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Murphy/Jahn, Inc. Receives The American Institute of Architects 2005 Architecture Firm Award
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For Immediate Release |
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Washington, D.C., December 2,
2004 — The Board of Directors of The American Institute of Architects
(AIA) today named the Chicago firm, Murphy/Jahn, Inc. (Murphy/Jahn), as
recipient of the 2005 AIA Architecture Firm Award.
The AIA Architecture Firm Award is the highest honor the AIA
bestows on an architecture firm, and is given annually to recognize
a practice that has consistently produced distinguished
architecture for at least 10 years. The award will be presented at
the American Architectural Foundation Accent on Architecture Gala,
February 11, 2005 at the National Building Museum in Washington,
D.C. Previous recipients include Cesar Pelli & Associates,
Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Herbert Lewis Kruse Blunck, The
Miller/Hull Partnership, and the 2004 recipient, Lake/Flato
Architects.
“It’s a great privilege,” said Murphy/Jahn President
and Chief Executive Officer, Helmut Jahn, FAIA, when notified
by AIA President Eugene C. Hopkins, FAIA, that his firm had been
selected for the award. “I want to thank everybody. We worked
very hard to put a presentation together that reflected a history
of the firm, which goes way back to Charles Murphy and to the
Chicago School of Daniel Burnham. We have a great team. We’re
putting forward in architecture what we believe is the next step to
solving the problems of the profession in the future. Thank you, we
gladly accept this honor.”
In nominating the firm, AIA board member and Ohio Valley Region
Director, Hal P. Munger, AIA, commented, “For nearly 70 years
Murphy/Jahn has been leading our profession through design,
technology and practice issues. From its solid beginnings, which
literally helped create ‘the city that works,’ to its
ongoing successes exporting American’s can-do mind-set,
Murphy/Jahn has combined futuristic vision, boundless energy and
steady passion for the good which wonderful American architecture
can provide to people everywhere.”
Background on Murphy/Jahn
Murphy/Jahn’s roots are firmly affixed in Chicago. The 60-year
history of the firm is filled with prominent names in American
architecture, and changes in leadership, but the direction of
Murphy/Jahn has remained consistent with its dedication to a
progressive stance on technology and design. Over the years,
important changes were made in the structure of the firm through
creation of peer relationships with engineers. The term
“Archi-neering” was coined by Jahn to express what he
sees as the synergistic, non-hierarchal relationship between
architecture and engineering. The idea of convergence is the
philosophy of the firm and its work. It describes
Murphy/Jahn’s constant team collaboration, with multiple
disciplines both inside and outside the firm. “Although
‘Archi-neering’ would connote a relationship between
architect and engineer alone, the relationships that are formed
with all consultants, scientists and artists follow a similar
structure, at all scales,” said, Keith Palmer, AIA,
Vice-president, Director of Office Resources at Murphy/Jahn.
More than a dozen monographs have been published on the firm’s
innovative philosophy. The most notable, Archi-Neering,
Architecture Engineering, and Transparency, were co-authored by an
engineer, and address the firm’s philosophy.
The 65-member firm derives much of its success from a talented,
dedicated staff and an open culture that honors individual
creativity and nurtures teamwork. With Jahn as their leader, the
firm, as a team, has received accolades for its work, including
three National AIA Honor Awards in 2004 along with previous nine
National AIA Honor Awards. According to Munger, “Never before
has his team been more important in achieving practical and
beautiful art, nor has the work been more acknowledged as a
collective effort of the engineering, the technical, and the
creative. As we stress the importance of architects working in
teams through collaboration to achieve extraordinary results for
clients, and as they have done so many times in the past, this firm
is leading the way for the rest of us.”
The firm’s wide contributions to the built environment focus
on office buildings and high-rises, airports and other
transportation-related works, as well as convention and commercial
centers. A strong international presence has led to numerous
commissions throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and across the United
States. Murphy/Jahn has established an award winning team that in
2004 received three National AIA Honor Awards. Additional
recognitions include over 60 AIA Chicago Chapter awards, over 15
Steel and Structural Awards, and various Urban Planning and Energy
Usage awards. Beyond awards, the firm has added much to the
skylines of cities such as Chicago, Philadelphia, and Berlin with
works such as the State of Illinois Building, One Liberty Place,
and the Sony Center while simultaneously adding to the cities’
cultural and transportation infrastructures. Additionally,
larger-scale airports in Munich and Bangkok act as important icons
for those cities.
Blair Kamin, architectural critic at The Chicago Tribune, in
support of the firm’s nomination wrote, “The firm is
producing some of the world’s most technologically advanced,
formally sophisticated, and urbanistically significant buildings.
And its best work is still ahead.” Kamin adds in conclusion,
“Murphy/Jahn’s enlightened architecture does not simply
comment on our times. It engages the world in order to transform
it. The firm richly deserves the 2005 Architecture Firm
Award.”
About The American Institute of Architects
Since 1857, the AIA has represented the professional interests of
America's architects. As AIA members, over 74,000 licensed
architects, emerging professionals and allied partners express
their commitment to excellence in design and livability in our
nation's buildings and communities. Members adhere to a code of
ethics and professional conduct that assures the client, the
public, and colleagues of an AIA-member architect's dedication to
the highest standards in professional practice
Note to editors: For additional background
information or images, contact Tricia Boone in the AIA's media
relations office, (202) 626-7467, email tboone@aia.org.
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