(b Kristiania [now Oslo], 4 Dec 1903; d Portør, 9 July 1969). Norwegian architect. After training (1920–25) at the State Arts and Crafts School, Kristiania, he worked in the city as an assistant to various architects before starting his own practice in 1936. As a protagonist of the New Empiricism, which unified Functionalist ideas with the use of comfortable and unpretentious forms, Knutsen played a leading role in Norwegian architecture after World War II. His intentions were already evident in Sørmarka College (1938) and in his own house (1939; altered by Knutsen 1954) at Lillevannsveien 8, Holmenhollen, in Oslo. This multi-generation home, designed as a terraced house, was made of wood, with fireproof party walls in plastered brick, and concrete blocks. Low-pitched, overhanging tile roofs contribute to its deliberate inconspicuousness. The Tåsen Home for the Elderly (1937–41), Oslo, is another early example of this more ‘homely’ architecture, further inspired by Swedish developments during World War II. It was built of brick with a thin coat of plaster. The single-ridged tile roof projects at the end of one wing to shelter a two-storey verandah. Knutsen was most successful in his smaller works, particularly his numerous houses. His urban buildings somehow lack identity and strength, although the headquarters building for the Norwegian Federation of Labour (1959–60), Oslo, is interesting for its attempt to turn the process of concrete casting to aesthetic effect in the shuttering patterns on the exterior surfaces.