Hans Noë (June 18, 1928 – May 11, 2025) was an American architect, sculptor and proprietor of the Fanelli Cafe in New York City.

Life and career

Noë was born in

Cernăuți Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...

() in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

, a city then populated by a large number of German-speaking

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, and now called Chernivtsi and located in Ukraine. Noë's Jewish family was imprisoned in the city's ghetto and in a ghetto in Bucharest during World War II. After the war, they spent time in German refugee camps. Noë studied at the institution now known as the

Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main The Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Offenbach am Main (English: ''Offenbach am Main College of Design'') is a German art and design university located in Offenbach am Main, in the German state of Hesse. It was given university status in 1970, a ...

. His family arrived in New York in 1949. Noë continued his studies at the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

and served in the U.S. Army after being drafted. After his military service, he studied at the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

. As an architect, he became a student and protégé of

Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect, academic, and interior designer. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. He is regarded as one of the pionee ...

, who was teaching there. Noë's sculpture was the subject of a retrospective at the

National Museum of Mathematics The National Museum of Mathematics or MoMath is a mathematics museum in Manhattan, New York City. It opened on December 15, 2012, with over thirty interactive exhibits. The mission of the museum is to "enhance public understanding and perceptio ...

in 2023. Noë died in

Garrison, New York Garrison is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet in Putnam County, New York, Putnam County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is part of the town of Philipstown, New York, Philipstown, on the east side of the Hudson River, across from the U ...

on May 11, 2025, at the age of 96. His son Alva Noë is a philosopher.

References

1928 births 2025 deaths American architects American people of Romanian-Jewish descent American sculptors American restaurateurs People from Chernivtsi Cooper Union alumni Illinois Institute of Technology alumni Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main alumni {{US-architect-stub