Henning Larsen (1925 - 2013)

On Saturday, June 22, architect Henning Larsen died in his sleep at the age of 87. His career spanned seven decades and took him well beyond his native Denmark. Larsen founded his eponymous architecture studio in 1959, producing many significant works. Most recently his firm received the EU Prize-Mies Award for the Harpa - Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre, designed with artist Olafur Eliasson.

Other significant projects include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia, 1984), the Umeå Art Museum and Umeå School of Architecture in Sweden (both 2010), and the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen (2004). 

Beyond his built works, Larsen was a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture in Copenhagen, and he published the architecture journal Skala in the 1980s. He received many awards (most recently the Europe Nostra Award 2013 and 2012 Praemium Imperiale), but a more lasting influence comes in the form of the non-profit Henning Larsen Foundation, which awards an annual grant to a Danish architect to help promote his or her work to a larger audience.