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* Whatever you might say about the Thompson Center, we were all very fortunate to have this man in our state. WBEZ…
World famous Chicago-based architect Helmut Jahn died in Campton Hills in a biking accident, authorities confirmed.
In a news release, Campton Hills police say Jahn failed to stop at a stop sign at Burlington and Old LaFox Road in the far west suburbs, and was struck by two vehicles Saturday afternoon. One driver was transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The driver of the second vehicle was not injured.
Jahn, who lived in St. Charles, was 81.
The German-born architect is most well-known in Chicago for designing at age 39 the James R. Thompson Center, a postmodern building that wowed the architectural scene upon its opening in 1985 but has become a drain on the state for its much-needed costly repairs. Illinois is in the process of selling the building.
* Daily Herald…
Campton Hills police said Jahn, who kept a farm in St. Charles, was riding near Burlington and Old La Fox roads Saturday afternoon when he was struck by two vehicles. He was pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.
A native of Germany, Jahn won international recognition and awards for projects around the globe, including United Airlines Terminal 1 at O’Hare International Airport, the former Citigroup Center (the main entrance to the Richard B. Ogilvie Transportation Center) in Chicago, and the Sony Center in Berlin.
Besides MetroWest in Naperville, his suburban work includes the Oakbrook Terrace Tower in Oakbrook Terrace.
“Helmut was bold, audacious, daring, dashing, a kind of star architect before the term was even coined,” said Blair Kamin, former architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune.
* Tribune…
The Thompson Center, built in 1985 and originally called the State of Illinois Center, later was renamed for former Republican Gov. James Thompson Jr., also known as “Big Jim” Thompson.
Jahn once said the building made his reputation around the world and killed it in Chicago. […]
He went on to design such other high-profile projects as the sleek Xerox Center, now known as 55 West Monroe; the art deco revival addition to the Chicago Board of Trade, 141 W. Jackson Blvd.; and the romantically modern United Airlines Terminal 1 at O’Hare International Airport.
Jahn was also behind the Sony Center in Berlin, One Liberty Place in Philadelphia and the Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. In 2016, he designed a 74-floor residential tower, 1000M, 1000 S. Michigan Ave., that had been expected to be complete in 2022 before construction stopped as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jahn died on what would have been Thompson’s birthday.
* Crain’s…
At 26 years old, Jahn arrived in Chicago to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, a famed school for aspiring architects that was developed under his fellow German immigrant Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Jahn left IIT before graduating, but was invited back almost four decades later to design the State Street Village student housing, a row of round-topped, metal-clad buildings that holler back at the black-edged rectilinear buildings by Mies that dominated the campus.
When he left school, Jahn joined the Chicago architecture firm C.F. Murphy Associates, in 1967. He later became executive vice president of the firm, which was renamed Murphy/Jahn. In 2012, the firm took the all-caps, singular name “Jahn.”
Some of Jahn’s earliest buildings are in northwest Indiana: the Michigan City public library, built in 1977 with translucent walls and an interior courtyard, and a round-topped gymnasium for the La Lumiere private school in La Porte. Others are in Kansas City and cities across the globe. Jahn made his first contribution to the Loop skyline in 1980 with the Xerox Center, now called 55 W. Monroe, which an Architect magazine review almost 25 years later described as one of the best expressions of “a sleek, machine-like minimalism” that architects everywhere were seeking at the time.
* ABC 7…
“In losing Helmut Jahn we not only lose one of the best architects on the planet. We lose someone who cared about Chicago,” [Lee Bey, an adjunct professor of architecture at ITT] said. “And a voice that really spoke and cared about the city.”
Jahn taught at the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University and the Illinois Institute of Technology.
* Neil Steinberg…
My favorite Jahn building is the Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago, its glass-domed reading room outfitted with a working air conditioning system and the actual books tucked away in sub-basements reached by a wondrous automated retrieval system.
