Steven Holl

Steven Holl
Architect Steven Holl on the second-floor balcony of Kiasma in 2008
Born	(1947-12-09) December 9, 1947 (age 69) Bremerton, Washington
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of Washington Architectural Association School of Architecture
Occupation	Architect
Awards	Alvar Aalto Medal (1998) BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award (2008) AIA Gold Medal (2012) Praemium Imperiale (2014) The Daylight and Building Component Award (2016)
Practice	Steven Holl Architects
Buildings	Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum, Helsinki, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Linked Hybrid, Beijing, Knut Hamsun Center, Hamarøy, Norway

Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is a New York-based American architect and watercolorist. Among his most recognized works are designs for the 2003 Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the 2007 Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and the 2009 Linked Hybrid mixed-use complex in Beijing, China.

Holl was born on December 9, 1947 and grew up in Bremerton and Manchester, Washington. Holl graduated from the University of Washington and pursued architecture studies in Rome in 1970. In 1976, he attended graduate school at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and established his offices in New York City. For ten years after moving to New York, Holl lived above his office in an apartment without hot water, showering at the nearby YMCA. Steven Holl leads his 40-person office with partners Chris McVoy and Noah Yaffe. Holl has taught at Columbia University since 1981.

Holl's architecture has undergone a shift in emphasis, from his earlier concern with typology to his current concern with a phenomenological approach; that is, with a concern for man's existentialist, bodily engagement with his surroundings. The shift came about partly due to his interest in the writings of philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and architect-theorist Juhani Pallasmaa.