Murphy/Jahn

Helmut Jahn, FAIA has earned a reputation on the cutting edge of progressive architecture and his buildings have had a "staggering" influence on world architecture, according to John Zukowdky, Curator of Architecture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Jahn is revealed as an architect committed to exploring the material and perceptual possibilities of creating architecture in a new millennium, one with 'a simplicity of form and construction and a clear expression of its component parts and purpose,' as he describes it. Talking to Jahn, you hear little if anything about 'style' or even 'design.' Now collaborating with structural, mechanical, and environmental engineers, along with physicists and materials manufacturers, Jahn is creating buildings that push glazing technology, environmental systems, and urban place making to the limits. Jahn's designs are both rational and intuitive; he attempts to give each building its own philosophical and intellectual base, and establishes an opportunity to exploit its particular elements to achieve a visual and communicative statement. He is committed to design excellence and the improvement of the urban environment.