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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF HELMUT JAHN
WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of the Cook County Board of Commissioners that Helmut Jahn made his transition to eternal life on May 8, 2021; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn was the husband of Deborah Lampe and father of Evan; and
WHEREAS, Helmut Jahn was born in Zirndorf, Bavaria in 1940 and emigrated to Chicago in 1966 to study engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn joined Charles Francis Murphy’s architecture firm C.F. Murphy Associates in 1967, was appointed Executive Vice President in 1973 and become head of the firm in 1981, renaming it Murphy/Jahn, and then JAHN in 2012; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn's early career saw him working on various large-scale public and civic buildings in Chicago, his adopted home city, and helped establish his reputation as a contemporary architecture talent; and
WHEREAS In 1985, the Helmut Jahn designed the State of Illinois Center, renamed the James R. Thompson Center, was completed. With its sloped glass facade and towering open atrium, the 17-story structure not only became one of downtown Chicago's most recognizable buildings but a bold architectural expression of open government; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn designed the inspiring Terminal 1 building at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, with its acclaimed pedestrian tunnel, which is illuminated in neon designs created by artist Michael Hayden; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn designed many award-winning projects including the Liberty Place skyscraper complex in Philadelphia, Sony Center in Berlin, Suvarnabhumi Airport terminal in Bangkok and the 55-story Messeturm in Frankfurt, which briefly reigned as the tallest building in Europe after being completed in 1990, and
WHEREAS in 1991, Helmut Jahn was named as one of the "Ten Most Influential Living American Architects" by the American Institute of Architects; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn held various teaching posts through his career, including at the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University and IIT; and
WHEREAS Helmut Jahn’s firm was awarded in the AIA Chicago Firm of the Year Award in 2006 and
the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Award for Architecture Excellence in Community Design in 2008; and
WHEREAS all who knew him will attest that Helmut Jahn was a thoughtful and creative man, virtuous of character, admired and respected by his many friends and colleagues, and loved by his family; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Commissioners of Cook County that the Board does hereby offer its sympathy to the family of Helmut Jahn; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this text be spread upon the official proceedings of this Honorable Body and a suitable copy of the same be tendered to the family of Helmut Jahn.
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