Jahn came to Chicago in 1966, to study under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, adding a whimsy to the former Bauhaus chief’s minimalism or, if you prefer, brutalism. Since Mies came here under the wing of Frank Lloyd Wright in the late 1930s, you can draw a direct line from Louis Sullivan through Wright, to Mies, to Jahn and … well, the line sort of ends there.
The most exciting architect today in Chicago, if not the world, is Jeanne Gang, and Jahn embarrassed himself in 2019 by his sour grapes decrying of Studio Gang’s selection for the $1 billion-plus O’Hare expansion. But this is a time for appreciation, not criticism. The man left his mark.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, May 10, 21 @ 2:44 am
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A true visionary, a man respected within the world of architecture, his work celebrated, he made an airport terminal a real beautiful piece of art and function.
He came to Chicagoland, stayed in Chicagoland.
We were so lucky to have him.
A tragedy, sincere condolences to his family and friends
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, May 10, 21 @ 6:59 am
It is too bad he is best known for Thompson Center because his body of work was amazing.
In the city of Sullivan, Lloyd-Wright, and Mies, he was the step forward and deserves his name along side them.
Comment by Crash Monday, May 10, 21 @ 7:10 am
Jahn doesn’t deserve as much criticism over the JRTC as he gets. Much of the things people complain about regarding that building were out of his control. They cut corners by ignoring his design specs during construction as”cost-cutting” moves that ended up costing more. Then the state was a terribly neglectful landlord that performed next to zero upkeep for decades because of a fear of press criticism for things like replacing carpets and paint.
Helmut designed them a cathedral… And they ran it down into a hovel. That’s not on him, but on every governor since it opened.
Comment by Give Us Barabbas Monday, May 10, 21 @ 7:35 am
Springfield has a parking garage that was designed by him in 1977. It’s the one next to the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel and the Convention Center at 109 South 7th Street. (http://visuals.sj-r.com/pied-piper-architectural-tour-in-downtown-springfield - 7th photo)
Comment by Tallgonzo Monday, May 10, 21 @ 8:04 am
condolences to his family and the architectural community, which can be very combative, but this is a loss of one of their own stars.
Comment by Amalia Monday, May 10, 21 @ 8:32 am
The United tunnel at O’Hare still is a magical place.
Comment by Kind Critic Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:02 am
The Mansueto is amazing, not just as a building but as a working library. The dome is on top of a multi-story building underground where the stacks are kept in a climate controlled environment. They have robots that pull books that are requested. It’s very cool.
The “village” at IIT is also outstanding.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:16 am
An architect doesn’t have control over how a client chooses to actually build the building he has designed. The flaws in the Thompson Building really should be laid at the feet of the Thompson cronies at the CDB who underestimated the cost to sell the building to the public and then ‘value-engineered’ the project to keep the cost from becoming a political problem. The ugly glass along the west and north walls? The under-sized HVAC system? Cheap carpeting? Offices without light switches?
Comment by Rasselas Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:24 am
It sounds like his mistake may have been responsible for this accident. That said, I try to confine my riding to paths and trails because there is not only much more traffic than there used to be. There’s a lot more distracted drivers.
Comment by ddp76 Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:30 am
A few separate, unrelated thoughts:
1: Unless the drivers had dash cams, we’ll never know exactly what happened. But for the love of everything holy, drivers pay attention for bicycles, and cyclists follow traffic laws. (and let’s also get more bike friendly infrastructure whenever possible, it doesn’t cost that much but saves lives)
2: The vast majority of Jahn’s work is exquisite, even if you don’t like the JRTC.
3: I actually like the JRTC in general, with a couple caveats-
a) the giant atrium would work better in a less dense city. Loop real estate is at too much of a premium, and the state needs to be more efficient with its property use.
b) The office floors absolutely needed to be walled in from day 1. Atrium noise was extremely distracting when I worked there in a cubicle.
c) Jahn can’t be blamed for deferred maintenance, cheaping out during construction, or the general public/homeless making a disaster of the restrooms.
