Denmark: Ragna Grubb

Born in 1903 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ragna Grubb was the first woman to win an architecture competition in Denmark (1934) and one of the first Danish women to establish an architecture studio (1935). She began her architectural studies at the Copenhagen Technical School located in Copenhagen, Denmark (1922) then transferred to the Danish Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen where she held a diploma in architecture (1933). Throughout her career, Grubb was interested in designing for social housing. She also participated in numerous architectural competitions. She won the commission to design the Kvindernes Bygning (the Women’s Building) at Niels Hemmingsens Gade 8–10 in Copenhagen (1934); the building was completed in 1936. In collaboration with architects Karen Hvistendahl and Ingeborg Schmidt, she also won a competition organized by Foreningen Socialt Boligbyggeri-FSB (Copenhagen Social Housing Association) to design housing for low-income families (1937). That same year she married architect Christian Laursen. Together, they earned the Copenhagen City Council Award for their historic restoration work (1951). Grubb’s work was featured at the Charlottenborg Forarsudstilling (Charlottenborg Spring Exhibition) (1939 and 1941). Ragna Grubb died in 1961 in Frederiksberg, Denmark.