5/10/21 Accidents

 

Helmut Jahn, Architect Who Redefined Chicago's Skyline, Dies In A Road Accident Age 81

 © Andreas Müller/VISUM/Redux Architect Helmut Jahn died aged 81 years old in a cycling accident Saturday.

Helmut Jahn, the architect behind some of America's best-known buildings, has died in a bicycle accident aged 81.

The German-American designer, whose high-profile projects include Liberty Place in Philadelphia and Terminal 1 at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, was involved in a collision with two vehicles Saturday, according to Cameron Hills Police Department in Illinois. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Born in Germany in 1940, Jahn arrived in the US in the mid-1960s to study under the modernist master Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). In 1967, he joined architecture firm C. F. Murphy Associates, which he would later take full ownership of, before renaming it Murphy/Jahn and then simply Jahn.

Jahn's buildings often celebrated their frames and structural elements, rather than hiding them away behind tidy facades. But while his often-complex amalgamations of glass of steel marked a notable departure from the modernism of his early teacher, Mies, he was similarly deferential to history and context in his embrace of high-tech engineering.

Jahn's early career saw him working on various large-scale public and civic buildings, from the imposing Kemper Arena in Kansas City to the Michigan City Public Library in Indiana. But it was his work in Chicago, his adopted home city, that established his reputation as one of America's great contemporary architects.

In particular, his State of Illinois Center, completed in 1985 and better known as the James R. Thompson Center, became one of his most enduring designs. With its sloped glass facade and towering open atrium, the 17-story structure not only became one of downtown Chicago's most recognizable buildings, but a bold architectural expression of transparency and open government.

However, Jahn's best-known -- or certainly his most widely-used -- creation, was his 500,000-square-foot Terminal 1 building at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. Most memorably, he masterminded an iconic pedestrian tunnel linking two concourses and photogenically illuminated in neon by Canadian artist Michael Hayden.

Also renowned for high-rises, Jahn redefined Philadelphia's skyline with his "Neo-Deco" One Liberty Place towers, which put a bold contemporary spin on the Chrysler building. Jahn also worked internationally, completing major projects on four different continents, from the Sony Center in Berlin to Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Though regarded as a key figure in the postmodernism movement, he opted for simpler, cleaner forms in his later career. Buildings such as the Cosmopolitan Twarda in Warsaw, completed in 2013, and 50 West Street building in Lower Manhattan both demonstrated a more understated approach to skyscraper design.

In 1991, Jahn was named alongside the late César Pelli as one of the "Ten Most Influential Living American Architects" by the American Institute of Architects. He also held various teaching posts through his career, including at the University of Illinois Chicago, Harvard University, Yale University and IIT, according to a profile on his firm's website.

As news of Jahn's death emerged on the weekend, tributes began flowing in from Chicago residents and the architecture world. A number of social media users posted images of themselves inside the rainbow-colored tunnel at O'Hare International in remembrance of its late creator.

Chicago's mayor, Lori Lightfoot, praised Jahn as one of the city's "most inventive" architects, adding that "his impact on the city -- from the skyline to the O'Hare tunnel -- will never be forgotten."

The University of Chicago, where Jahn completed a striking glass-domed library in 2011, meanwhile tweeted that the architect had left "an enduring impact" on its campus.

Top image: Helmut Jahn picture in Munich, Germany, in 2012.

 © Bill McCay/Getty Images One Liberty Place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, pictured in 2015.  © Zeitort/ullstein bild/Getty Images Helmut Jahn's striking Sony Center in Berlin, Germany.

Lehigh Valley Trucking Legend, 79, Drives 4 Million Miles Without A Single Accident: ‘I’m Not Retiring’

 © April Gamiz/The Morning Call Don Cook sporting the leather jacket he received after entering the YRC Freight Hall of Fame for his 4 million miles of safe driving.

The last time we saw trucker Don Cook, his career odometer had just rolled over to 3 million miles. He hadn’t had an accident in all that time, and his company, YRC Freight, gave him a truck cab with his name on it and a leather jacket with a patch reading “Three Million Miles Safe Driving.”

