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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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USHMM.org > In memoriam > James Ingo Freed
“The intent of the building is to be a resonator
of your own imagery, of
your own memory.”
J
ames Ingo Freed was born in Essen, Germany, in 1930. At the age of 8, Freed was evacuated from Europe. He settled in Chicago at the end of 1939, where he was later joined by his parents. He studied architecture under Ludwig Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), and received his B.Arch. in 1953. In 1956 he joined the office of I.M. Pei (now Pei Cobb Freed). From 1975 to 1977, Freed served as Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design at IIT. Freed also taught at Cooper Union, Cornell University, the Rhode Island School of Design, Columbia University, and Yale University. Freed received several honorary degrees over the course of his career and was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects in 1977. He received many awards including the Arnold W. Brunner Memorial Prize in Architecture from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1987 and an Honor Award bestowed on him by the American Institute of Architects in 1988. In 1994, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum received the American Institute of Architects Honor Award.

Light cast in the Hall of Witness
Light cast in the Hall of Witness. Timothy Hursley/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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    The Museum's north wall from the perspective of a visitor standing in line waiting to enter. PHOTO
    The Museum's north wall from the perspective of a visitor standing in line waiting to enter. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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    Third-floor lounge. PHOTO
    Third-floor lounge. Timothy Hursley/United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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    Meyerhoff Theater. PHOTO
    Meyerhoff Theater. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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    MUSEUM STATEMENT
    Freed, James Ingo. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum mourns the passing of world renowned architect James Ingo Freed. The Museum, which he designed, is an enduring legacy and a monumental achievement, receiving the American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Architecture in 1994. Freed was a witness to Kristallnacht as a young boy in 1938 in his home town of Essen, Germany, and he escaped to the United States in 1939. His architectural genius is evident in the Museum's evocative design, which integrates the memorial experience throughout the building. He has given the world an emotionally powerful "resonator of memory" that has deepened the educational impact of the 23 million individuals who have visited the Museum from all over the world. We will be forever grateful to his singular contribution to the memory of the victims and to the education of future generations.

    Fred S. Zeidman, Chairman
    Joel M. Geiderman, Vice Chairman
    Sara J. Bloomfield, Director
    RELATED LINKS
  • Inside the Museum/Art & Architechture
    (USHMM)
  • Pei Cobb Freed
  • Art Institute of Chicago
  • The Architecture of the Holocaust
    (University of Virginia)
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