On the death of Meinhard von Gerkan
We mourn our Founding Partner
Jan. 3, 1935 - Nov. 30, 2022
On November 30, 2022, our foundation partner Meinhard von Gerkan passed away in Hamburg at the age of 87. Together with Volkwin Marg he founded our practice partnership in 1965. Under the leadership of the two university friends and their later partners, gmp grew from a two-man enterprise to the company it is today: one of the largest, internationally recognized German architectural practices. For decades, Meinhard von Gerkan shaped gmp with great courage and inspiring energy, creating with all of us outstanding buildings in Germany and all over the world.
With him we lose a strong personality and an uncompromising proponent of the principles of dialogue-based design defined by him: simplicity, unity in diversity, uniqueness, and structural order. His astuteness and unfailing judgement contributed to gmp’s continuing growth and development. His farsightedness and resolve prepared the ground for the future of our practice.
For more than fifty years he played an important part in shaping architectural developments within Germany and far beyond. As an author and critic, he contributed to the debate on architecture in numerous articles, lectures and books. In his function as university professor and through the work of the Academy for Architectural Culture (aac) he was hugely influential in shaping a whole generation of architects, leaving behind a lasting legacy. We will miss him sorely.
Volkwin Marg, Nikolaus Goetze, Hubert Nienhoff, Stephan Schütz and Wei Wu
as well as all partners and staff in Hamburg, Berlin, Aachen, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Hanoi
