Heinrich Wenck practised at a period when the terms of architecture itself were under argument.
The record lists Heinrich Wenck as Danish architect (1851–1936).
Heinrich Wenck was born at Aarhus in 1851. His recorded nationality is Kingdom of Denmark. He trained at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
Industrialisation gave architecture iron, glass and the lift, and with them the problems of the railway station, the factory and the tall city block.
He is recorded as architect and painter.
His best-known building is Copenhagen Central Station. Buildings outlast their architects and usually their purposes, which is what makes the discipline unforgiving.
Recognition followed: Eckersberg Medal, commander of the Order of the Dannebrog, Decoration of the Cross of Honour of the Dannebrog and Medal of Merit in Gold.
That the work was built in Kingdom of Denmark shaped it: climate, materials, planning law and who holds the budget all decide what can actually be built.
Heinrich Wenck died in 1936, aged 85. The buildings remain, still in use by people who never knew the name - which is the particular afterlife architecture offers.
Achievements
- Notable work: Copenhagen Central Station
- Eckersberg Medal
- commander of the Order of the Dannebrog
- Decoration of the Cross of Honour of the Dannebrog
- Trained at Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts
