Gene Kohn died last week at 92. I was lucky enough to work with Gene a little bit during my time at KPF, the firm he co-founded.
I’ve no need to speak of Gene’s immense talents as a designer and business developer—Paul Goldberger’s obituary for Gene in the New York Times covers more ground with more authority than I could manage—but I do want to mention how Gene touched my career.
When I started at KPF, my marketing experience was limited to data entry (oof!) and content marketing—writing blogs for a dictionary website. I had no experience at all in business writing, save for my unremarkable cover letters for job applications.
So I was nervous when my boss tapped me to help Gene write a statement for RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects.
I had interviewed people before, but it hadn’t been since I was on the staff of my college newspaper.
But Gene was unfailingly kind about my uncertainty and awkwardness.
Writing in someone else’s voice, I’ve since learned, is hard if they don’t give you anything to say. Gene, though, had plenty to say, and he said it all well. All I had to do was transcribe my notes and add a little polish.
Below is what I drafted for Gene some six years ago. RIP, Gene Kohn.
I am honored to have been nominated for this fellowship. My membership of RIBA – especially as an American – has meant a great deal to me since I became a member in 1985.
My studies at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design cemented my passion for architecture. Under the leadership of G. Holmes Perkins, the school had become the center of the architectural universe, with a faculty that included Paul Rudolph, Louis Kahn, Lewis Mumford, Robert Venturi, Ian McHarg, Romaldo Giurgola, and Robert Geddes, among many others, not to mention visiting lecturers such as Le Corbusier, Gropius, and Frank Lloyd Wright. These professionals taught me the importance of creativity and sincerity in design, along with the social sensibility that such work requires. This education also instilled in me something else – the value of sharing my experience and knowledge with students – and I have made a point over my career of lecturing at universities all over the world, and have taught at the Harvard School of Business since 2006 and the Harvard University Graduate School of Design since 2012.
Prior to the founding of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates in 1976, my professional career was shaped by two major experiences – my three years as an officer in the US Navy during the Korean War, and my nine years as a partner and president at John Carl Warnecke & Associates. In the Navy, and at Warnecke, I learned that leadership is much more powerful when people are inspired, and credited for their hard work.
I founded KPF in 1976 with Bill Pedersen – a most talented designer – and Shelley Fox, and served as its first President. From the start, we hoped to build a firm based on the idea of the team, not the individual, a firm that built great architecture and attracted the very best design talent, and – most importantly – a firm that would last well beyond our participation.
I love design, and had an affinity for it – winning two AIA National Honor Awards in the early 1960s as a senior designer at Vincent G. Kling Associates – but I also recognized that great architecture was about teamwork, and that the best design ideas happen when a designer is surrounded by a broad and varied pool of talent. This focus on collaboration made for good business as well, with our large group of partners and principals able to open up opportunities for KPF around the globe. It was this insistence on collaboration that was behind KPF’s rapid growth into a firm of international status.
As an architect, I collaborated with other designers on several impressive projects during my time at KPF – 333 Wacker Drive in Chicago, the DZ Bank Headquarters in Frankfurt, JR Central & Towers in Nagoya, the World Bank Headquarters in DC, Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, the Gannett/USA Headquarters in McLean, Virginia, the Shanghai World Finance Center, New Songdo City in Incheon, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, and 55 Hudson Yards in New York City, among others – but as a leader, my greatest contribution will always be the success of the Firm, and the many outstanding buildings we designed that will continue to improve both the built environment and the quality of life of those who experience the buildings.
Taylor Coe 