Giovanni Klaus Koening Artwork valuations, appraisals and auction estimates

Giovanni Klaus Koenig was born in Turin in 1924. He obtained a degree in Architecture in Florence in 1950 and subsequently worked for a year as an assistant at the chair of Architectural Composition at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence. Read the full biography

Giovanni Klaus Koenig was born in Turin in 1924. He obtained a degree in Architecture in Florence in 1950 and subsequently worked for a year as an assistant at the chair of Architectural Composition at the Faculty of Architecture in Florence. From 1951 to 1966 he was ordinary assistant of Elements of Architecture and Survey of Monuments. In the two-year period 1960-1962 he taught ornamental plastic at the same faculty. In 1964 he was appointed professor of History of Art and History and Styles of Architecture, a position for which he won the competition for full professorship in 1968 and which he held until 1978. In the same year, he also distinguished himself for the famous exhibition "Expressionism: painting, sculpture, architecture" held at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, promoting the reevaluation of Expressionism in architecture. Koenig was the first scholar to systematically use semiotic analysis in architecture. He also worked as a designer of railway vehicles and carried out a passionate teaching activity, evidenced by his production of essays and articles on architecture and design. In 1971 he began collaborating with Roberto Segoni, designing the Jumbo Tram in Milan, the electromotives for the Rome metro, the train for the commuter services of the State Railways and the carriages for the Ferrovie Nord of Milan. His career as a scholar and researcher was intense, as was his scientific production, which addressed aesthetic issues, the history of modern architecture and design. Koenig died in Florence on 13 December 1989.