Eric R. Kuhne is an architect who believes that ‘trade is what breathes life into our cities’. It matters not if it is a farmer’s market, a shopping arcade, a market of services or even experiences, for they are all ‘marketplaces of ideas’.
Eric founded CivicArts / Eric R. Kuhne & Associates in 1983 as an international research and design consultancy dedicated to the reintegration of architecture, landscape and the civic arts. With projects in North America, Europe, Australasia and the Middle East, his practice has become renowned for building great civic spaces within retail, leisure and commercial environments, producing highly successful shopping centres, public buildings, waterfronts, parks and gardens.
Having studied Art & Architecture at Rice University, Houston, Texas, where he won thee William Ward Watkin Travelling Fellowship. Eric went on to complete his Masters of Architecture degree at Princeton. There he was awarded the AIA’s Henry Adams Medal for academic and artistic excellence as the top graduate in the class of 1983. While still studying at Princeton, he ran an award-winning design office, hiring his fellow students to advance both the Courtyards Project and Headwaters Park in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Opened in 1981, Headwaters Park remains one of the only profitable urban parks in North America, and the winner of numerous design awards.
Eric moved his office to New York City in 1985, and remained there for 20 years before consolidating his various enterprises in the UK. Since 2005, all his research, design and development work has been concentrated in his main office in London, where he has lived for the past 22 years (currently holding American and British Citienship). The office’s work encompasses retail, commerce, leisure and culture, including the highly influential Bluewater shopping centre in Kent, the vibrant Darling Park and Cocklebay Wharf in Sydney, the elegant Bur Juman Gardens in Dubai, the emerging Island Gardens Mega- Yacht Marina in Miami, and most recently, Titanic Belfast; the world’s largest Titanic themed visitor attraction that welcomed over 900,000 visitors within its maiden year alone. Currently working in Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Dubai, Miami, Chicago, Rochester, Bellingham, Belfast, London, Sheffield, Birmingham, Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Mumbai ... global work includes Kuwait, Istanbul, Bodrum, Toronto, Montreal, Sydney, Paris, Cannes, Incheon, Kunming, Beijing, Munbai, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Cairo, and over 50 additional projects around the world.
With the help of his directors, international colleagues, and research organizations
around the world, Eric continues to expand into new markets and new cultures,
establishing alternative design solutions that restore the story-telling qualities of
architecture.