CV

Thomas Herzog is not only an internationally successful architect but also a brilliant academic. The experimental work he does in his architectural practice with his colleagues from various disciplines – from architectural engineering to solar technology – is the basis of his special method of architectural creation. His buildings are amongst the classics of recent architectural history: for example, the construction of the glass roof of the Design Center in Linz with its retroreflective light grid, or the Expodach (expo roof) at the World Fair in Hanover. In the planning and development of building envelopes, Thomas Herzog demonstrated how to make useful, sustainable structures contextual and adaptable through interdisciplinary research. These buildings brought him international fame. In collaboration with environmental and light designers, structural engineers or the Fraunhofer Institute for solar energy systems, he develops building envelopes in which all of the subsystems, from the frame to structural mechanics, are integrated; that can react with flexibility; and the energy economy of which can be regulated like an open system. From 1982 to 1996, Thomas Herzog was active in research and development work for the European Commission in Brussels. He established a technical center in the Department of Architecture at TUM that significantly improved the academic quality of the education in architecture. Thomas Herzog has a particular interest in the use of modern, high-tech materials and the optimal supply of energy from environmentally friendly energy sources. He has received numerous honors and awards for his buildings. He is also the author and editor of textbooks and monographs published across the world, as well as serving as president of the jury for the International Prize for Sustainable Architecture since 2006.

 

Short biography

1960 – 1965	Studies in architecture, TH Munich
since 1971	Architectural partners practice, Stuttgart/Munich
1971 – 1972	Awarded fellowship at the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy
1972	Doctorate in architecture, La Sapienza University, Rome
1973 – 1986	University professor of design and product development, Gesamthochschule Kassel
1986 – 1993	Professor of design and building technology, TH Darmstadt
1993 – 2006	Professor of design and building construction II; subsequently structural engineering, Institute for Architectural Design and Building Technology, TUM

 

Memberships and honors

Member of the Academy of Arts (Berlin); Académie d’Architecture (Paris, France); Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts (Munich); Russian Academy of Arts and Sciences (St Petersburg, Russia); as well as the International Academy of Architecture (Sofia, Bulgaria)

Chair of the 4th European Conference for Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning (1996)

Commissioner General of the Federal Republic of Germany for the international Venice Biennale of Architecture, Italy (2000)

Member of the academic committee of the XX. and XXI. World Congress of Architecture of the International Union of Architects, Beijing, China (1999), Berlin (2002)

Member of the board of directors, PLEA community services, Vancouver, Canada (1994-2006)

Honorary member of the Società Italiana della Tecnologia dell’Architettura (2010)

Peer reviewer for the German Research Foundation (2000-2005), and trustee for the Fraunhofer Society’s Institute for Solar Energy Systems (until 2011)

Graham Professor, University of Pennsylvania, USA (2003)

Guest professor at the Royal Academy of Copenhagen, Denmark (2004); École Polytechnique Féderale de Lausanne, Switzerland (several times); Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (since 2003)

 

Awards

• Mies van der Rohe Award (1981)
• Gold medal from the Association of German Architects (BDA) (1993)
• Auguste Perret Prize from the International Union of Architects (1996)
• Leo von Klenze Medal from the Supreme Building Authority of the Bavarian State Ministry (1998)
• Den Grønne Nål from the Architects’ Association of Denmark (1998)
• Grande médaille d’or from the Académie d’Architecture (1998)
• Fritz-Schuhmacher-Prize for Architecture (1999)
• Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Medal from TUM (2005)
• European Award for Architecture and Technology (2006)
• Honorary doctorate from the University of Ferrara, Italy (2007)
• International Architecture Award, Chicago Athenaeum (2007)
• Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, Cité de l’Architecture, Paris (2009)

You can download "Explanations of honors and awards" here [PDF 215 KB]