Helmut Jahn


Helmut Jahn is a Chicago-based German-American architect, known for designs such as the Sony Center on the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, Germany; the Messeturm in Frankfurt, Germany; the One Liberty Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ; and the Suvarnabhumi Airport, an international airport in Bangkok, Thailand. Recent projects include a residential tower in New York City, 50 West St in 2016 and the ThyssenKrupp Test Tower in Rottweil, Germany in 2017.

Life and career

Jahn was born in Zirndorf near Nuremberg, Germany, in 1940, and grew up watching the reconstruction of the city, which had been largely destroyed by Allied bombing campaigns. After attending the Technical University of Munich from 1960 to 1965, he worked with Peter C. von Seidlein for a year. In 1966, he emigrated to Chicago to further study architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology, but left school without earning his degree.

Murphy/Jahn

Jahn joined Charles Francis Murphy's architecture firm, C. F. Murphy Associates, in 1967 and was appointed Executive Vice President and Director of Planning and Design of the firm in 1973. He took sole control in 1981, renaming the firm Murphy/Jahn. Murphy died in 1985.

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. Jahn established his pre-eminent 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

Following is a partial list of completed projects :
Jahn has an interest in yachting, and in the late 1990s owned at least three yachts named Flash Gordon. 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. In 2017 Flash Gordon 6 team captured its third straight North American Championship.