Jahn

Helmut Jahn has earned a reputation on the cutting edge of progressive architecture. His buildings have had a “staggering” influence on world architecture according to John Zukowsky, Curator of Architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago. JAHN’s buildings have received numerous design awards and have been represented in architectural exhibitions around the world.

Born in Germany, Jahn graduated from the Technische Hochschule in Munich. He came to the United States for graduate studies in architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. After attending IIT, he went to work at C. F. Murphy Associates where he worked as Project Architect under Gene Summers, designing the new McCormick Place. In 1976, his first major high-rise building in Chicago, Xerox Centre, won great critical acclaim.

Today, as Chief Executive Officer of JAHN, he has been called Chicago’s premiere architect who has dramatically changed the face of Chicago. His growing national and international reputation has led to commissions across the United States, Europe, Africa and Asia. He is committed to design excellence and the improvement of the urban environment. His projects have been recognized globally for design innovation, vitality and integrity. From the numerous publications on his work, one understands the excitement his work has generated in the public eye as well as professional journals and press. The American Institute of Architects has declared, “Helmut Jahn is one of the ten most influential living American architects. Additionally, the United Airlines Terminal One Complex at O’Hare International Airport and the State of Illinois Center have been ranked as two of the best ten works of American architecture completed since 1980” and awarded him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012.

Jahn’s professional activities are highlighted by numerous lectures and juries for various universities, professional societies and civic and commercial groups. He is a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects in which his work has received seven American Institute of Architects National Honor Awards, and a total of (60) Distinguished Building Awards from the local chapters of the American Institute of Architects. Included with other awards are, an Owens-Corning Fiberglass Energy Conservation Award, the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Reliance Development Group, Inc. and R. S. Reynolds Memorial for Distinguished Architecture.

SELECTED PROJECTS

1974 KEMPER ARENA, Kansas City, Missouri
1977 MICHIGAN CITY LIBRARY, Michigan City, Indiana
1977 ST. MARY’S ATHLETIC FACILITY, South Bend, Indiana
1980 XEROX CENTRE, Chicago, Illinois
1981 ARGONNE PROGRAM SUPPORT FACILITY, Argonne, Illinois
1982 ADDITION TO THE CHICAGO BOARD OF TRADE, Chicago Illinois
1983 11 DIAGONAL STREET, Johannesburg, South Africa
1984 O’HARE RAPID TRANSIT STATION, Chicago, Illinois
1985 JAMES R. THOMPSON, Chicago, Illinois
1986 PARK AVENUE TOWER, New York, New York
1987 CITIGROUP CENTER, Chicago Illinois
1987 UNITED AIRLINES TERMINAL ONE
COMPLEX, O’Hare Airport, Chicago, Illinois
1987 ONE LIBERTY PLACE, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1988 MERCHANDISE MART BRIDGE, Chicago, Illinois
1989 CITYSPIRE, New York, New York
1991 MESSETURM, Frankfurt, Germany
1992 120 NORTH LASALLE STREET, Chicago, Illinois
1992 ONE AMERICA PLAZA, San Diego, California
1993 HITACHI TOWER, Singapore
1994 HOTEL KEMPINSKI, Munich, Germany
1999 EUROPEAN UNION HEADQUARTERS, Brussels
1999 MUNICH AIRPORT CENTER, Munich, Germany
2000 SONY CENTER, Berlin, Germany
2000 COLOGNE/BONN AIRPORT, Cologne, Germany
2000 HA•LO, Niles, Illinois
2001 KAUFHOF GALERIA, Chemnitz, Germany
2001 SHANGHAI INTERNATIONAL EXPO
CENTRE, PHASE 1, Shanghai, China
2002 BAYER AG HEADQUARTERS, Leverkusen, Germany
2003 POST TOWER, Bonn, Germany
2003 STATE STREET VILLAGE, ILLINOIS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Chicago, Illinois
2004 AIRPORT KÖLN/BONN TRAIN STATION, Cologne, Germany
2004 AIRPORT TERMINAL ONE COLOGNE/BONN TRAIN STATION CONNECTION, Cologne, Germany
2004 HIGHLIGHT MUNICH BUSINESS TOWERS, Munich, Germany
2004 FOCUS MEDIA CENTER, Rostock, Germany
2005 MANNHEIMER-2 CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS, Mannheim, Germany
2006 SUVARNABHUMI AIRPORT, Bangkok, Thailand
2007 MARGOT AND HAROLD SCHIFF RESIDENCES, Chicago, Illinois
2007 MERCK– SERONO HEADQUARTERS, Geneva, Switzerland
2008 600 FAIRBANKS COURT, Chicago, Illinois
2008 HEGAU TOWER, Singen, Germany
2009 SOUTH CAMPUS CHILLER PLANT, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
2009 1999 K STREET, Washington, D.C.
2010 VEER TOWER, Las Vegas, Nevada
2010 SIGN, Düsseldorf, Germany
2010 O’HARE FAÇADE AND CIRCULATION ENHANCEMENT PROJECT, O’Hare International Airport, Chicago, Illinois
2010 SKYLINE TOWER, Munich, Germany
2011 WEST UTILITY PLANT, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago, Illinois
2011 UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO – JOE & RIKA MANSUETO LIBRARY, Chicago, Illinois
2012 LEATOP PLAZA, Guangzhou, China
2012 JAPAN POST, Tokyo, Japan
2014 COSMOPOLITAN TOWER, Warsaw, Poland

SELECTED MONOGRAPH BOOKS

“Helmut Jahn - Design of a New Architecture “, Karl Kramer Verlag, 1986
“Helmut Jahn Airports”, Birkäuser Verlag, 1991
“Murphy/Jahn, The Master Series”, The Images Publishing Company, 1995
“Transparency”, 1975-1995, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 1996
“Archi-Neering, Helmut Jahn/Werner Sobek”, Hatje Cantz, 1999
“Post Tower”, Birkhäuser, Basel, Switzerland, 2004
“Suvarnabhumi Airport”, avedition, Germany 2007
“Helmut Jahn“, Process Progress, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2012