Cologne architect Gottfried Böhm has been classed amongst the most prominent of his genre in post war years. In 1986, he became the first and only German citizen up to now ever to have received the Pritzker Prize, the highest international award in architecture. He turned 90 years old in January and yet still manages to instil enthusiasm in critics, the general public and building developers. His characteristic, expressive structures and designs give voice to a quite singular design idiom that has cut free from prevailing trends in architecture.

Gottfried Böhm was born on 23rd January 1920 in Offenbach am Main as son of the famous master church builder, Dominikus Böhm. After the death of his father, he took over the latter's office in Cologne which he still leads today in a loose alliance with his sons, Stephan, Peter and Paul. Gottfried Böhm's versatile constructions are marked by a great degree of individuality, plasticity and pictorial quality. The architect, who held the chair for town planning and material studies at Aachen University of Technology from 1963-85, attaches particular importance to the creation of constructional relationships and spatial structures as well as the linking of functionality to symbolic character. Gottfried Böhm develops his architecture from within human beings for humankind. His residential build- ings, like the Bethanien Children's Village in Bergisch Gladbach-Refrath (1962-68), the retirement home in Düsseldorf-Garath (1962-70) or the Cologne-Chorweiler residential estate (1966-74), are ranked as pioneer projects in terms of individual, humane living. The extension to the Godesburg (1959-61) or the reconstruction of the middle risalit in the chateau at Saarbrücken (1981-89) bear witness to his self-confident, yet sensitive and respectful handling of historical buildings and existing structures.

Up to the end of the sixties, the con- struction and reconstruction of churches is dominant in Gottfried Böhm's work. His sacred buildings were mainly erected in facing concrete. They came into being through the use of differing supporting structures and are characterised by an unusually great diversity of spatial types and shapes. Böhm's constructive and space creating "studies" reach a crescendo in the virtuoso- shaped, crystalline architectural sculptures of the 1960's - reminiscent of the utopian design of expressionist architects -, which brought international fame to the master builder. The pilgrimage church in Neviges (1963-72) or the town hall in Bergisch Gladbach-Bensberg (1962-71) tower up self-confidently from the background silhouette of the town like "cliffs made of concrete". In Cologne, itself, there are two buildings in existence, the churches St. Gertrud (1960-66) and Christi Auferstehung (1963-70), from this phase in his work. In particular during the seventies, steel and glass find their way into Böhm's architecture alongside the concrete. The concept of "encapsulated city space", in the form of passages foyers and halls becomes characteristic for his work at this time. This was predominantly implemented in his administrative and cultural buildings like the Diocesan museum in Paderborn (1969-75), the town hall in Rheinberg (1974-81) or the WDR arcades in Cologne (1991-96). His most spectacular formation is to be found in the Züblin administrative building in Stuttgart (1981-85). The floating, spherical steel and concrete shells – the hallmark of many projects since the nineties as in the abandoned 1992 design for the Berlin Reichstag – could be given substance in Gottfried Böhm's latest work, the Hans Otto Theatre opened in Potsdam in 2006. Even his current project, a mosque in Cologne with a dome made of disjointed concrete shells has already caused architectural sensation. Truly, quite an accomplishment. Keep it up and happy 90th birth- day!