French architect and historian Jean-Louis Cohen dies at 74

Jean-Louis Cohen, the influential French architect, professor, and historian, died suddenly on August 7, 2023. Born in Paris in 1949, he studied architecture at the École Spéciale d'Architecture and earned a PhD in art history from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in 1985. Cohen directed the architectural research program at the French Ministry of Housing from 1983 to 1996, taught at the École d'Architecture Paris-Villemin, and held the chair of urban history at the Institut Français d'Urbanisme until 2004. A leading scholar of Le Corbusier, Russian Constructivism, and the urban history of Paris, he curated major exhibitions at MoMA New York, the CCA Montreal, and the Centre Pompidou. He was commissioner of the French pavilion at the 14th Venice Architecture Biennale. His latest curatorial project, 'Constructed Geographies: Paulo Mendes da Rocha' at Casa da Arquitectura in Porto, runs until February 24, 2024. Cohen authored 40 books, including a multi-volume catalogue of Frank Gehry's drawings. He was a member of the Akademie der Künste Berlin, the Russian Academy of Architecture, and the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca in Rome. He received the Médaille de l'analyse architecturale (2003) and was named Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (2001).