News & Events

In Remembrance of Professor Jean-Louis Cohen: Preeminent International Architect

​

Renowned architectural scholar Jean-Louis Cohen passed away at his home in the Southern Region of France on August 7 at the age of 74.

Jean-Louis Cohen was a celebrated architect and architectural historian. Since 1994 he has served as the Sheldon H. Solow  Professor at the New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. His research interests focused on architectural and urban development from 1900 to the present in Europe, Russia, North America, and North Africa. His works, published in multiple languages, exceed 40 titles and have received multiple honors. In addition, Cohen planned exhibits on architecture and architectural history, constituting one area of his academic practice. He organized many important exhibits in renowned cultural institutions, including in France’s Pompidou Center, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the New York Museum of Modern Art. This summer he curated the exhibit “Shanghai Moderne: 1914-1945” at the Shanghai Power Station of Art. This was the 24th major exhibition exhibit which he curated.

​Professor Jean-Louis Cohen delivers a speech at the Chinese National Pavilion at the 18th  International  Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale

​Professor Ruan Xing Moderates Professor Jean-Louis Cohen’s Lecture to Faculty Students and Guests at Shanghai’s Lester Building

Since 2019, Professor Jean-Louis Cohen participated in many academic activities at our school. These  included his participation in the “International Symposium on the Idea of Design Education,” and his role as a visiting professor at the School of Design of Jiao Tong University, in which capacity he held lectures and carried out instruction. He participated in many other scholarly activities in our school as well. The above photo shows Cohen's July 19, 2023 lecture to the Design School’s teachers and students and to other invited guests.

Starting in 2022, every summer semester, he taught the course “Paris Modern, City and Architecture: From Haussmann to Macron” to international master's students at the School of Design. This course was situated at the intersection of society, technology, architecture and art. It entailed a review and analysis of 150 years of urban development and architectural transformation in Paris. The talks for the course delivered in the summer of 2023 were to constitute Jean-Louis Cohen's final lecture series.

Professor Ruan Xing, Dean of the School of Design, who has known Professor Cohen for nearly 20 years, was deeply shocked by his sudden death, and expressed his deepest condolences. Professor Ruan vividly recalls Professor Cohen's scholarly cultivation, stating: “The passing of Jean-Louis is a great loss to the field of international architecture and culture. His outstanding contributions to the theory of architectural history, and modern and contemporary architecture, as well as his cosmopolitan academic demeanor and his charisma—like a refined scholar of the Wei and Jin dynasties—serve as a model for future generations of scholars! What I admire and miss most about Jean-Louis is his generosity, especially his responsive and sincere attitude towards peers and young scholars—May Jean-Louis rest in peace. " Of many examples was Professor Cohen's encouragement and recommendation for the monograph Mies at Home by our young professor Xiong Xiangnan. Cohen stated that the book “operates a Copernican revolution... unseen patterns appear in his designs, and the often repetitive Miesian scholarship is challenged.” 

Jean-Louis Cohen's personal academic archive is now housed at the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

​The faculty and students of the School of Design at Shanghai Jiao Tong University  deeply mourn Professor Jean-Louis Cohen and convey their sincerest respects!​

​

​

​