“I hope that I am not a legend yet,” - this is how Helmut Jan began his lecture. In fact, this name has already been inscribed in the history of modern architecture - in any case, Helmut Jahn is one of the ten most influential architects in America and is a ten-time winner of the American Institute of Architecture (AIA) awards. He builds airports and corporate buildings for major international companies. As an architect, Helmut Jahn was formed in the atmosphere of the most refined and classically strict modernism of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, with whom he studied after graduating from the Higher Technical School in Munich, he emigrated to the United States. When asked about the role of the teacher's charismatic personality in his life, Helmut Jahn replied: “I came to Chicago to study at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1966 and was going to spend only a year there. But it's been 42 years now and I'm still there. This is how Mies influenced me. True, the architect immediately noticed that he still does not belong to those who worship the personality of Mies Van der Rohe so much that they lose themselves in his light. Meanwhile, he does not accept the modern attitude to architecture as an object of art - for Helmut Jan, its functional and ecological understanding is much closer:
Helmut Jan:
“For me, architecture is not only an aesthetic perception - if it is, it becomes individualistic. Now architecture positions itself as some kind of work of art and often its essence is to be different from something else. But that doesn't mean being the best. New in modern architecture involves much more responsibility than simply deciding on form and aesthetics. At the same time, responsible architecture is inextricably linked to the environment through design, and not only through additional engineering and mechanical systems. Otherwise, technology becomes an end in itself."
The concept of "Archineria" as a new direction, designed to abandon the clear separation of architecture and engineering, was born in the early 1990s and became defining in the work of Helmut Jan throughout the next decade:
Helmut Jan:
- “The bottom line is that the architect is forced to pay more attention to the technical consequences of the forms he creates, and not just count on the engineer to cope with the technical side of the project, and engineers, in turn, must take into account the aesthetic aspects of the use of certain components or solutions. If you try to combine all issues of energy integration, environmental friendliness and comfort under a common heading, then rational design is the right term. I always want to make a building optimal and utilized as much as possible. But this must be done primarily through the use of natural resources, and mechanical equipment should be minimized. The building should be transparent and dematerialized and elevate the materials themselves to the level of art.
First of all, attention should be paid to daylight, natural ventilation, wind and water, as the most efficient energy carriers, with the help of which the vitality of the environment and the safety of mechanical systems are achieved. These ideas are most clearly reflected in the design of the façade, which is a joint product of the engineer and the architect. A façade is a component that regulates the atmosphere inside a building and interacts with daylight, natural ventilation, solar energy and their feedback to engineering."
During the lecture, Helmut Jahn showed more than a dozen projects around the world made by his Murphy / Jahn workshop over the past 8-10 years. For the most part, these are multifunctional complexes designed by order of large companies, and very often these are high-rise buildings. The architect began with the Sony Center, a project well known to the whole world, which has become a noticeable, if not central, part of the reconstruction of Berlin. Designed in the shape of a circle, this structure is an example of a new type of indoor urban space, in which the residential, business and entertainment districts of the city coexist. Particularly difficult was the roof of this vast structure, according to Helmut, it is "a work of art, a symbol of Berlin."
The 'Highlight towers', designed by Helmut Jahn in Munich (2000-2003), embody, in his own opinion, one of the fundamental qualities of modernist architecture. According to the architect, this is an example of a building in which there is nothing superfluous.
Helmut Jan:
“‘ Highlight towers ’are located at the entrance to the city, at the intersection of the peripheral ring with the Autobahn. This is a complex made up of two slender buildings, connected by passages in such a way that they are structurally independent from each other. Transitions can be disassembled and or moved from one floor to another. This is not a completely minimized structure, rather dematerialized."
Despite the fact that Helmut Jahn has lived in Chicago for more than 40 years, where his head office is located, the architect builds more for his native Germany and he does not have many projects in the USA. Helmut Jahn explains this by the fact that in the states "such a sophisticated construction technology has not taken root." Yet for one client in Chicago, the architect designed a 40-story tower complex with a parking lot at the base of the building and social infrastructure on the roof. The façade technology allows 60-70% of the sunlight to be used, given that there is not much sun in Chicago, like Moscow. In general, the architect believes that "it is a matter of time before buildings of this type appear in Moscow."
