Helmut Jahn

Helmut Jahn (January 4, 1940 – May 8, 2021) was a German and American architect, known for projects such as The Center Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago; One Liberty Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Bangkok, Thailand, among others.

His recent projects included 50 West Street, a residential tower in New York City in 2016; and the ThyssenKrupp Test Tower in Rottweil, Germany, in 2017. He was also behind 1000M in Chicago which began construction in 2019.

Life and career An illuminated, suspended, oval roof covers the 102 m span of the central Forum of the Sony Center, Berlin.

Jahn was born January 4, 1940, in Zirndorf, near Nuremberg, Germany. His father, Wilhelm Anton Jahn, was a schoolteacher in special education. His mother, Karolina Wirth, was a housewife. Jahn grew up watching the reconstruction of the city, which had been largely destroyed by Allied bombing campaigns.

He studied architecture at the Technical University of Munich from 1960 to 1965, and worked with for a year after graduation. The collision happened near his home and horse farm in St. Charles, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

Architectural style and influences Generally inspired by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, yet opposed to the doctrinal application of modernism by his followers, in 1978, Jahn became the eighth member of the Chicago Seven. His architectural style shifted from the modernism of the Miesian tradition to a postmodernist one with high-tech stylizations. Jahn established his reputation in 1985 with the State of Illinois Center in Chicago which prompted him to be dubbed "Flash Gordon". In addition to the main seat in Chicago, the company has offices in Berlin and Shanghai.

On October 26, 2012, Helmut Jahn renamed Murphy/Jahn to simply JAHN.

Completed projects

O'Hare International Airport, Chicago – interior view of the connecting tunnel between Concourses B & C of Terminal 1, with Michael Hayden's neon installation Sky's the Limit (1987).

11 Diagonal street, Johannesburg Following is a partial list of completed projects: 1974 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, Missouri 1976 Auraria Learning Resources Center, Auraria Higher Education Center, Denver, Colorado 1976 John Marshall Courts Building, Richmond, Virginia 1977 Saint Mary's College Athletic Facility, Notre Dame, Indiana 1978 W.W. Grainger Headquarters, Skokie, Illinois 1980 Horizon Bank (515 Franklin Street Bank) Michigan City, Indiana 1980 Xerox Centre, (55 West Monroe St) Chicago, IL 1984 11 Diagonal Street, Johannesburg, South Africa 1984 Plaza East Office Towers, Milwaukee, WI 1984 701 Building (Craig-Hallom Building), Minneapolis, MN 1984 O'Hare 'L' Station, O'Hare International Airport, Chicago 1985 James R. Thompson Center, Chicago 1986 Parktown Stands 102, 103, 85, 879, Johannesburg, South Africa 1986 MetroWest Office Building (2 Energy Center), Naperville, Illinois 1986 Oakbrook Terrace Tower, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois 1987 Park Avenue Tower, New York, NY 1987 United Airlines Terminal 1 at O'Hare International Airport, Chicago 1987 One Liberty Place, Philadelphia, PA 1988 Wilshire-Midvale, Los Angeles, CA 1989 Trade Hall 1 (Halle 1), Frankfurt, Germany 1990 Bank of America Tower, Jacksonville, Florida 1990 Two Liberty Place, Philadelphia 1991 One America Plaza, San Diego, CA 1991 Messeturm, Frankfurt, Germany 1993 Caltex House, Singapore 1994 Hotel Kempinski, Munich, Germany 1996 Principal Financial Group Corporate Four Building, Des Moines, Iowa 1997 RCID Administration Building, Buena Vista, Florida 1998 Generale Bank Nederland, Rotterdam, Netherlands 1999 European Union Charlemagne building, Brussels, Belgium 1999 Munich Airport Center, Germany 2000 Sony Center Berlin, Germany 2001 Neues Kranzler Eck, Berlin, Germany 2003 Deutsche Post Tower, Bonn, Germany 2003 IIT Student Housing, Chicago 2003 Highlight Munich Business Towers, Munich, Germany 2004 Mannheimer Corporate Headquarters, Mannheim, Germany 2004 Merck Serono Headquarters (Horizon Serono), Geneva, Switzerland 2005 Focus Media Center (Deutsche-Med-Platz), Rostock, Germany 2006 Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand 2006 Seminaris Campus Hotel, Berlin, Germany 2007 GranTokyo, Tokyo, Japan 2007 Margot and Harold Schiff Residences, Chicago 2007 600 North Fairbanks, Chicago 2008 Hegau Tower, Singen, Germany 2009 South Campus Chiller Plant, University of Chicago Chicago 2009 1999 K Street, Washington, D.C. 2010 Hafen Tower (Sign Tower), Speditionstrasse 1–3 Düsseldorf, Germany 2010 Veer Towers, Paradise, Nevada USA 2010 Weser Tower, Bremen, Germany 2010 Bonn Airport Parking, Cologne, Germany 2011 Joe and Rika Mansueto Library, Chicago 2016 Doha Exhibition and Convention Center, Qatar 2016 Shanghai Convention Center, Shanghai, China 2016 50 West Street, New York, NY 2017 ThyssenKrupp Test Tower, Rottweil, Germany 2017 1900 Reston Station, Reston, Virginia 2024 1000M, Chicago, IL 2024 iCity, Moscow, Russia 2027 Residential complex SLAVA, Moscow, Russia In his native town of Nuremberg, however, a project by Jahn was rejected by a citizens' referendum in 1996.

Select awards 1991 – "Ten Most Influential Living American Architects" from the American Institute of Architects. 1993 – "Outstanding Achievement/Architect Award" from the American Academy of Art, Chicago. 1994 – Officer's cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2002 – Institute Honour Award of the American Institute of Architects for the Sony Center. 2012 – AIA Chicago Lifetime Achievement Award 2018 – ENR Safety Award of Merit: 1900 Metro Reston Plaza

Personal life

Jahn was interested in yachting, and in the late 1990s owned at least three yachts named Flash Gordon (one of his nicknames). In 1995, Jahn's Flash Gordon 2 won the annual Chicago to Mackinac Race, the oldest freshwater yacht race in the world. In 1998, Jahn invited his fellow Vietnam War veteran, George Henry, to race with him in the Waterbury Channel Open. In 1997, Flash Gordon 3 won the Admiral's Cup. It was the Farr 40 design yacht called Flash Gordon 6 that he had the most success winning the 2012 Farr 40 World Championship and they captured three straight North American Championship between 2015 and 2017.

He married Deborah Ann Lampe, an interior designer, in December 1970. Their son Evan was born in 1978.

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