ICONIC ARCHITECTURE: The Stenersen Villa
Publication date: 01.10.2026
This is a revised translation of the original article by Adam Štěch
The fascinating Stenersen Villa reveals the story of an enlightened client and his equally progressive architect, a pioneer of Norwegian modernism, Arne Korsmo.
Scandinavian functionalism became known among architectural circles under the term funkis. One of its most prominent representatives was the Norwegian architect Arne Korsmo. At the height of his career in the mid-1930s, Korsmo designed a series of luxurious modernist villas in Oslo in which he articulated a distinctive Norwegian interpretation of funkis. The most renowned of these is undoubtedly the Stenersen Villa, completed in 1939 for the successful financier, art collector, writer, and patron of the arts Rolf E. Stenersen.
The façade is composed of large glazed surfaces. Clear plate-glass windows alternate with translucent yet opaque sections made of glass blocks.
Thanks to the trust and openness of his client, who was, among other things, a close friend and collector of the renowned Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, Korsmo was able to design a house unprecedented in Norway at the time, conceived as a manifesto of contemporary modernism. Its concrete structure, extensive use of glass blocks, and varied application of colour and organic forms move beyond the scientifically oriented functionalism of the 1920s toward the more lyrical modernism that emerged at the end of the interwar period.
The entrance to the Stenersen Villa takes the form of a cylinder glazed with glass blocks, a material that architect Korsmo used generously throughout the house he designed for Rolf Stenersen.
Arne Korsmo was born in Oslo in 1900. He graduated from the Norwegian Institute of Architecture in 1926 and, before establishing his own practice two years later, worked for several leading Norwegian architects, including Arnstein Arneberg, Magnus Poulsson, Finn Bryn, and Johan Ellefsen. From 1928 onwards, he focused on the design of private villas, often in collaboration with his colleague Sverre Aasland. Of the fifty villa projects he designed, some of which remained unbuilt, the Stenersen Villa endures as his principal masterpiece. Korsmo later served as a professor at both the Norwegian Institute of Technology and the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art. He also designed the Norwegian Pavilion for the 1937 International Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris and the Norwegian exhibition at the 10th Milan Triennale in 1954. During the 1950s, he was a leading figure in the Norwegian architectural group PAGON (Progressive Architects Group Oslo, Norway), whose members also included representatives of a younger generation of architects such as Sverre Fehn and Geir Grung.
The most striking space in the Stenersen Villa, now open to the public through the National Museum of Art in Oslo, is the ground-floor music room. Korsmo flooded the space with light through an expansive glass wall that casts sunlight onto a richly yellow undulating surface. He decorated a concrete column with his own illustrations depicting animals and people in a playful visual language, revealing something of his talent as a painter. It is no coincidence that he also created murals for a number of his architectural projects. A yellow backlit bar and tubular furniture complement this entertainment room, which also features a grand piano and a centrally positioned fireplace. One floor above are the principal living area and study. Unfortunately, the celebrated Munch paintings that once hung on the walls have now been replaced by copies.
Korsmo conceived the ground-floor music room as a joyful space painted in a bold, rich yellow. The brown column was decorated by the architect with organically shaped illustrations of animals and people.
Rolf Stenersen’s study is located on the first floor and retains its original built-in and freestanding furniture. Today, the main living room is almost empty. Originally, it was furnished and adorned with several important works of art, including paintings by the renowned Norwegian artist Edvard Munch.
Besides architecture, Korsmo also had to consider the role of art in his design. The architect was tasked with displaying Stenersen’s extensive collection of works by both Norwegian and international artists throughout the house.
The central staircase was once adorned with sculptures and paintings. Crowning the stairwell, a substantial suspended ceiling was perforated by the architect with 625 circular openings fitted with glass lenses in varying shades of blue and violet, creating a unique luminous atmosphere within the staircase.
The ceiling crowning the stairwell was perforated by the architect with 625 circular openings fitted with glass lenses in varying shades of blue and violet. The staircase was conceived by its designer as a living art gallery. Originally, paintings hung on the walls and sculptures stood on pedestals. Its distinctive bluish illumination is created by the blue circular lenses that form the original skylight above the staircase.
The house, which has since been listed as a protected heritage property, was bequeathed by Rolf Stenersen to the Norwegian state upon his death in 1974, with the wish that it be used either as a representative residence or as the official residence of the Prime Minister. In the end, only one Norwegian Prime Minister, Odvar Nordli, ever lived there. All others considered the villa impractical and too radical for residential use. In the spring of 2014, responsibility for the Stenersen Villa was transferred to the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, which was entrusted with presenting the house to the public.
All images: © Adam Štěch