Prof. Dr. h. c. mult. Dipl.-Ing. Architekt BDA
Born in 1935 in Riga, Latvia, von Gerkan founded gmp · von Gerkan, Marg and Partners
Architects with Volkwin Marg in 1965. The beginning of his career was marked by an
important project—Tegel Airport—which has been followed by many others to
this day, including the main railway station in Berlin and the planning of the 1.3-million
city of Lingang. In 1974 von Gerkan was appointed to the Chair for Design by
Braunschweig University, and in 2005 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Chung
Yuan Christian University in Chung Li, Taiwan. The East China Normal University College
of Design in Shanghai awarded von Gerkan an honorary professorship
in 2007, and Tongji University in Shanghai appointed him Advising Professor in 2014. He
set up the gmp Foundation and the Academy for Architectural Culture for the
advancement of gifted young architects. von Gerkan is a member of the Freie Akademie
der Künste, Hamburg and has received numerous other awards such as
the Fritz Schumacher prize, the Romanian State prize, the Association of German
Architects Grand Award and the Federal Cross of Merit.
Photo: gmp Architekten