Background
Vilhelm Lauritzen was born on 9 September 1894 in Slagelse, Denmark.
Vilhelm Lauritzen was born on 9 September 1894 in Slagelse, Denmark.
He studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, graduating in 1921.
The following year he founded his own firm, Vilhelm Lauritzen Arkitekter, in 1928 and remained active in the firm until 1969. Towards the end of the decade he travelled in Central Europe and became acquainted with the latest trends in Functionalist architecture with its technical and structural innovations. This inspired him to a grounded and restrained Modernism and it was with such buildings that he had his breakthrough.
His first large commission to be built was the Daells Varehus department store in Copenhagen built in stages from 1928 to 1935 as one of the first examples of Modern architecture in Denmark.
Lauritzen also designed furniture, often in connection with his buildings. His lamps, especially his table lamps from the 1930s, manufactured by Louis Poulsen, continue to arouse interest at auctions.