Helmut Jan: "Skyscrapers are objects of the future"

The famous American architect of German origin, Helmut Jahn, head of the JAHN workshop, will speak at the 100+ Forum Russia. We managed to meet Helmut at the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM-2014, held in Yekaterinburg.

According to the architect, high-rise construction, which originated in America, has already spread around the world.:

- I do not know of any more or less developed country where there would not be skyscrapers. People want to live as close to the center of the metropolis as possible, as high as possible. In this regard, a skyscraper is an object of the future, which you need to be prepared for. Such objects are becoming business cards of cities and countries. For example, Moscow City is an important project for the Russian capital, also as a source for attracting foreign companies. Moreover, the number of Moscow's population is steadily growing, and the city needs skyscrapers, because it is more profitable to develop upward. Despite the criticism, Moscow City is necessary for the city. The Eiffel Tower was once criticized, but now it is a symbol of Paris.

Helmut Jan is the author of well-known multifunctional complexes, which were designed by order of large companies. For example, Sony Center in Berlin (1996-2000), which became one of the new symbols of the city. Designed in the shape of a circle, the building is an example of an indoor urban space in which residential, business and entertainment areas coexist. The Sony Center courtyard forms a triangle, at the top of which stands out a glass tower. The Highlight Towers office complex, designed by Jan in Munich (2000-2003), consists of two towers with heights of 126 and 113 m, connected by three structurally independent steel and glass walkways. According to Helmut's idea, this building became a visual embodiment of one of the fundamental qualities of modernist architecture — there is nothing superfluous in it.

The architect's most ambitious project, on which his workshop worked for about eight years, was Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok (1995-2004). Its main feature is that the facility includes the world's tallest control tower, with a height of 132.2 m. Today, this architectural complex is considered one of the largest glass structures in the world. Triplex, which has great durability, is used as the main material for the facade.