Sheldon Fox
Sheldon Fox (born June 28, 1930 in Bronx , New York City , † December 16, 2006 in Fairfield , Connecticut ) was an American architect and one of three founding partners of the US architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), New York City.
Sheldon Fox was born in the Bronx, New York City, in 1930, studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania , where he graduated in 1953. In 1955 he was employed by the New York office of Kahn & Jacobs . In 1972 he moved to John Carl Warnecke & Associates , where he met his former fellow student William Pederson (* 1938) again. Together with A. Eugene Kohn (* 1930), the two founded their own architecture office, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF), in 1976 , which subsequently became one of the most successful architecture offices in the USA. The success of the office, which has branches in New York, London and Shanghai and is currently building with around 400 employees in around 30 countries, was based, among other things, on the strict division of tasks between its three managing directors: while Pederson took on the role of the main design architect, Kohn was responsible for marketing. Fox acted as the company's general manager. KPF realized a large number of buildings - mostly high-rise office buildings - not only in the USA, but around the globe. The architectural style of the architecture office ranges from the late modern to the international style to the postmodern. The 333 Wacker Drive building erected by KPF between 1979 and 1983 in Chicago , Illinois - a 149 m high office building with 31 floors and a usable office area of 96,800 m² - was the first structure with which the architecture office based of the unusual glass-metal design gained greater attention and recognition from the professional world. Other prominent examples include the Shanghai World Financial Center , the Roppongi Hills Mori Tower , Tokyo , World Bank Headquarters in Washington, DC , or Gannett & USA Today Headquarters Towers in Tysons Corner, Virginia .
The company received numerous awards. It has received the renowned and coveted AIA Architectural Firm Award, which is presented by the American Institute of Architects , a total of six times.
The reunification of Germany and the increasing importance of the European Union opened up a wide field of activity for KPF here as well. One of KPF's first spectacular orders in Germany was the Westendstrasse 1 skyscraper for DZ Bank in Frankfurt am Main (1993). For the design of the so-called Kronenhochhaus , KPF was able to receive the coveted AIA Honor Award for the third time in 1995 . This was followed in 1997 - also in Frankfurt - the two projects Kastor and Pollux .
The rapid rise of the Asian countries brought KPF large orders, especially in China's up-and-coming metropolises Shanghai , Hong Kong and Beijing . The Shanghai World Financial Center , completed in 2008, is one of the tallest buildings in the world (4th place) with a height of 492 m and 101 floors.
Fox had already retired from the office in 1996 and since then has given more lectures on architecture and architecture management.
Sheldon Fox was married to Judith Landa. The couple had three children.
Buildings (selection)
See the article on Kohn Pedersen Fox
Web links
- Website of the architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates
- Sheldon Fox. In: Structurae
- Overview of the buildings constructed by KPF with a brief description and numerous photos
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Fox, Sheldon |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American architect |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 28, 1930 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bronx , New York City , New York , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 16, 2006 |
| Place of death | Fairfield , Connecticut , United States |