Much like archaeology, historic preservation relies on uncovering—the uncovering of artifacts to reveal and illuminate our past. Rarely is it an act of recovery. In other words, the artifact’s original meaning might be identified and might elucidate a previously unknown past, but its original application to society is often left un-restored. Like an ancient bronze tool displayed in a museum’s exhibition case, the artifact’s relevance remains historical in nature and locked to its period of initial significance—banished from ever playing an active role in our society again.
Mr. Johannes Knoops
For Johannes Knoops a childhood fascination for objects matured into a vocation while designing exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Inspired by professors such as Raimund Abraham he earned a Baccalaureate of Architecture with honors from Pratt Institute, while also meriting the American Institute for Architects' "School Gold Medal," and a "Certificate for Outstanding Excellence in Design." Already wining international design competitions prior to graduation, his precocious talent led the Architectural League of New York to include him in their annual "Young Architects Forum." After several years in the profession he went on to earn a "Post-professional Master of Architecture" at Yale where he studied under Dean Fred Koetter, co-author of "Collage City," architect Eric Owen Moss, and artist Frank Stella.
From intimate residential interiors to large-scale institutional and critical urban projects his resume includes experience in the offices of Gaetano Pesce, KPF, KPFIA and Jeff Vandeberg while garnering both chapter and national AIA honors along the way.
Though a native to New York City, he has been displaced several times both in body and mind, thanks to a Van Alen Traveling Fellowship, a Dinkeloo Traveling Fellowship, and a coveted Rome Prize Fellowship to the American Academy in Rome... all rare and prestigious opportunities to explore the exotic and internal. Rooted in issues of context, his intentions are global. Noted for his provocation "History : an argument against preservation," his more personal projects have been supported by a variety of institutions including the Graham Foundation, the Emily Harvey Foundation in Venice and the MacDowell Art Colony.
Contract Magazine recently honored Knoops with their 2009 "Concept Award" while just last year the Boston Society of Architects bestowed an unprecedented third "Unbuilt Architecture Honor Award." His imaginative ponderings have had audiences at the Storefront for Art and Architecture, Clocktower Gallery, the Union of Soviet Architects, and the Urban Center. Widely published, his work can be found in the permanent collection of the Canadian Center for Architecture.
Contact Information
Johannes Knoops, FAAR, Assoc AIA
415 Grand Street
New York, New York 10002