Jahn was born Jan. 4, 1940 in
Zirndorf, near
Nuremberg, Germany.[1] His father, Wilhelm Anton Jahn, was a schoolteacher in special education. His mother, Karolina Wirth, was a housewife.[2][3] Jahn grew up watching the reconstruction of the city, which had been largely destroyed by Allied bombing campaigns.[4]
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.[citation needed] He took sole control in 1981, renaming the firm Murphy/Jahn (even though
Murphy had retired).[citation needed] Murphy died in 1985.
Death
Jahn was killed on May 8, 2021, while riding his bicycle in
Campton Hills, a suburb of Chicago.[6] The collision happened near his home and horse farm in
St. Charles, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.[7][8][9]
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. His architectural style shifted from the
modernism of the
Miesian tradition to a
postmodernist one with high-tech stylizations.[10] Jahn established his reputation in 1985 with the
State of Illinois Center in Chicago which prompted him to be dubbed "
Flash Gordon".[11] 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.[citation needed]
Completed projects
Following is a partial list of completed projects:
2018 –
ENR Safety Award of Merit: 1900 Metro Reston Plaza[59]
Personal life
Jahn was interested in
yachting, and in the late 1990s owned at least three yachts named Flash Gordon (one of his nicknames).[60] In 1995, Jahn's Flash Gordon 2 won the annual
Chicago to Mackinac Race, the oldest freshwater yacht race in the world.[61] 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.[60][62] It was the
Farr 40 design yacht called Flash Gordon 6 that he had the most success winning the 2012
Farr 40 World Championship[63] and they captured three straight North American Championship between 2015-2017.[64]
He married Deborah Ann Lampe, an interior designer, in December 1970. Their son Evan was born in 1978.[2]
^Neumann, Dietrich.
"Helmut Jahn." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 5, edited by R. Daniel Wadhwani. German Historical Institute. Last modified February 9, 2016.
Jahn was born Jan. 4, 1940 in
Zirndorf, near
Nuremberg, Germany.[1] His father, Wilhelm Anton Jahn, was a schoolteacher in special education. His mother, Karolina Wirth, was a housewife.[2][3] Jahn grew up watching the reconstruction of the city, which had been largely destroyed by Allied bombing campaigns.[4]
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.[citation needed] He took sole control in 1981, renaming the firm Murphy/Jahn (even though
Murphy had retired).[citation needed] Murphy died in 1985.
Death
Jahn was killed on May 8, 2021, while riding his bicycle in
Campton Hills, a suburb of Chicago.[6] The collision happened near his home and horse farm in
St. Charles, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.[7][8][9]
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. His architectural style shifted from the
modernism of the
Miesian tradition to a
postmodernist one with high-tech stylizations.[10] Jahn established his reputation in 1985 with the
State of Illinois Center in Chicago which prompted him to be dubbed "
Flash Gordon".[11] 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.[citation needed]
Completed projects
Following is a partial list of completed projects:
2018 –
ENR Safety Award of Merit: 1900 Metro Reston Plaza[59]
Personal life
Jahn was interested in
yachting, and in the late 1990s owned at least three yachts named Flash Gordon (one of his nicknames).[60] In 1995, Jahn's Flash Gordon 2 won the annual
Chicago to Mackinac Race, the oldest freshwater yacht race in the world.[61] 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.[60][62] It was the
Farr 40 design yacht called Flash Gordon 6 that he had the most success winning the 2012
Farr 40 World Championship[63] and they captured three straight North American Championship between 2015-2017.[64]
He married Deborah Ann Lampe, an interior designer, in December 1970. Their son Evan was born in 1978.[2]
^Neumann, Dietrich.
"Helmut Jahn." In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 5, edited by R. Daniel Wadhwani. German Historical Institute. Last modified February 9, 2016.