Erik Behrens (born 14 May 1975) is a German architect and designer.

Early life and career

In 2006 he moved to London to join

EDAW EDAW was an international landscape architecture, urban and environmental design firm that operated from 1939 until 2009. Starting in San Francisco, United States, the company at its peak had 32 offices worldwide. EDAW led many landscape architec ...

to become a key member of the team designing the London 2012 Olympic Park and Legacy development. He has worked on several projects that have won various national and international honors and awards, including the prestigious International Architecture Awards of the Chicago Athenaeum. In 2020, the

Al Wahda Arches The Al Wahda Arches (also called 5/6 Arch, Qatar Arch, Gateway Arch) is a monumental pair of 20° inclined steel arches, spanning the "5/6 interchange" of the Lusail expressway, Qatar which connects West Bay with Lusail City. It is the talles ...

, a 100-meter-tall immersive public artwork and national landmark in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, was completed, attracting a lot of media attention to him. He worked as AECOM’s architecture design director and project leader on the reinvigoration of the 1994 built Waterloo International railway station. In the AlUla desert in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, Erik Behrens and his team are designing a new equestrian village with low-lying, sand-colored structures. He is the architect of the

Gordie Howe International Bridge The Gordie Howe International Bridge (), known during development as the Detroit River International Crossing and the New International Trade Crossing, is a cable-stayed international bridge across the Detroit River, currently under construction ...

the longest

Cable-stayed bridge A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which wire rope, cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or wikt:stay#Etymology 3, stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, norm ...

in North America. Erik Behrens and James Haig Streeter are architects commissioned by the

Qatar Foundation The Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development () is a state-led non-profit organization in Qatar, founded in 1995 by then-List of emirs of Qatar, emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser Al-Miss ...

, they designed the

Oxygen Park Oxygen Park is a public park in Education City on the outskirts of Qatar’s capital, Doha. Located between the Qatar National Library and Education City Mosque to the North, and Education City Stadium to the South, the park has two "zones" � ...

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

capital of

Awards

*2022 Chicago Athenaeum International Award –

*2021: Chicago Athenaeum International Award –

*2018: ENR Best Global Projects Award – Lusail Expressway *2017: Finalist World Architecture Festival –

*2016: World Architecture News Future Project Award 2016 – Underwater Domes of Istanbul, Turkey *2008: Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture – Greenmetropolis *2008: European Urban and Regional Planning Award- Greenmetropolis

Publications

*Archplus, 168 Chinesischer Hochgeschwindigkeits Urbanismus, 2004, ISSN 0587-3452 *MADA in Model, 2005, ISBN 7-80177-305-5/TU *Urban Landscape 07, Fuck the Context,

Technische Universitaet Muenchen The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

, 2007 *Updating Germany 100 Projects for a Better Future, Hatje Cantz Verla, 2008, ISBN 978-3775722629 *New Geographies,

Harvard University Graduate School of Design The Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) is the graduate school of design at Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It offers master's and doctoral programs in architecture, landscape architecture, urban ...

, 2008, ISBN 978-1-934510-13-1. *Stadt Bauen, Deutscher Stadtebaupreis 2008, Jovis, ISBN 978-3-939633-88-4 *Ecological Urbanism, Co-published by Harvard University Graduate School of Design and Lars Muller Publishers, 2016, ISBN 978-3037784679 *Territories, Die Stadt aus der Landschaft entwickeln, Birkhauser, 2019, ISBN 978-3-7643-8844-7

Gallery

File:Oxygen Park-Qatar-Architect Erik Behrens-Photographer Markus Elblaus.jpg, Qatar’s capital, Doha,

File:Gordie Howe International Bridge - WDBA - Architect Erik Behrens - Photographer Matt Moniz.jpg, Detroit River, Canada–United States border,

File:Al Wahda Arches Qatar Architect Erik Behrens Aerial Photo.jpg, Lusail Expressway, Onaiza, Qatar,

File:Waterloo International Railway Station Conversion-London-Architect Erik Behrens.jpg,

Waterloo International railway station Waterloo International station was the London terminus of the Eurostar international rail service from its opening on 14 November 1994 to its closure on 13 November 2007, when it was replaced by London St Pancras International as the terminal ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Behrens, Erik Living people 1975 births 21st-century German architects