Behnisch Architekten

Behnisch Architekten was founded in 1989 and works out of four offices – Stuttgart, Munich, Boston and Los Angeles. These offices are directed by Stefan Behnisch and his partners Robert Hösle (Munich), Robert Matthew Noblett (Boston), Stefan Rappold (Stuttgart), Jörg Usinger (Stuttgart) and Kristi Paulson (Los Angeles).

Behnisch Architekten enjoys a global reputation for high-quality architecture that integrates environmental responsibility, creativity, and public purpose. The firm produces a rich variety of buildings mainly in Europe and North America. The partners and staff share a vision to push the boundaries of high performance, 21st-century architecture that respects user needs, ecological resources, and local cultures.

Behnisch Architekten has won national and international accolades for its award-winning design and cross-disciplinary approach. The firm provides services ranging from building, interior, product and landscape design to programming, space and layout planning, feasibility studies, project management and general planning, including cost consulting and on-site management.

From the beginning, Behnisch has prioritized the social dimension of architecture and the quality of the urban environment. Its projects respond to the material and spiritual needs of people. In over 30 years, the firm has created a diverse portfolio of projects that is attuned to the culture and climate of place and demonstrates new ways for occupants to inhabit their surroundings.

Stefan Behnisch, born 1957, studied philosophy (baccalaureus artium) and economics in Munich, and then architecture at the Technical University of Karlsruhe. After receiving his diploma in 1987, he worked as an architect in Behnisch & Partner before establishing his own practice, Behnisch Architekten, in 1989, together with his father Professor Günter Behnisch. In the following years, he founded additional branch offices of Behnisch Architekten in Los Angeles, Boston and Munich. Stefan Behnisch has been an advocate of sustainable design since he started working as an architect. His first building abroad, the Institute for Forestry and Nature Research in Wageningen, NL, became a milestone for innovative sustainable solutions. In 2009 he received a Good Design Award in the category of “People”, presented by the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies, in 2007 a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture, in 2004 an Environmental Champion Award, presented by Interiors & Sources Magazine, USA and in 2002 an Award "Trophée Sommet de la Terre et Bâtiment" for Sustainable Architecture, France. Stefan Behnisch has held several teaching positions: the Eero Saarinen Chair Visiting Professor at Yale School of Architecture; the Miller Visiting Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; the Harry W. Porter Jr. Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia School of Architecture. He was/is a visiting Professor at the École Polytechnique Fédérale in Lausanne (EPLF), at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and at the TU Delft in The Netherlands. He is a BDA, RIBA and AIA member, an NCARB certified architect, and an AIA Honorary Fellow.

Jörg Usinger, born in 1966 in Frankfurt/Main, studied architecture at the RWTH Aachen and the former Technical University of Karlsruhe, Germany. After obtaining his diploma in 1993, he joined Behnisch & Partner, the practice of Günter Behnisch, where he was responsible for a number of award winning-competitions and projects. Since 2005, Jörg worked with Behnisch Architekten and gained extensive experience in numerous projects, and was, amongst others, project leader of the Thermal Spa Römerbad in Bad Kleinkirchheim/Austria, the Institute for Technical Physics at the KIT and the Dorotheen Quartier in Stuttgart. Between 2003 and 2012 he was a visiting lecturer at the Institute for Construction Economics, University of Stuttgart. In January 2017 he became partner at Behnisch Architekten Stuttgart.

Robert Matthew Noblett, born 1971, obtained his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1994, and his Master of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, in 1997. He has worked in various American practices, including Rafael Viñoly Architects PC in New York, where he served as project manager for projects in Boston, California, Las Vegas, and Chicago. In 2007, he joined Behnisch Architekten, Boston, and has been serving as Partner in Charge there since 2009. He has lectured at universities in Boston, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania and Mexico. Robert Matthew Noblett is an AIA member and NCARB-certified architect.

Robert Hösle, born in 1968 in Nesselwang/Allgäu, was initially trained as a carpenter, before studying architecture at the University of Stuttgart. After obtaining his diploma in 1999, he worked with Günter Behnisch’s practice, Behnisch & Partner. In 2004, he joined Behnisch Architekten, and in 2008, Robert moved to Munich to lead the newly founded office of Behnisch Architekten in Munich. Under his leadership and that of Stefan Behnisch, the Munich office has won several new commissions, most in Bavaria. Among the projects that have been completed under Robert’s leadership is the Speed Skating Stadium “Max Aicher Arena” in Inzell, nominated the “World’s Best Sport Building” by the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona in 2012, and the Secondary School in Ergolding 2013. He is a member of BDA.