David Kohn (architect) explained

David Kohn (born 3 October 1972) is a British architect. His practice, David Kohn Architects, is based in London and works internationally on arts, education and residential projects.

Established in 2007, the practice has won a number of awards including the Manser Medal - Architects Journal House of the Year Award - for Cowshed in 2023,^[1] and the Royal institute of British Architects House of the Year Award for Red House in 2022.^[2] David Kohn was previously named Young Architect of the Year 2009 from Building Design magazine^[3] and won INSIDE World Interior of the Year in 2013.^[4]

David Kohn Architects completed a redevelopment of Modern Art Oxford in 2024^[5] and a new London space for Stephen Friedman Gallery in 2023. Current projects include a new campus for New College, Oxford,^[6] new market buildings at Birmingham Smithfield,^[7] and a new home for Hasselt University’s architecture faculty.^[8]

In 2024 David Kohn Architects won an international design competition^[9] to redesign the S.M.A.K. museum in Ghent, Belgium, in partnership with noAarchitecten and Asli Çiçek.

Kohn was born in Cape Town and studied architecture at the University of Cambridge and at Columbia University GSAPP, New York, as a Fulbright Scholar. He taught architecture at the Architectural Association School of Architecture between 2019 and 2024, at the Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design between 2003 and 2013, and was a visiting professor at KU Leuven between 2014 and 2016.

Kohn is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Education

• 1997 MA and Diploma in Architecture, Jesus College, Cambridge University
• 1994 BA (Hons) Architecture, Jesus College, Cambridge University

Significant buildings

• (2008) Flash^[10] at the Royal Academy of Arts, London
• (2009) Stable Acre, Norfolk
• (2010) Skyroom, London
• (2011) Thomas Dane Gallery, Mayfair, London
• (2012) Carrer Avinyó, Barcelona^[11]
• (2012) The White Building,^[12] Hackney Wick, London
• (2012) A Room for London,^{[13] [14]} Living Architecture
• (2014) Sotheby's S|2, London^[15]
• (2012–2020) Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
• (2015–2021) New Campus Savile Road, New College, Oxford^[16]
• (2017–2018) V&A Photography Centre, London^[17]
• (2020) Red House, Dorset^[18]
• (2022) Greenwich Design District, London ^[19]
• (2022) Cowshed, Dorset^[20]
• (2023) Exhibition design for Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery at Kettle's Yard, Cambridge^[21]
• (2023) Stephen Friedman Gallery, London
• (2024) Modern Art Oxford, Oxford

Notes and References

1. Web site: Wilson . Rob . 2023-11-22 . Cowshed retrofit wins Manser Medal – AJ House of the Year 2023 . 2024-11-04 . The Architects’ Journal . en.
2. Web site: RIBA House of the Year 2022 . 2024-11-04 . www.architecture.com.
3. Web site: Young Architect of the Year 2009: David Kohn Architects. Building Design Online Edition. 9 September 2016.
4. Web site: "There was all this potential but it was being held back by the architecture" – Interview with David Kohn . . 2013 . Inside Festival .
5. Web site: 2024-10-28 . Modern Art Oxford gallery gets a £2m revamp . 2024-11-04 . The Art Newspaper - International art news and events.
6. Web site: David Kohn Architects: New College Oxford . 2024-11-04 . davidkohn.co.uk . en.
7. Web site: David Kohn wins Birmingham Smithfield competition . Architects' Journal.
8. Web site: David Kohn wins Belgian architecture faculty contest. Architects' Journal.
9. Web site: 2024-06-18 . Plans for "varied and playful" redesign of Ghent art museum unveiled . 2024-11-04 . Dezeen . en.
10. News: David Kohn's 'Hedgehog and the Fox' lecture and exhibition at the London Met. Architects' Journal. online. Peter Carl. 2009-03-20. 2017-03-05.
11. Web site: Homage to Catalonia. Building Design. Ellis Woodman. 2013-03-27. 2017-03-05.
12. News: The White Building/Lea River Park – review. The Observer. Rowan Moore. 2012-07-15. 2017-03-05.
13. Web site: Kohn's ark. ICON. Edwin Heathcote. 2012-08-01. 2017-03-05.
14. News: A Room for London – review. The Observer. Rowan Moore. 2012-01-15. 2017-03-05.
15. Web site: 'Discover: All That S|2 Offers'. 2017-03-05.
16. Web site: Nuovo quad per il New College, Oxford. Domus. 997. 2015-12-01. 2017-03-05.
17. Web site: 'Discover: All That S|2 Offers'. 2017-07-05.
18. Web site: Red House, Dorset: the shape of post-post-post modernism?. The Observer.
19. Web site: Eclectic dreams: David Kohn’s Greenwich Design District buildings. Architects' Journal.
20. Web site: Cowshed in Devon, United Kingdom by David Kohn Architects. The Architectural Review.
21. Web site: Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery. The Observer.