Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Political economy

THE WORLD BY DESIGN

Clifford Pearson A. Eugene Kohn

The Story of a Global Architecture Firm

This fall, three of the world's most important architectural projects will open: the Abu Dhabi International Airport (3rd largest in the world), the tallest tower at Hudson Yards in Manhattan, and a 1,401-foot-tall office tower next to Grand Central Station called One Vanderbilt. These are all creations of KPF, one of the most successful architecture firms in the world and Gene Kohn, a founder and principal of Kohn Pederson Fox, is the visionary behind the firm. Here, in a series of forthright and engaging tales, he explains how he helped build the company, offering lessons on business leadership and design innovation that can be applied to many fields.

KPF has shaped skylines and cities in more than 50 countries with iconic structures like the World Financial Center in Shanghai, Roppongi Hills in Tokyo, Marina Towers in Beirut, Azrieli Towers in Tel Aviv, the Ritz- Carlton in Mumbai, the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong, the DZ Bank Tower in Frankfurt and the Goldman Sachs building in London (to name a few). It has also pioneered a model of global practice that has influenced architecture, design, and creative-services firms worldwide.

Kohn tells how he knew when to strike out on his own, how to recruit and keep the best talent, how to turn a cold call into a long-term relationship, when to turn down jobs, how to expand overseas, how to develop a culture of innovation, how to deal with deaths in the leadership group, and how to handle a mutiny by partners. The firm has also faced the constant struggle to remain innovative in a field that changes endlessly and sometimes instantly, often favoring the newest star on the horizon.

Examining both achievements and missteps in his 50-year career, Kohn shows how KPF, founded in 1976, changed the buildings and cities where we live, work, learn, and play, from London to Korea, Japan to Brazil.

Eugene Kohn is a founding partner and chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox. He is a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and teaches at schools such as Yale, Penn, and Columbia.
Clifford Pearson is KPF editorial director.

Available products
Book Published 2019-10-08 by Rosetta Books
Book Published 2019-10-08 by Rosetta Books

Comments

In The World by Design, Gene Kohn captures the excitement and camaraderie of architecture as a team sport. The book takes us inside one of the world's most significant architecture practices with a most congenial guide. It is essential reading for anyone interested in the business and culture of design.

His ability to embed his architectural practice in the development of the current world order has led to a success that is difficult to grasp. Name any city that has seen explosive growth in the past century - Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Jakarta, Bangkok, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur - and he's had a hand in the making of its skyline. Name any "old world" financial metropolis - New York, London, Frankfurt - and he's had a hand in designing its skyline, too. ... Kohn's book is a memoir in the lightest sense of the word. It reads variously as a corporate drama, a pitch-deck, and a well-aired rolodex of influential names - a welcome change of pace from your run-of-the-mill architectural monograph. Prince Charles, Michael Bloomberg and the Shah of Iran all make appearances, but in retelling these stories, Kohn is less like a name-dropper than a wide-eyed child admiring the places where his profession has taken him. By doing so, he also traces a trajectory that has defined the built environment in the last half-century. Read more...

The World by Design is a must-read for all of those who love cities and the buildings and skylines that define them. It will encourage you to not only look up, but to think differently about our built environment and those who shape it.

Great buildings give cities shape and character, and they inspire us to set our sights higher. This book pulls the curtain back on how they are brought to life.

Anyone who cares about the built environment should read The World By Design. Gene and his partners at KPF are defining the New York skyline with One Vanderbilt and this book provides fascinating insights into how they have built cities around the world.