That was nine years ago. Cook was 70 then, and it stood to reason he would retire before long. But here he was at the YRC terminal in Bethlehem Township on Friday, about nine months shy of 80, wearing a new leather jacket with a patch reading “Hall of Fame.” He has been enshrined among the trucking legends there because he has, since 2012, racked up an additional million flawless miles.

 © April Gamiz/The Morning Call Don Cook, has driven over 4 million accident free miles and is in the YRC Freight Hall of Fame. He said when he sits behind the wheel and gets going he is 30 years old again.

Four million miles and not so much as a fender-bender. He attributes this to skill and patience — “You have to have your wits about you,” he said — but also to luck. Drowsy drivers, drunk drivers, distracted drivers — all have kept out of his way over the years, and nature has spared him its worst.

Cook plans to keep rolling, too. His eyes and reflexes are sharp, and his love of the road burns as bright now as it did when he started trucking professionally 47 years ago.

“I’m not retiring,” he said. “I’m still a young pup. And my wife would drive me crazy.”

This was a joke, of course. The Cook marriage is in its 58th year. Dolores Cook has been her husband’s rock all that time. It’s not easy being married to a trucker, after all, because they can be gone for long stretches. Don, for example, used to run routes to Texas and California.

“If it wasn’t for her supporting me, I wouldn’t be here,” he said.

He stays closer to home these days, with an overnight route that takes him 400 miles to Akron, Ohio. He makes one stop along the way, at a truck stop on Interstate 80 in Barkeysville, Venango County. He uses the facilities and has a cup of strong black coffee. Next stop, Akron.

When Cook returns to Pennsylvania and drops his truck at the terminal, he has to drive another 30 miles home to Snydersville, in Monroe County. Some people might consider that a few miles too many, but Cook seems to have a sort of Zen approach to driving. It doesn’t bore him or make him grind his teeth. He puts country and western music or oldies on the radio and hums placidly along the asphalt.

“You get bopping down the road and pretty soon, you’re where you’re supposed to be,” he said.

Which is not to say the beauty of the country is lost on him. He spoke warmly of his days passing through New Mexico and Arizona on cross-country runs, stopping at roadside stands to buy dreamcatchers and trinkets from Native American craftspeople.

Cook grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, where his father drove a tour bus, hauling Vaughn Monroe and other stars of the 1940s from show to show.

He could be gone for ages at a time. Sometimes, Cook would wake in the morning and see the bus outside. Father and son would enjoy a brief reunion.

“He’d give me a ride to school on the bus and I wouldn’t see him again for six months,” he said.

Cook drove a factory truck for a while after high school. His first job as a tractor-trailer driver was with Roadway Corp. Yellow Transportation acquired Roadway and the merged companies became YRC Freight in 2009.

YRC in the process of reverting to Yellow Transportation again. Whatever the name, its star employee has driven surely and steadily into the record books.

His colleagues admire him. One, Danny Brown, a 37-year driving veteran, pulled in to the terminal as Cook was having his picture taken and paused to watch.

“He deserves it,” Brown said, noting how rarely drivers reach multimillion-mile thresholds without an accident.

“I got a million miles a while back,” he said. “I got a nice watch for that. I don’t think I’ll make another million.”

Cook probably won’t either, though it might not be wise to bet against him.

“I’m an old guy,” he said, “but when I sit behind that wheel, I’m 30 years old again.”

Morning Call reporter Daniel Patrick Sheehan can be reached at 610-820-6598 or dsheehan@mcall.Com.

State Police Investigating Fatal Accident In Frederick County

POINT OF ROCKS, Md. (WJZ)– State police are investigating a fatal accident in Frederick County.

It happened on Route 15 around 3:30 p.M. On Sunday near Point of Rocks.

Police say a Nissan Altima driven by Dwayne Teal of Manassas, VA was driving southbound, when he crossed into the northbound lanes and hit a Toyota Camry.

The driver of the Camry, Agustin Arellano-Ayon of Chantilly, VA, was declared dead at the scene.

Two others were flown to Shock Trauma.

Investigators believe alcohol played a factor in the crash.

Anyone with information is asked to call State Police.