Tribute to Elisabeth Kather: A Renowned Architect and a Dear Friend
It is with great sadness and heavy hearts that we write these words. Our dear friend Elisabeth Kather, a brilliant architect and a beautiful person, died yesterday after a valiant battle with breast cancer.
Elisabeth was a lead studio architect, studio director and project leader for Ateliers Jean Nouvel, working closely with Jean Nouvel for almost 30 years. Elisabeth Kather’s work can be seen in iconic award-winning architecture across the globe.
She was one of two project leaders on One Central Park in Sydney Australia, which won numerous awards, including “Best Tall Building In The World” in 2014:
Many of the architectural projects she worked on can be viewed here, including:
The Paris Philharmonic. (Elisabeth adored music and she was especially happy to show off the building’s amazing acoustics when she took us to see a classical concert performance there.)
The wine cellars, cuverie, storeroom, operating offices, laboratories, retail areas, tasting areas & wine tasting school for Château La Coste. (Elisabeth enjoyed good food and good wine as much as we do!)
Gasometer A (part of the Vienna Gasometers), a groundbreaking renovation, remodeling and revitalization of a historically protected industrial gasometer into residential apartments, offices and a shopping mall. (Elisabeth was deeply interested in industrial reclamation, retooling/repurposing urban spaces, and environmental sustainability.)
The Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea. (Elisabeth had a lifelong passion for modern and contemporary art. She was constantly visiting museums and art exhibitions, and her home was literally filled from floor to ceiling with books of art, photography and design. She was also one of the very first collectors of Ryan Wildstar’s art pieces and assemblages. She eventually owned four of Ryan Wildstar’s works!)
The Artists’ Garden in Qingdao, China. Currently under construction, Elisabeth was in charge of the concept and schematic design for a “poetic space for artists and those who are passionate about art, a place where emotional responses to seeing the sea can be shared, a great central garden, with fishermen and their boats, a small creek, parasols, and a rectangular harbour.” A space “where people’s behaviour, encounters and ways of living, both inside and outside, belong to an imaginative, mysterious and dreamlike world.”
Elisabeth told us she was most proud of her two major architectural projects in Nicosia, Cyprus:
Tower 25 - White Walls (Wiki) - Awarded Best “Tall Building in Europe” 2016
All Photos © Yiorgis Yerolymbos [Source]
“Stelios Ioannou” Learning Resource Center & Library (Wiki)
All Photos © Yiorgis Yerolymbos [Source]
Elisabeth’s revolutionary work in Cyprus was featured in the beautiful book, Hortitecture: The Power of Architecture and Plants (edited by Almut Grüntuch-Ernst):
Elisabeth was also working on some other incredible architectural projects that have not yet seen the light of day, but which will no doubt be equally dynamic, innovative and awe-inspiring. Her staggeringly gorgeous apartment in Paris (which she completely redesigned to her own exact specifications) was a magnificent feat of architectural innovation on its own!
In addition to her incredible and award-winning contributions to the field of architecture, Elisabeth was also a brilliant photographer. If you are a regular reader of The Epicurean Vagabonds, then you have undoubtedly seen the black & white photo of us which Elisabeth took all the way back in the year 2000, which adorns our very first Substack post – “The Epicurean Vagabonds: Our Origin Story” – and can be seen on every visit to our landing page. It’s our very favorite photo that anyone has ever taken of us both.
Elisabeth was one of those rare and beautiful souls with whom we could discuss just about everything. The breadth and depth of her cultural knowledge, especially all things contemporary and avant-garde, was always astounding. She was always reading. She was always listening to music. It seemed like every week she was attending the latest concert or play or opera or art exhibition or film (the more intellectually challenging the better). She was always impeccably well-dressed and fashion-forward. She always knew the best new place to eat and which outdoor market stall had the best cheese, the best yogurt, the best olives or the best grapes. She loved talking about books or photography or travel or fashion or philosophy or film over a great bottle of wine or bubbly.
And gods, she loved dancing! For years she had been studying African dance in Paris with the acclaimed dancer/choreographer Elsa Wolliaston, and Elisabeth attended African dance workshops from Berlin to Bogotá. Did we mention Elisabeth was also one of the most well-travelled people we’ve ever known? Her sparkling travel stories ranged from field work researching an environmentally sustainable zoo in South Africa to attending the opening ceremony of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. She visited six continents and left her architectural stamp on at least four.
Elisabeth Kather truly lived a life dedicated to art, literature, music, dance, theatre, film, philosophy, food, wine, fashion and travel. A life dedicated to beauty. A life dedicated to making the world a better and more beautiful place. Our friend for nearly a quarter of century, she was so much more than that. She was part of our chosen family . . . a fellow aesthete, a true Epicurean, a member of our tribe. She was also a bit of a mad genius (all the best people are), completely one of a kind, completely and fearlessly and brazenly and unabashedly herself at all times, and there will never be anyone like her again. She was like a sister to us both, and she will be profoundly missed.
What is remembered lives.
Elisabeth Kather, we will never forget you.
Comments for this post are open to all. If you knew Elisabeth Kather, feel free to share a fond memory below. If you didn’t personally know Elisabeth Kather, have a look at her architectural work in the photos above and tell us what you think of her work (or more importantly, how her work makes you feel).
Sending those who she leaves here on earth so much love. Cancer can suck it. Her work is stunning. She not only lived, she spread life everywhere.
How tragic, what a loss to the world and to you two. I am so sorry. Her work is stunning and so innovative. What a legacy,