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PURPOSE Designing Buildings, Shaping Cities An Interview with James von Klemperer, President and Design Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates EDITORS’ NOTE James von comprises corporate headquarters, offi ce architects devote to their work can only exist in Klemperer is President and Design buildings, hospitality, academic, medi- a setting in which they can count on a climate Principal at Kohn Pedersen Fox cal, research, civic, museum, transporta- of mutual respect. Associates where he started as a tion, residential, and mixed-use projects, The strength of our practice starts with a young architect in 1983. His proj- both in the United States and abroad. More deep dedication to the mission of design. The ects have gained recognition in than 100 of the fi rm’s completed proj- founders of our firm, and those who joined the fi eld, both locally and abroad. ects are certified, or pursuing, green them soon after the fi rm’s inception, had stud- In New York, his design for One certifi cation. ied and worked with great modern architects Vanderbilt will link Midtown’s tall- including Louis Kahn, I.M. Pei, Marcel Breuer, est tower directly to Grand Central What is the key to the strength Paul Rudolph and Rafael Moneo. We still look Terminal. His work on Peterson Institute of KPF’s architectural practice to these sources for inspiration. for International Economics and how does it maintain its We’ve made a priority of giving elegant in Washington D.C., Dongbu James von Klemperer leadership in the fi eld? form to large complex functions, while paying Financial Center in Seoul, Blue In over 40 years of practice, our attention to the rigorous demands of construc- Pool Road Houses in Hong Kong, Riverside 66 fi rm has established a remarkable body of work, tion and the marketplace. The only way to do urban market in Tianjin, the Ga Mashie Urban some of the world’s most distinguished exam- this effectively was to bring architecture together Transformation in Accra, Ghana, and One ples of large-scale architecture, projects that with the forces of commerce. This became the Vanderbilt have all received AIA design awards. have shaped major cities including New York, fi rm’s ethos. Jamie has designed some of the world’s Washington, London, Paris, Shanghai, Hong What makes our fi rm special today is our tallest buildings, including the 555-meter Lotte Kong and Seoul. I would argue that KPF has cre- ability to bring innovative design to large-scale Tower in Seoul. In London, he recently led the ated one of the most powerful models of projects. In our fi eld, size and quality are often design of two residential towers in One Nine collaborative practice in the history of our pro- seen as inversely proportional. On the contrary, Elms, while in Paris he designed the new offi ces fession. I’m convinced that the key to our success we fi nd it especially exciting to bring the ideals for the Ministry of Justice. lies in our culture of collaboration and respect. of elevated design to such building types as In the academic sphere, Jamie tall towers, sprawling markets, air- taught at Yale in 2011 and in 2016 port terminals, new towns, whole as the Saarinen Visiting Professor, campuses and mixed-use urban leading a design studio in explor- clusters. These types of projects ing dynamic relationships between bring tough challenges, often at architecture and urban develop- a scale at which it is diffi cult to ment. He has lectured at Harvard, perfect every detail, but they are Columbia, Tsinghua, Tongji, Seoul tremendously important. We make National, and Yonsei Universities, it our mission to execute our proj- the ESA in Paris, and the AMO in ects with technical thoroughness Lyon as well as in Santiago, Chile, and functional intelligence, build- Sydney, Australia and Tel Aviv. ing them well, and building them After graduating from Phillips to last. Academy Andover, he received a B.A. How critical is it that your from Harvard in 1979, magna cum culture remains consistent, laude in history and literature. In especially in an environment 1980, he was the Charles Henry Fiske where you’re in competition with Fellow at Trinity College Cambridge. celebrity architects for projects? He received his MArch with honors The Lotte Tower in Seoul The term “celebrity archi- from Princeton in 1983. tect” is something of a misnomer. Jamie also serves on the Board of the Storefront The firm operates as a meritocracy, in Some architects who are celebrated in one for Art and Architecture, chairs the boards of the which the best ideas rise to the top, and indi- part of the world are unknown in oth- Skyscraper Museum and the Urban Design Forum, vidual talents are given a chance to contribute ers. Celebrity value varies with context. For a and is a trustee of Bard College. at the highest level. It is absolutely essential that variety of reasons, KPF is often considered to opportunities are given equally to all, regardless have that caché in China and in other parts of FIRM BRIEF Operating as one fi rm with six global of gender, culture, race, age or persuasion. To Asia. That being said, I understand the draw. offi ces, KPF (kpf.com) is one of the world’s premier draw disproportionately from one group would Single name firms can carry with them a con- architecture fi rms with approximately 600 staff mem- be to miss out on the potential of talent avail- notation of the individual genius. For better or bers from 42 different countries, together speaking a able to us, and to violate a principle of fairness. for worse, it’s harder to create that sense of collective 40 languages. The fi rm’s diverse portfolio The unusually high level of dedication that our mystique with a group fi rm. 54 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2018 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 41, NUMBER 2 Our belief is that collabora- types, from a single storefront or tion, the collective effort of a like- even a light fi xture to the plan of minded group, can often achieve a new city or neighborhood. We more than any single source fi rm. have designed airports, busi- Collaboration is responsible for ness schools, bus stations, and some of the greatest achievements houses, as well as hotels, offi ce of our time, including information towers, museums and residen- technology, space exploration, and tial complexes. Yet to say that we advances in medical treatment. Just can do anything and everything read Isaacson’s book on the great doesn’t aptly describe our mis- innovators. Perhaps it’s some- sion. We feel we need to focus thing of an American phenom- in order to make progress and to enon. In the U.S., we believe in motivate ourselves to be excel- teamwork, community initiatives, lent within each use category. For group research projects, etc. This each of these building types, we may be why our country boasts have developed an attitude based so many of the world’s greatest on years of experience. Our goal research universities, Nobel Prize is to innovate by advancing the winners and business innovations. strategy of each typology in some Collaboration has also produced new direction. such architectural achievements as When it comes to scale, Rockefeller Center. our sweet spot is somewhere At KPF we work very hard Covent Garden in London between a building and a city. to maintain the sense of broad- In such diverse projects such as based participation in design. We avoid over- buildings. We see neighborhoods ruined or Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, the Jing An Kerry emphasizing individual authorship, and ask enhanced over time depending on the thought- Center in Shanghai, Hudson Yards in New York that each individual shares credit with his or her fulness devoted to new construction. Part of and Covent Garden in London, individual build- teammates. There is a tremendous work ethic in this discussion involves the awareness of his- ings combine with spaces around them to form the fi rm, arising more from ambition and desire torical surroundings. Without understanding the what we call urban fabric. Multiple buildings than from a sense of obligation. Each architect broader context of the city, we can’t contribute come together to form a coherent piece of the wants his or her team’s project to stand out as effectively to the larger urban amalgam in which city. Our projects in such varied places as the smartest, most inventive, best looking build- we are working. Mexico, Vancouver, Sydney and Tel Aviv ing in the studio; of course, while appreciating Communicating the value of design is one manifest a set of values about how architec- and gleaning inspiration from the work being of the architect’s most important challenges. It’s ture can shape cities and infl uence urban life. done around them. They realize that this cannot part of our job to advocate effectively, some- A big part of our work involves the cre- be achieved by individuals. While often over- times educating others about our intentions, ation of public space. We start to see the open used, the team sport analogy fi ts. An individual and remembering to remain self-critical in the areas around buildings, and between buildings, cannot win in a game of soccer, basketball or process. Our audiences range from clients to as primary. Building forms are tuned to encour- ice hockey. It’s the same with building proj- public offi cials, to construction companies to age people to use space in ways that enhance ects of such size and complexity.