(b Magdeburg, 23 Feb 1880; d Berlin, 22 Dec 1956). German architect, theorist and writer. After training as a bricklayer, he studied in various architects’ offices in Hannover and Kassel (1898–1901) and then continued his studies at the Technische Hochschule in Charlottenburg, Berlin. He travelled in many European countries between 1905 and 1908, and in 1907 he entered a partnership with E. Schulze for a few years before setting up as an independent architect in Berlin. Early works there included an administration building (1909–11) for Bund der Landwirte, Schöneberg, and a home for single men (1913–14), Moabit. His first independent work shows traces of a classicizing Art Nouveau style, but after World War I he revealed a desire to come to terms with new buildings and the problems of the urban environment; his plans for office tower blocks that he hoped would provide urban development in strategic parts of Berlin were, however, never realized. Kohtz also published much work on the theory of architecture, and he dealt extensively with the idea of the tower block in his writings. His factory and office buildings (1924–9) for the Scherl-Verlag, Berlin, reveal an assimilation of theoretical considerations and a preoccupation with industrial architecture in Berlin at that time. Other important works included the first sound film studios in Europe (1929–37) for the Universum-Film-A.G. in Tempelhof and Neubabelsberg, Berlin, which confirm his importance as an industrial architect and remain as a model of functional building; and an administration building (1936–7) for the Landesbauernschaft, Dresden. He continued to work during World War II, principally on the Heinkel works (1943–5), Oranienburg, and after the war he built a dubbing studio (1946–8) in Tempelhof and homes for young people and old people (1949) in Moabit, Berlin.