Architect · United States · Born 1947
Steven Holl Biography, Buildings and Best Books
American architect (born 1947) whose phenomenological approach to light, material and perception shaped the Chapel of St. Ignatius, Kiasma in Helsinki and the Nelson-Atkins Bloch Building.
Photo: Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Steven Holl (born 1947) is an American architect and watercolourist known for buildings that start from a concept and are shaped by the experience of light, colour, material and movement. His works include the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Simmons Hall at MIT, the Bloch Building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Linked Hybrid in Beijing and the REACH at the Kennedy Center in Washington.
Bremerton, Rome and London
Holl was born in Bremerton, Washington, in 1947 and studied architecture at the University of Washington, spending a year in Rome in 1970 that deepened his interest in history and urban space. He continued his studies at the Architectural Association in London in 1976 and founded Steven Holl Architects in New York the same year. In 1977 he started the influential Pamphlet Architecture series.
Phenomenology and early work
Through the 1980s Holl built small projects and wrote about the typologies of rural and urban buildings, and with the philosopher Juhani Pallasmaa and the historian Alberto Pérez-Gómez he explored the phenomenology of architecture in Questions of Perception. Watercolour sketches became, and remain, the starting point of each of his projects.
Seattle, Helsinki and Kansas City
The Chapel of St. Ignatius at Seattle University (1997), described as “seven bottles of light in a stone box”, and Kiasma in Helsinki (1998), won in an international competition, brought him international recognition. Simmons Hall at MIT (2002), a porous dormitory block, and the Bloch Building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City (2007), with its glass “lenses” in the sculpture park, followed.
China and recent work
In China Holl built Linked Hybrid in Beijing (2009), a cluster of towers joined by bridges, the Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen and Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu. Recent works include the Reid Building at the Glasgow School of Art (2014), the Hunters Point Library in New York and the REACH at the Kennedy Center (2019). He received the AIA Gold Medal in 2012 and the Praemium Imperiale in 2014.
Compression
In this compact book Holl sets out the ideas behind his recent buildings, arguing for an architecture of intensity, experience and restraint.
View on Amazon
Timeline
- 1947Born on 9 December in Bremerton, Washington.
- 1970Studies architecture in Rome.
- 1976Studies at the Architectural Association and founds Steven Holl Architects in New York.
- 1977Launches Pamphlet Architecture.
- 1997Completes the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle.
- 1998Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art opens in Helsinki.
- 2002Completes Simmons Hall at MIT.
- 2007Completes the Bloch Building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
- 2009Completes Linked Hybrid in Beijing.
- 2012Receives the AIA Gold Medal.
- 2014Completes the Reid Building at the Glasgow School of Art.
- 2019Completes the REACH at the Kennedy Center and the Hunters Point Library.
Best Books on Steven Holl
As an Amazon Associate, ArchEyes earns from qualifying purchases. Book links open on Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Steven Holl known for?
Steven Holl is known for a phenomenological architecture of light, colour and material, seen in the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, Kiasma in Helsinki, the Bloch Building in Kansas City and Linked Hybrid in Beijing. He received the AIA Gold Medal in 2012.
What are Steven Holl’s most famous buildings?
His best-known buildings include the Chapel of St. Ignatius, Kiasma, Simmons Hall at MIT, the Bloch Building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum, Linked Hybrid, the Reid Building in Glasgow and the REACH at the Kennedy Center.
What is the best book on Steven Holl?
Compression (Princeton Architectural Press) is a concise statement of his recent thinking and work. For his ideas, Parallax and Questions of Perception, written with Juhani Pallasmaa and Alberto Pérez-Gómez, are essential.
What is Steven Holl’s architectural style?
Holl does not follow a fixed style. Each building starts from a concept and a watercolour sketch and is shaped by how light, colour, texture and movement are experienced, an approach often described as phenomenological.
Where can I see Steven Holl’s architecture?
You can visit Kiasma in Helsinki, the Bloch Building of the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, the Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, the REACH in Washington, the Hunters Point Library in New York and the Reid Building in Glasgow.