Comment by Homebody Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:30 am
And I’m just gonna say it- The Thompson Center is beautiful, and the ideas behind it- openness and transparency- are laudable. I get that it’s functionally a mess, especially as a government office building, and that’s important. I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to get rid of it (or turn it into a water park). But by god it looks great, and Jahn deserves an attaboy for that.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:31 am
@ Cheryl44 -
I completely agree about the Mansueto. I did a tour of it just after it was built. I loved the light-filled reading room, but the robots were the coolest.
Comment by JoanP Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:34 am
@ Arsenal -
“Form follows function” - Louis Sullivan
Comment by JoanP Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:35 am
==“Form follows function” - Louis Sullivan ==
Agreed, that’s why I tripped over myself to not criticize anyone who wants to tear it down.
Comment by Arsenal Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:45 am
Jahn stayed and kept the city of Chicago alive in its long run as America’s premier architecture city. He followed in the steps of those other world famous earlier luminaries mentioned above. A sad ending to be sure, but he was active to the end and we were fortunate that he chose Chicago as his home.
Comment by Responsa Monday, May 10, 21 @ 9:51 am
He was also great fun at parties.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, May 10, 21 @ 10:01 am
THe THompson Center as a work of art was outstanding but cheapened by the cost cutting moves (i.e. orange and blue panels replaced glass) and grossly under engineered (HVAC capacity NEVER adequate)
As a taxpayer funded work place it was a total disaster ( probably 2/3rd of the interior space is an atrium)
Mr. Jahn was a genius
Comment by Annonin' Monday, May 10, 21 @ 10:09 am
“The United tunnel at O’Hare still is a magical place.”
Still remember how it blew my mind the first time I entered it.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, May 10, 21 @ 10:23 am
May he rest in piece and perhaps under new ownership the JRTC might get the treatment it deserves. Talk of a waterpark notwithstanding.
Comment by Levois J Monday, May 10, 21 @ 10:37 am
I never liked the JRTC. Too much wasted space.
Comment by Anon E Moose Monday, May 10, 21 @ 11:06 am
I actually studied engineering and architecture (come from a multi-generation family of builders) before detouring into a different career.
The JRTC was a great design … built by the lowest bidder.
Comment by RNUG Monday, May 10, 21 @ 11:33 am
In defense of Jahn’s JRTC, many of Wright’s homes are uncomfortable to live in and maintenance nightmares, too.
Comment by Downstate Monday, May 10, 21 @ 1:09 pm
===maintenance nightmares, too===
Often for the same reason the Thompson Center has problems. Architects were too good for the people hired to actually build them.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, May 10, 21 @ 1:39 pm
“Architects were too good….”
I think about the craftsman that built many of the Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Are you saying that the builders were to blame for the challenges in those homes? (innocently asking)
Loved seeing the Dana Thomas house in Springfield. Beautiful house, but the floorplan, furniture and functionality made me appreciate the enduring design of my grandparent’s house built in the same time frame.
Comment by Downstate Monday, May 10, 21 @ 2:10 pm
Helmut Jahn also designed the offices of Shure in suburban Niles. Countless birds have died after flying straight into the clear and transparent wall extending south from the building. The glass wall serves no real purpose.
Sometimes, I think that Jahn was not at the lecture when the axiom “Form follows function” was discussed.
As for the Thompson Center, Jahn does not deserve all of the blame. The state engaged in cost cutting and used cheaper materials while eliminating some design elements. The total lack of routine maintenance doomed this building (not unlike the Kennedy-King College building that was allowed to deteriorate until it had to be replaced after a mere thirty-three years).
Comment by Practical Politics Monday, May 10, 21 @ 2:45 pm
Wright acted as contractor for a lot of his houses, which is why they’re horrible places to live. He cut a lot of corners without passing any savings onto his customers.
Comment by Cheryl44 Monday, May 10, 21 @ 2:51 pm
“I actually studied engineering and architecture”
I actually worked in that building for many years. It was not a good design.
Comment by Anon E Moose Monday, May 10, 21 @ 4:11 pm
Eight Bells.
He was also a competitive sailor.
Comment by TinyDancer(FKASue) Monday, May 10, 21 @ 5:49 pm