Matthias Sauerbruch (born

February 4 Events Pre–1600 * 211 – Following the death of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus at Eboracum (modern York, England) while preparing to lead a campaign against the Caledonians, the empire is left in the control of his two quarrellin ...

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

Konstanz Konstanz ( , , , ), traditionally known as Constance in English, is a college town, university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the Baden-Württemberg state of south Germany. The city ho ...

, Germany) is a German

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 ...

, urban planner, and professor. He is a founding partner of the architecture firm Sauerbruch Hutton.

Biography

Education and career

Matthias Sauerbruch is the son of the painter Hans Sauerbruch (1910–1996) and the grandson of the surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch. His brother was the art educator Horst Sauerbruch. After finishing high school, he worked for two years at an architecture firm in Stuttgart. During this time, he considered becoming a stage designer. He studied at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin and the

Architectural Association School of Architecture The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, academic conference, symposia and publications. Histo ...

in London. While studying in Berlin, he also worked as an extra at the Schillertheater. From 1984 to 1988, he was a partner at the

Office for Metropolitan Architecture The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is an international architectural firm with offices in Rotterdam, New York, Hong Kong, Doha, and Australia. The firm is currently led by eight partners - Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf, Ellen va ...

(OMA) 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 ...

, where he and founding partner Ilias Zengelis designed the Residential and commercial building at Checkpoint Charlie, a key project of the Internationale Bauausstellung 1987 (IBA) in Berlin.

Practice and academia

In 1989, Sauerbruch founded the architecture, urbanism, and design firm Sauerbruch Hutton in London together with Louisa Hutton. Since 1992, the firm has been based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. Their first major project was the GSW Headquarters in Berlin-Kreuzberg in the 1990s. The office has since completed numerous projects across Europe, including the German Environment Agency in Dessau, the

Museum Brandhorst The Brandhorst Museum was opened in Munich on 21 May 2009. It displays about 200 exhibits from the modern art collection of the heirs of the Henkel trust Udo and Anette Brandhorst. In 2009 the Brandhorst Collection comprises more than 700 works. ...

in Munich, the extension of Experimenta Heilbronn, and the M9 museum complex in Mestre, Venice. From 1995 to 2001, Sauerbruch was a professor at

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

. He then taught at the

State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart The State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (, or ABK Stuttgart) is a public fine art university in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1761 and has been located on the Weissenhof since 1946. Its campus consists of three buildings: the Altbau, ...

from 2001 to 2007. In 2005, he was a visiting professor at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

. From 2007 to 2010, he and Louisa Hutton were visiting professors at the

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 ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. In 2013, Sauerbruch curated the exhibition ''kultur:stadt'' for the Academy of Arts in Berlin and the

Kunsthaus Graz The Kunsthaus Graz, Grazer Kunsthaus, or Graz Art Museum was built as part of the European Capital of Culture celebrations in 2003 and has since become an architectural landmark in Graz, Austria. Its exhibition program specializes in contemporary ...

. From 2012 to 2014, he was a guest professor at the Berlin University of the Arts.

Memberships and honors

Sauerbruch is a member of the Academy of Arts in Berlin, where he led the Architecture Section from 2018 until being succeeded by Fritz Frenkler in 2021. He has been an Honorary Fellow of the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C. AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach progr ...

(AIA) since 2013 and of the

Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) () founded in 1839, is the "competent authority for architects and professional body for Architecture in Ireland." The RIAI's purpose is "to uphold the highest standards in architecture a ...

(RIAI) since 2019. He is a founding member of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). Sauerbruch was a member of the ''Baukollegium Zürich'' from 2010 to 2014, and of the Munich Commission for Urban Design from 2016 to 2021. He also served on the board of trustees of the

Bauhaus Dessau Foundation The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and teaching in the field of experimental design. It was founded by the German Federal Government in 1994 and is based in the Bauhaus Dessau building in the state o ...

, was a jury member for the

Villa Massimo Villa Massimo, short for Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo (), is a German cultural institution in Rome, established in 1910 and located in the Villa Massimo. The fellowship of the German Academy in Rome, often referred to as the German Rome P ...

awards, and is a fellow of the Institute for Urban Design in

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 ...

Selected publications

* Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton: ''GSW Hauptverwaltung Berlin – gsw headquarters berlin'', Lars Müller Publishers, Baden 2000, ISBN 3-907078-14-4. * Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton: ''Sauerbruch Hutton Archive'', Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich 2006, ISBN 978-3-03778-083-1. * Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton: ''Sauerbruch Hutton – Colour in Architecture'', Distanz Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-942405-38-6. * Matthias Sauerbruch, Louisa Hutton: ''Sauerbruch Hutton Archive 2'', Lars Müller Publishers, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-03778-389-4. * Uwe Schröder, Thomas Schmitz, Franziska Kramer, Anja Neuefeind (eds.): ''Orte der Farbe. Zur chromatischen Stimmung von Räumen der Architektur.'', Walther König Verlag, Cologne 2019, ISBN 978-3-96098-524-2.

External links

* {{DNB portal, 123702704
Sauerbruch Hutton – official website

German Architects: Sauerbruch Hutton

References

1955 births Living people People from Konstanz German architects Architects from Berlin Academic staff of Technische Universität Berlin Berlin University of the Arts alumni Alumni of the Architectural Association School of Architecture Fellows of the American Institute of Architects Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin