Maarten HENKES

1939 - 2025

HENKES, Maarten Died February 7, in Boston. He was born in Maracaibo in 1939, to Dutch parents, who had been relocated to Venezuela by Royal Dutch Shell. Maarten grew up speaking Dutch, English and Spanish. At age 10, he was sent to the United States for schooling. First to the Ransom School in Coconut Grove, Florida, then Phillips Academy Andover and finally, Harvard University, where he received both a BA and Masters in Architecture. Maarten practiced architecture and helped lead several Boston-based architectural and consulting engineering firms. His work can be seen today in the design and construction of a number of iconic buildings in Boston and beyond, starting with Boston City Hall, one of America's most controversial yet enduring symbols of mid-20th century Brutalism, designed by the upstart Kallman, McKinnell & Knowles firm.

Between 1969 and 1987, Maarten continued designing municipal structures in the Boston area with firms including, Goldberg, Desmond & Lord and John Carl Warnecke. The Quincy Market Area garage, a fire station in Somerville and areas of Boston's Logan Airport Terminal E, are just a few of the projects Maarten designed. In a departure from the municipal projects, Maarten took time to design a private residence for a family friend on Bow Lake in New Hampshire.

In 2008, Maarten concluded his professional career after nearly two decades with Zaldastani Associates, where he established and lead the architecture division within the consulting engineering firm. Perhaps his most notable project was embellishing the plaza of the Hancock Tower, designed by I.M. Pei & Partners in the early 1970s. Following the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, John Hancock Insurance tasked Zaldastani with designing a concept to deter potential threats to the tower. Borrowing design cues from the awning over the tower's entrance, Maarten created a tasteful perimeter of bollards and planters which also provide seating for the public.

In addition to architecture, Maarten was deeply involved in the fine arts. Throughout his life, he produced a wide-ranging portfolio of spontaneous pastel sketches and paintings of various city and landscapes, along with countless pencil and ink drawings of people and places of interest.

Maarten leaves his wife, Brigitte (Langheck); two sons, Thilo and Hans; and four grandchildren.