Résumé

Los Angeles Magazine.com writer Ed Leibowitz profiled Jerde and his career with unflinching honesty in 2002: "The creator of CityWalk, Jon Adams Jerde, could not be a more unlikely figure. Probably the most brilliant architect of shopping and entertainment centers in the world, Jerde is short, with ruddy cheeks and the long earlobes of a leprechaun. He chain-guzzles Diet Coke, and sneaks a cigar now and then when his wife's not looking. He shuns crowds, even as his projects attract hundreds of millions of people a year. He hates shopping; he has no time for the kind of mass-market merchandise to be found in his malls. Manic-depressive, married four times, and by his own admission a drunk until 15 years ago, the 61-year-old Jerde has spent most of his life in emotional turmoil and isolation. In Southern California alone, Jerde is responsible for the Glendale Galleria, the Westside Pavilion, Newport Beach's Fashion Island, Del Mar Plaza, and San Diego's Horton Plaza. His West Hollywood Gateway will debut next year. He rehabilitated a chunk of downtown Las Vegas with the Fremont Street Experience, while his Bellagio master plan sparked the building boom that has brought the world's great cities in miniature to the Strip. His Salt Lake City Gateway, host to the 2002 Winter Olympics, is the biggest project the city's seen since the Mormon Temple. His 1992 Mall of America in Minneapolis reigns as the nation's largest enclosed shopping center, with its own high school and a daily population of 100,000. His malls draw crowds in Japan, the Netherlands, and Taiwan. He's designed 35 million square feet of retail and entertainment since launching the Jerde Partnership International in 1977. By the end of next year he'll be adding 29 million more, with projects from Shanghai to Tokyo to Hong Kong to Warsaw to Dubai. Jerde, it is probably fair to say, is global capitalism's preeminent designer." (See Ed Leibowitz, Los Angeles Magazine.com. "The Solitary Existence of L.A.'s Mall Mastermind," published 02/01/2002, accessed 10/24/2024.)

Draftsman/Designer, Charles Kober Associates, Architects, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1965-1976. Kober's firm was a leading designer of shopping malls on the the West Coast at this time.

Founding Partner, John Jerde Partnership, Los Angeles, CA.

Professional Activities

Member, American Institute of Architects (AIA), Los Angeles Chapter.

Professional Awards

Fellow, American Institute of Architects (FAIA).

College

Coursework in engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Westwood, Los Angeles, CA.

B.Arch., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1965.

Relocation

Jonathan Adams Jerde was born in TX, but raised in Long Beach, CA.

Spouse

His fourth wife was Janice Ambry.

Children

With Janice Ambry, Jerde had a son, Oliver Jerde (born c. 1994 in CA).