Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland

Jens Zetlitz Monrad Kielland was born in Stavanger in 1866, as a member of the prominent Kielland family. He studied architecture at the Royal Arts School in Kristiania and the Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg in Berlin. He worked as an assistant for various architectural offices in Germany before establishing his own practice in Bergen in 1895. He designed several well-known buildings in Bergen, such as Gamlehaugen, the residence of Christian Michelsen, the first prime minister of Norway, Bergen Railway Station, and Bergen Handelsgymnasium. He also designed St Olaf's Anglican Church in Balestrand, and Rødven Church and Stordal Church in Møre og Romsdal. After the fire of Ålesund in 1904, he drew many of the new buildings in the city in the Art Nouveau style. He was a professor of building art at the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim from 1912 to 1918. He also published books on Norwegian architecture and culture, such as By og bygd i Stavanger amt (1915, together with Anders Beer Wilse) and Norske hus og hjem (1919-1921). He moved to Oslo in 1919 and continued to work as an architect until his death in 1926. He was the father of architect Jacob Christie Kielland and painter Else Christie Kielland. He was also the nephew of painter Kitty Lange Kielland and novelist Alexander Kielland. He is regarded as one of the most influential and versatile architects in Norway.