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