- Eric Kuhne
Eric R. Kuhne (born 1952) is a London-based American architect. He is the principal of CivicArts, also known as Eric R. Kuhne Architects, which he founded in 1983.
With major projects around the world, his best known assignment was the
Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the largest shopping mall in Europe. He recently completed a master plan for Kuwait’s City of Silk which includes a proposal for a record-breaking 1,001 m (3,284 ft) Burj Mubarak al-Kabir (Arabian Nights Tower). He was subsequently commissioned to create a similar project in Dubai in February 2008.Life
Kuhne was born in Texas, the son of an air force pilot father and a school teacher mother. He went to high school in
New Haven, Indiana , graduating in 1969. His father taught him to draw as a boy, and while still in high school his interest in architecture was furthered by working for Louis Petro, an engineer and architecture instructor atIndiana Tech in Fort Wayne. [Deanna Krinn, [http://www.deerparkpub.com/news7.asp "Noted Architect designs beer garden: Louis Petro has worked, taught around the US] , "The News-Sentinel", November 6, 2007. Retrieved on September 7, 2008.] After high school, he studied architecture at Rice University (graduating in 1973) and later at Princeton (1983). [ [http://www.classmates.com/directory/public/memberprofile/list.htm?regId=7058368019 Kuhne's entry] at Classmates.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2008.]Philosophy
His design philosophy, which he labels "Marketplace of Ideas" is to conceive "great" civic spaces that "restore the storytelling quality of architecture." He states, "cities have always been marketplaces for commodities, goods, services and faiths" but that "none of these truly reveres the power of civic life." He argues that retail trade "can bring back the pageantry of civic life to cities and towns." [Quoted by "Save Griffintown" Blog, [http://savegriffintown.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/projet-griffintown-new-design-new-funding/ Projet Griffintown: New Design, New Funding"] , Montreal. Retrieved on September 7, 2008.]
Projects
Large scale retail-based projects that exemplify this philosophy include Cockle Bay Wharf in Sydney, Australia, the huge
Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, and theTitanic Quarter redevelopment in Belfast.Other notable projects include:
*Darling Park, Australia, completed in 1991
*Riverwalk residential development, Chesapeake, Virginia, 1986-2004
*Headwaters Park, Fort Wayne, Indiana, completed in 1994
*Ebbsfleet
*V Building , Birmingham (planned)References
External links
* [http://www.titanic-quarter.com/items/mediaroom/presspack/tq_regenerating_belfast_webversion.pdf Titanic Quarter]
* [http://www.fastcompany.com/node/37809/print The Company Without Limits (Bluewater)]
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