He once remarked that one of his creations made his reputation throughout the world but killed it in Chicago.
Bicycling gave him a long, healthy life, but two cars killed him about 100 kilometers west of the Windy City.
The creation in question is the Thomposon Building, nee the State of Illinois Center, designed by architecht Helmut Jahn.
That building, and 55 West Monroe (originally known as the Xerox Center), the Chicago Board of Trade and the United Airlines Terminal at O'Hare International Airport, are among the most iconic structures in Chicago's distinctive profile. Jahn created the Art Deco Revival addition to the Board of Trade, and conceived and designed the others.
His quip about how he's regarded is a result of the Thompson Building's history. Like too many high-rise structures, like the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in my hometown, it has been a "white elephant" that bled barrels of cash. (ESB, finished just as the world was about to plunge into the worst economic depression of the past century, didn't break even until 25 years after it opened; the Twin Towers were in the red from the day they opened until the day they fell.) Last week, the State of Illinois began accepting bids for the Thompson's sale.
Of course, the edifice's financial woes are not Jahn's fault. I hope the same can be said for the crash that ended his life. According to a police report and witnesses, he didn't stop at a stop sign and proceded through an intersection in St. Charles. There, a Chevrolet Trailblazer SUV traveling southeast knocked him into the northwest lane, where a Hyundai Sonata going in the opposite driection from the Trailblazer struck him.
Now, not having seen a video of the incident, or the incident itself, it's hard to know whom or what, if anyone or anything, to blame. Did Jahn not see the Stop sign? Did he not see the vehicles until it was too late? Perhaps he misjudged their speed and figured he had enough time to cross? Or were the drivers of either or both of the vehicles speeding or driving distractedly?
Whatever the answers to these questions, losing anyone in what must have been a gruesome collision is bad enough. And, just as the world renowned Helmut Jahn as an architecht, it--we--will mourn his loss.
