Star German architect Helmut Jahn dies at 81

One of Germany's star architects who achieved worldwide fame died in an accident on May 8 while riding his bicycle near his home 55 miles (90 kilometers) west of Chicago. Jahn failed to stop at a stop sign and was hit by two vehicles. He was 81 years old.

Born in 1940 in Nuremberg, Jahn studied architecture in Munich and moved to Chicago, Illinois to study with modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in 1966. Yet his academic career was short-lived: He landed a job with well-known architect Charles Murphy at the firm CF Murphy Associates. He quickly rose in the ranks of the prestigious company and was later made partner. He opened his own firm, JAHN, headquartered in Chicago.

By the 1980s, Jahn had become a star architect thanks to his imaginative work with steel and glass and his interest in linking architecture to the engineering process. "We wanted to build buildings that combined solid architecture and engineering. A building has to be utilitarian and not just aesthetically pleasing," he told DW in an interview in 2015.

The architect also had a long-standing commitment to sustainability. "We were interested in sustainability before the word 'sustainability' even existed," he told DW. Throughout his career, he was an advocate for energy efficiency and highlighted the need to create structures that are both modern and environmentally friendly.

Memorable creations

His largest architectural legacy is in the United States, thanks in part to the timeline of his success which coincided with a building boom in the country in the 1980s.  He worked on a design for the FBI headquarters in Washington and completed the Veer Towers, twin 37-story residential skyscrapers in the center of the Las Vegas strip in Nevada. The buildings received LEED Gold certification in 2009.

The glass-clad James R. Thompson Center in Chicago, one of Jahn's most significant creations from the 1980s, is considered a Chicago landmark and a prime example of the postmodern architectural style. Its unique shape in comparison to the surrounding landscape has also given it a host of nicknames, such as "the Spaceship." In 1986, it earned the Distinguished Building Award of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects, with the jury calling it "... the Pantheon of Chicago."

Yet the uniquely shaped structure, which houses offices of the Illinois state government, has also caused controversy due to the high cost of the frequent repairs required to maintain the building. The government announced plans to sell it as early as 2015, putting it at risk for demolition.  The move even prompted a filmmaker to make a documentary about it. In early May 2021, it finally went up for sale.

Buildings around the world

But Jahn did not limit himself to working soley in the US. His firm is responsible for Berlin's Sony Center, which opened in 2000 as part of a major reconstruction of Potsdamer Platz, which was once the no man's land at the border between East and West Berlin. This building was the first to link the firm's "archi-neering" approach in which architects work hand-in-hand with civil engineers to determine what a building will become.

Among his other well-known works in Germany is the 63-story, spear-shaped Frankfurt Trade Fair Tower (Messeturm), another example of the postmodern architectural style Jahn was so fond of. Notably, it is the second-tallest building in the European Union and is one of the few buildings in Germany with its own postal code.

"Helmut had an exceptional career both for its length and for the consistent quality of the work," Reed Kroloff, dean of the Illinois Institute of Technology's College of Architecture, told the Chicago Tribune on Sunday. "At his height, he was one of the most influential architects in the world. Not only formally, but technically. He engaged early on with building-skin technologies that were very advanced. He created buildings of every variety."

Several noteworthy airport terminals are also among his oeuvre, such as Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport. He also designed Terminal One at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, completed between 1985 and 1988, which connects two concourses with a unique light installation.

Jahn taught at the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University and the Illinois Institute of Technology and received numerous accolades for his work.

sh/als (AP)