Ole Bakke Explained

Ole Bakke
Nationality:Norwegian-American
Birth Place:Norway
Death Place:Missoula, Montana

Ole Bakke (1889–1925) was a Norwegian-American architect practicing in Missoula, a city in western Montana.

Bakke, a native of Norway, arrived in Missoula in 1900. As a teenager, he worked as a draftsman for A. J. Gibson, the region's leading architect.[1] Upon Gibson's retirement in 1913, Bakke succeeded to the business. However, Gibson continued to practice in a consulting position, and is thus credited with the design of the First Presbyterian Church, of which he was an active member. Bakke practiced until his departure for Norway circa 1922. His office, in turn, was succeeded by H. E. Kirkemo, who had joined Bakke as a draftsman in 1920.[2] Bakke returned to Missoula in 1924, and died there in 1925.[3]

In his time, Bakke was outside of the American architectural mainstream. Many of his major works were designed in the Arts and Crafts style, embraced in England, but largely ignored in the United States. He designed a number of schools in this manner, including the Lincoln School in Missoula and the Alberton School in Alberton.[3] He also embraced the Mission Revival, which appears in the school at Dixon (published in 1921)[4] and the Franklin School in Missoula.[3]

Before World War I, his few works in the mainstream were built primarily in cases where Bakke was under Gibson's influence, such as his addition to the Carnegie Public Library and the flanking wings of the Missoula County High School, both originally designed by Gibson. After the war, he turned away from his more innovative work, and to the standard revival styles of the day, resulting in the Classically-derived (though still within the Chicago School) Smead-Simons Building and the Italian Renaissance Revival Forestry Building at the University.

Architectural works

Notes and References

  1. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=1ab4f4a4-2a24-4294-9da0-b138e701b200 Missoula Downtown Historic District NRHP Nomination
  2. http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv93969 "H. E. and Lillian Kirkemo papers, 1883-1998"
  3. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=78254625-0238-4952-81ff-cc128a9f18bb Lincoln School NRHP Nomination
  4. "School Buildings in Montana". School Board Journal Oct. 1921: 48.
  5. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=6489f68c-e194-4c23-9a44-1c339d4390f4 Carnegie Public Library NRHP Nomination
  6. Western Contractor 7 Jan 1914: 22.
  7. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=a929c6d8-52ac-4819-9a77-a4aac2fb4ba7 Missoula County Fairgrounds Historic District NRHP Nomination
  8. Engineering and Contracting 25 April 1917: 18.
  9. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=ae983b5f-80aa-4b9a-9643-cd9b27f1fa9b Alberton School NRHP Nomination
  10. http://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv09237 "Gibson, Kirkemo, and Bakke Architectural Drawings, 1890-1971"
  11. Engineering and Contracting 25 Feb. 1920: 54.
  12. http://focus.nps.gov/GetAsset?assetID=58dac4a0-c451-4857-8fe1-87e0933bad1c Wilma Theatre NRHP Nomination
  13. Architect and Engineer June 1921: 109.
  14. Mathews, Allan James. A Guide to Historic Missoula. 2002.
  15. American Contractor 7 Jan. 1922: 68.

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