[1][2] Born on 3 March 1942 in Oslo, Brodtkorb was the daughter of the business administrator Roald Nissen and Ragnhild Marie Heiding, a secretary.
On graduating from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in 1965, she worked as an architect for Harald Hille's firm (1966–71) and for Anker & Hølaas (1977–85) where she became a partner.
Her developments in Oslo, in a white European modernism style, include 30 townhouses on Gullkroken, 110 apartments on Hofftunet and 60 homes in Smestad.
Combining brick with black-painted steel, it draws on the area's shipyard architecture while integrating offices, shops and restaurants.
[1] In 2014, together with Kristin Jarmund, Brodtkorb was awarded the Anders Jahres Cultural Prize for her "artistically sensitive designs and her contribution to promoting humane architecture in a socially developmental context".