993);Weilbach (1947)
Subjects: Art & Architecture
