Jan Gehl Hon. FAIA (born 17 September 1936,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

) is a Danish

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and

urban design Urban design is an approach to the design of buildings and the spaces between them that focuses on specific design processes and outcomes based on geographical location. In addition to designing and shaping the physical features of towns, city, ...

consultant based in

whose career has focused on improving the quality of urban life by re-orienting city design towards the pedestrian and cyclist. He is a founding partner of Gehl Architects.

Biography

Gehl received a Masters of Architecture from the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts (KADK) in Copenhagen in 1960, and practiced architecture from 1960 to 1966. In 1966 he received a research grant from KADK to study " the form and use of public spaces"; his book Life between Buildings (1971) reports his studies of public life in public spaces, and develops his theories about how city planning and architecture influence public life. He became a professor of urban planning at KADK, and a visiting professor around the world. He co-founded Gehl Architects in 2000 with Helle Søholt, held a Partner position until 2011, and remains a Senior Advisor. As a "''young architect working in the suburbs,''" Gehl married a psychologist and "''had many discussions about why the human side of architecture was not more carefully looked after by the architects, landscape architects, and planners... My wife and I set out to study the borderland between sociology, psychology, architecture, and planning.''"

Influence

Gehl first published his influential ''Life Between Buildings'' in Danish in 1971, with the first English translation published in 1987. Gehl advocates a sensible, straightforward approach to improving urban form: systematically documenting urban spaces, making gradual incremental improvements, then documenting them again. In 2012 the book is translated into a film by the same name, exhibited in a 24 meters curved room at the "New Nordic Architecture" exhibition Louisiana Museum of Modern Art and later at the Venice Biennale for Architecture. Gehl's book ''Public Spaces, Public Life'' describes how such incremental improvements have transformed

from a car-dominated city to a pedestrian-oriented city over 40 years. Copenhagen's Strøget carfree zone, one of the longest pedestrian shopping areas in Europe.The first section of Strøget was transformed to a pedestrian street on 17. November 1962, and Gehl used it as a living lab for observing peoples use of public space. Later his influential reports and books led to a collaboration with the City of Copenhagen and its political shift towards promoting predestrian zones and bicycling. Gehl participates in and advises many urban design and public projects around the world: * In 2004 he carried out an important study in to the quality of the public realm in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, commissioned by Central London Partnership and Transport for London, and supported

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and the town of Castleford in developing and delivering better public spaces, as part of an initiative known as "The Castleford Project". * In 2007–08 he was hired by

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

's Department of Transportation to re-imagine New York City streets by introducing designs to improve life for pedestrians and cyclists. The DOT used Gehl's work to "directly inform" the implementation of their new urban planning and design policies and projects. * Gehl has been influential in Australia and New Zealand as well, where he prepared ''Public Life'' studies for the city centres of

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(1994 and 2004),

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

(1995 and 2009),

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(2002)

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

(2007),

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

(2008),

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

(2004),

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Launceston and

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

(2010) Gehl credits the "grandmother of humanistic planning" Jane Jacobs for drawing his attention to the importance of human scale. ''“Fifty years ago she said – go out there and see what works and what doesn’t work, and learn from reality. Look out of your windows, spend time in the streets and squares and see how people actually use spaces, learn from that, and use it.”''

Awards and distinctions

* 1992 Honorary Doctorate from Heriot-Watt University * 1993 Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize – for exemplary contributions to Town Planning and Territorial Development, International Union of Architects * 1998 EDRA Award, Environmental Design Research Association, USA * 2007 Honorary Academician
The Academy of Urbanism
UK * 2008 Landscape Institute Award,

Landscape Institute The Landscape Institute (LI) is a UK based professional body for the landscape profession. Its membership includes landscape architecture, landscape architects, urban designers, landscape planners, landscape scientists and landscape managers. ...

, UK * 2008 Honorary Fellow of American Institute of Architects * 2009 NYC Award, New York City, USA * 2009 Civic Trust Award for ''Brighton New Road'' Civic Trust, UK * 2011 Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement in architecture, Denmark * 2013 C.F. Hansen Medal * Design Futures Council Senior Fellow *2015

Global Award for Sustainable Architecture The Global Award for Sustainable Architecture is an international architecture founded in 2006 by architect and scholar Jana Revedin. Description Each year, the award honors five architects who "contribute to a more equitable and sustainable d ...

*2018 Athena Medal, Congress for the New Urbanism

Selected publications

* Gehl, J (1987) ''Life Between Buildings: Using Public Space'', translated by Jo Koch, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York. () * Gehl, J. and Gemzøe, L. (2000) ''New City Spaces'', The Danish Architectural Press. Copenhagen. () * Gehl, J. and Gemzøe, L. (2004) ''Public Spaces, Public Life'', Danish Architectural Press. () * Gehl, J. et al. (2006) ''New City Life'', The Danish Architectural Press, Denmark. () * Gehl, J. (2010) ''Cities for People'', Island Press. () * Gehl, J. and Svarre, B. (2013) ''How to Study Public Life'', Island Press

References

External links