Hans Christian Hansen (20 April 1803 – 2 May 1883) was a Historicist Danish architect who worked 18 years in Greece where he was active in the transformation of Athens from a small town to the country's capital and an international metropolis.

Later in his career he returned to Denmark, where he became a professor at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and designed buildings such as the Copenhagen Municipal Hospital and the Østervold Observatory.

Christian Frederik Hansen taught him a rational approach to architecture[2] and Hetsch introduced him to Karl Friedrich Schinkel whose influence he had brought to Denmark.

It is built in marble in Greek Revival style, also known as Neohellenic Classicism, of which it is considered one of the most important examples and a source of inspiration for many other buildings of the time, particularly in Germany.

It is part of the so-called Neoclassical, or Athenian, Trilogy which was completed by his brother with the Academy of Athens and the National Library of Greece.

[1] Hansen's reputation reached outside Greece and in 1850 the shipping company Österreichischer Lloyd commissioned him to build a marine arsenal and dockyards at Trieste.

He was appointed Royal Building Inspector for Funen and the surrounding islands but had to let someone else, C. A. Møller, temporarily take care of his obligations due to his engagements with Lloyds in Trieste.

The building is today used by the university's administration but the lavishly decorated Grand Hall, where the large, stuffed animals used to be on display, is frequently used for exhibitions.