One of the more prominent modern German architects of his time is being mourned after news that von Gerkan, Marg + Partners co-founder Meinhard von Gerkan died last week at the age of 87.

Born in Latvia in 1935, von Gerkan grew up in Hamburg after being orphaned in World War II. Following the completion of his studies at the Technical University of Braunschweig, von Gerkan opened the practice known today as gmp with his classmate and business partner Volkwin Marg in 1965. The firm won its first mainstream success with the completion of the beloved (now decommissioned) Berlin Tegel Airport design in 1974 and went on to grow into one of the country’s largest practices, with over 600 staffers and offices in Hamburg, Berlin, Aachen, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Hanoi.

Further projects for the Estádio Nacional de Brasília, reconstructed Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, and Leipziger Messe (which would include Europe’s first fully-glazed glass structure) followed. In 2006, his design for the Hauptbahnhof, Berlin’s main train station, opened in the midst of a dispute with Deutsche Bahn that ended in a lawsuit against the rail service. To date, the firm has completed more than 500 projects across the world. 

Von Gerkan also enjoyed a long career in academia in addition to publishing critical writings. On its website, gmp said: “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.”

A statement from founding partner Volkwin Marg reads as follows: 

I am proud of what Meinhard and I, together with our partners and staff, have created over the last half century. Proud of our buildings, which enjoy recognition and appreciation in Germany and worldwide. Together, we have always made a stand for good architecture; very often we were successful, and sometimes we were not. At the same time, our working style changed only slightly over the more than fifty years of our time working together. Loosely based on General Moltke’s maxim, “Marching separately, defeating together”, we produced our designs separately, but always discussed all major principles with each other. We were of one mind in our approach to design, so that we were able to act on the basis of the same principles – both conceptually and in terms of content - always discussing the genius loci, the functional purpose, and the need for social quality and dignified architecture. To the very last, we enjoyed our bond based on inspirational cooperation. I will sorely miss this exchange with him.

In addition, we shared the experiences of our generation: the horrors of the Second World War, the consequences of the Cold War, the partition of Germany, the fall of the Berlin Wall, German reunification, and the European Union. We had the good fortune to start in times of peace and to live in a democracy. In both architecture and urban design, we had the freedom to produce solutions for shaping the environment at various different levels. We both felt equally committed to passing on our experience to the younger generation, also outside of our practice. Therefore, our work as university professors and in the gmp Foundation was particularly important to us. Meinhard’s creative thinking will stay alive and flourish, in particular at the Academy for Architectural Culture (aac).

Meinhard von Gerkan passed away surrounded by his loving family. In the end, he lost his strength and his passing came as a relief to him. He reached the end of a truly fulfilled life.