Helmut Jahn (b. January 14, 1940) is an architect, designer of dozens of major buildings throughout the world. Some of the better known among his creations are the Sony Center on the Potsdamer Platz, Berlin and the State of Illinois Center , Chicago.

Jahn was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1940. After attending the Technische Hochschule of Munich from 1960 to 1965 he worked with Peter C. von Seidlein for a year. In 1966, emigrating to Chicago, he studied at the Illinois Institute of Technology under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In 1967 he joined C. F. Murphy Associates and was appointed Executive Vice President and Director of Planning and Design of the firm in 1973. In 1981 the firm was renamed Murphy/Jahn.

Projects

• Kemper Arena - 1974
• Saint Mary's College Athletic Facility - 1977 (pictures)
• State of Illinois Center - construction: 1979 - 1985; cost: $173 million; (pictures)
• First Source Center (pictures)
• United Airlines Terminal at O'Hare International Airport - construction: 1985 to 1988; cost: $200 million; (pictures)

Awards

• 1991 - "Ten Most Influential Living American Architects" from the American Institute of Architects
• 1993 - "Outstanding Achievement/Architect Award" from the Illinois Academy of Fine Arts
• 1994 - "Bundesverdienstkreuz Erster Klasse" of the Federal Republic of Germany

External links

• The New Modernism of Helmut Jahn
• Credits - List of buildings Jahn was involved in designing.
• Helmut Jahn page at archINFORM
• Biographical timeline from the IIT