Erik Hansen (architect)

In the many years living abroad he was accompanied by his Swedish wife Inger, called Kickan, who was pharmacist by education and a skilled photographer. Kickan was not just Erik's wife, she continued to be his tireless friend and engaged in everything he was dealing with. They both engaged with locals and wrote about what they saw and experienced. In Delphi they knew most of the inhabitants, and one was reminded about when travelling to Delphi, as one would carry a bag full of letters to their friends. Kickan and Erik also had their own traditions in Greece when the moon was full. They went out to the temple in dark and sat out there in silence, while the moon slowly rose above the deep valley of Delphi. Admittedly it was strictly forbidden. Erik lost Kickan in 2008 and lived alone for the remaining eight years of his life.

Along with his work in UNESCO in training young professionals for and restoration of monuments in Afghanistan, for example the Ghurid Portal of the Friday Mosque of Herat in Afghanistan [Kabul and Herat, 1964-5], then Cambodia [Phnom Kulen, 1968], and Korea, he also was deeply engaged in the difficult restoration works of the beautiful Marmorbro [the marble bridge] of Frederiksholms Channel in Copenhagen and its portals in the years 1977-1982. Also from this work there are stacks of upscale drawings produced in his hand-drawn lines that Akademirådet celebrated in 1977 awarding him Eckersberg medal. Also in France he in 1987 revered Prix Mendel, Academie des Inscriptions and Belles Lettres. Subsequently, in 2010, he was awarded the distinguished C. F. Hansen Medal for work with Siphniernes Treasury.

His stay in Greece was one of the more durable and linked to Apollo's sanctuary in Delphi. A few times he stayed there for several years, other times he visited the site every six months. The first major work of the Ecole Francaise d'Athènes was examining Siphniernes famous Treasury in Delphi in the years 1955-1965, a large-scale topographic atlas of the sanctuary, which was completed in 1968, and finally his outstanding research in Apollo's Temple and its reconstruction after a landslide in 373 [BC]. His unusually precise measurements of each stone after another, in conjunction with construction contracts with named contractors was carved in stone, was released in French school big series Fouilles the Delphes, in three much attractive Volumes in 2010.

Erik Hansen (13 May 1927, Ribe - 31 December 2016, Copenhagen) was a Danish Professor Emeritus, Architect in Building Preservation and an author; who has achieved international recognition for his contributions to archaeological conservation. Over the years, he has participated in investigative field work, mainly in Denmark and Greece, but also other countries [Afghanistan, Cambodia and Turkey], always adopting a highly systematic and methodical approach and producing widely acclaimed drawings of his finds.

Finally, his own residence, a city house built in 1725 in Christianshavn, Copenhagen, was an example of the simple building well preserved and maintained a citizen's house in which he lived with his wife Inger and their close friendship and entertained his colleagues, friends and students (national and internationals).