In the same place in Chicago, according to the project of Helmut Yan, the ‘IIT’ student dormitory of the famous Illinois Institute was built (2001-2003). It is a wall building consisting of six residential blocks with transparent entrance courtyards and two gates. Situated on the east side of the square campus, this building is run by a railroad track, after which the architect names the State Street Village project.
A year ago, one of the largest airports in the world, Suvarnabhumi (Golden Land) opened in Bangkok, on the project of which the Murphy / Jahn bureau worked for about eight years (1995-2004).
Helmut Jan:
“The airport is the first impression of the city you arrive in, and it is the last thing you visit when you leave. I made several airports and some of them are kind of miniature models of cities with squares and streets. It is a sequence of spaces that feel similar to the experience of a city, with a good city where you walk a lot, while in a bad city you have to drive a lot. You see the huge roof of Suvarnabhumi as a symbol of the country before you land."
A building of the scale of the city block was also designed by Helmut Jahn for a large chemical company in Geneva (Horizon Serono, 2003-2004). "This building is a miniature model of the city and represents all its functions." Another example of a corporate building is Voise in Heidenhain, Germany. This building is rounded: “The object looks like a mechanical one, like some kind of equipment, like an alien ship. The building can change its shape depending on weather conditions."
Helmut Jahn designs a lot for the Middle East. Recently, construction began on the 200-meter towers in Amman (Limitless towers are named after the developer company that builds them). These are two slender high-rise buildings, oriented towards the Old Town, from west to east. The city itself is located on limestone mountains, so this material is actively used in the cladding of skyscrapers in the form of stone screens on the facades, which are effective protection from the sun. At a considerable height, the towers are connected by a bridge, where a swimming pool and a sports club with a glass floor are located.
For the city of Doha in Qatar, Helmut Jan designed the tallest building, the multi-functional Barwa tower with a 570-meter tower. The huge cone-shaped body of this structure is based on eight columns, which transfer the load to the center. The tower stands right by the water of the bay. This was interpreted in the way of illumination - below it is blue, like water, and from time to time "rises" and "falls". In the western part there is a conference hall, the pointed triangular shape of which, according to Helmut Jan, resembles a knife.
Perhaps the only unrealized project that Helmut Jan told about was a competition work for the town of Masdar, located in the Emirates near Abu Dhabi. They lost the competition, but the architect could not fail to mention this project, since he considers it to be the most advanced of all that came out of the Murphy / Jahn workshop.
Helmut Jan:
“This building was supposed to produce the necessary energy resources by itself. To begin with, it is 30% less power hungry than usual. Here solar energy is used to the maximum, because in Dubai up to 90% of sunny days a year. The facades are protected by double-fold screens that maximize the use of daylight, ventilation, and maximum visibility. Public courtyards and private gardens inside the building are protected by special “wind catcher” roofs that are equipped with adjustable ventilation grilles and shutters to protect from direct sunlight. They face sea winds blowing from the northwest, while protecting against sandstorms in the southeast.
This is just the beginning in the movement towards energy-saving technologies - sometimes it is simply unprofitable for a developer to pay that kind of money for them. But we, as responsible architects, must convince them. We believe in architecture of purity, integrity and authenticity that will enable us to change our lives. Architecture can only be perfect when it seeks to overcome limitations."
Helmut Jahn is an architect who thinks about the green technologies of the future, while still drawing by hand on paper. He does not hide his belonging to the "other" (non-computerized) generation - and jokes that he uses the computer only for slide shows.
Helmut Jan:
“There are many such people of my generation in our bureau. Unlike young people, we know how to build a building, but we don’t know how to use it. In my opinion, computer technology equates all architects with each other, because anyone can do a good visualization. But architecture has always expressed itself, first of all, through drawings and sketches, and it was not always supposed to draw beautifully. It's like a letter … I regret the loss of this most of all in the modern architecture of computer technology and always recommend to young people not to be subject to these conveniences and not to forget what they are doing."
