Born in France in 1931, Bernard Kohn emigrated to the United States in 1940. He studied at Syracuse, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania (under Louis I. Kahn), then taught in the Department of Urban Planning at Yale University.

He worked in the United States and India, following in the footsteps of Patrick Geddes, before returning to France in 1969, where he joined the Ministry of Cultural Affairs as an educational advisor.

Alongside psychosociologist Michel Herrou and architect Georges Maurios, he founded the multidisciplinary "Environnement et Comportement" agency, where they developed a building system with modular components that allow the inhabitant to intervene.

In collaboration with C.N. Douady, he was the driving force behind the Cergy-Pontoise educational center from 1970 to 1973.
A multi-disciplinary center for professional and continuing education in architecture and urban planning, the center is a meeting place for elected officials, professionals, administrative staff, citizens and users.

This experience continued at UP8 in Coupvray and Quincy-Voisins, where "public workshops" were organized in 1976-1977.

Participatory architecture is at the heart of every Bernard Kohn project: École Decroly in Saint-Mandé, self-managed housing for 13 families on rue du Buisson Saint-Louis in Paris, urban studies in Alençon, Auch, Gennevilliers and Yzeure (HLM rental housing).

In 1976, he set up his own architectural studio in Paris, focusing mainly on public contracts, in which he introduced the concepts of "participative pedagogy".

Then, in collaboration with Bruno Mougel and Jean-Pierre Vaysse, he founded the Bernard Kohn & Associés agency in Saint-Mandé, which became Ar-thème in 2000.

From 1980 to 2011, he designed the Centre d'Action Culturelle in Saint-Avold (1982-1985), the French Embassy in Mexico City (1985-1995), the Cité Judiciaire in Clermont-Ferrand (1986-1992), the Cité Royer Bendélé in Gennevilliers (1987-1991), the renovation of the Vieux Colombier theater (1990-1994), the architectural charter and six stations of the Météor line 14 (1990-1998), the Palais de Justice in Montpellier (1992-1996) and the development of Place Flotte.

In 1999, he designed the architectural charter for Turin's VAL metro system and the standard station for the Porta Nuova railway station, then refurbished Roland Garros airport in Saint-Denis de La Réunion.

In 2000, following the completion of the Carrefour de l'Ours project in Béziers, he opened a workshop in the former Villeneuvette factory (Clermont-l'Hérault), while maintaining his activity with the Saint-Mandé agency.

Following a commission from the DAPA and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, he published "Musée vivant de la Ville - Maison de Ville".

In 2002, he co-founded the Manufacture des Paysages de l'Hérault. Today, this association continues its work under the modified name Manufacture des Pays, with participatory urban planning workshops, a "hand workshop" and a weaving workshop.

In 2008 and 2009, in Gujarat, India, he organized and took part in the CEPT Sabarmati River Workshop, along the 400-kilometer Sabarmati River Valley, with the aim of creating a river for local residents, respecting the local economy and the environment along the way. Each municipality must take its share of responsibility for the effluent it discharges to its neighbors.

In 2018, in Lodève, he took part in the purchase and fitting-out of "La Distillerie", a third-party space where various arts and crafts workshops are articulated, with the vocation of practicing and sharing knowledge with audiences from diverse backgrounds. Together with his friends, he organizes weaving workshops, activities with schoolchildren, and research into pedagogy, in particular into different languages and forms of intelligence, as well as into the creativity of the hands.

Then, in 2021, in his village of Le Puech, near Lodève in the Hérault region, he bought a superb plot of olive groves, classified as building land, and made it accessible to local residents. Together with his friend and neighbor Gérard Fabre, they celebrate their 90th birthday.