Architect Steven Holl to Present 'Architecture in Time' Lecture on April 15

Roland Halbe

Steven Holl Architects won the design competition for the addition and renovation of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri. The 165,000-square-foot addition is composed of five interconnected structures that traverse from the original building across the sculpture park. (Image courtesy of Steven Holl Architects)

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Steven Holl will present a lecture titled "Architecture in Time" at 1 p.m. Friday, April 15, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, as part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design lecture series.

Holl is founder and principal of Steven Holl Architects.

Born in Bremerton, Washington, Holl graduated from the University of Washington and pursued architecture studies in Rome in 1970. In 1976, he joined the Architectural Association in London and established Steven Holl Architects in New York City. He is the designer of all projects ongoing in the office.

Considered one of America's most important architects, Holl is recognized for his ability to blend space and light with great contextual sensitivity and to utilize the unique qualities of each project to create a concept-driven design. He specializes in seamlessly integrating new projects into contexts with particular cultural and historic importance.

He has realized cultural, civic, academic and residential projects both in the United States and internationally. Notable work includes the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland (1998), Sarphatistraat Offices in Amsterdam (2000) and Chapel of St. Ignatius in Seattle, Washington (1997). Most recently completed are Cité de l'Océan et du Surf in Biarritz, France (2011), the Horizontal Skyscraper in Shenzhen, China (2009), the Knut Hamsun Center in Hamarøy, Norway (2009), the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art in Herning, Denmark (2009), and the Linked Hybrid mixed-use complex in Beijing, China (2009), which was named Best Tall Building of 2010 by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.

In June 2007, the much-celebrated addition to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, opened to the public. Referring to the building as breathtaking, Nicolai Ourossoff, New York Times architecture critic, wrote: "By subtly interweaving his building with the museum's historic fabric and the surrounding landscape, he has produced a work of haunting power. It's an approach that should be studied by anyone who sets out to design a museum from this point forward."

Paul Goldberger, a critic, stated in a New Yorker article, "The building is not just Holl's finest by far, but also one of the best of the last generation. Holl has produced as striking and inventive a piece of architectural form and yet it is a serene and exhilarating place in which to view art."

Recently, the office has won a number of international design competitions, including the new design for the Houston Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the new design for the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, the new Visual Arts Building at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, and the new Seona Reid Building for the Glasgow School of Art in Glasgow.

Holl has been recognized with architecture's most prestigious awards and prizes. He received the 2014 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award for Architecture, the 2012 AIA Gold Medal, the RIBA 2010 Jencks Award, and the first-ever Arts Award of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in 2009. In 2011, the Horizontal Skyscraper received an AIA National Honor Award, and in 2010, the Knut Hamsun Center and the Horizontal Skyscraper were given an AIA New York Honor Award, and the Herning Museum of Contemporary Art won a RIBA Award.

In 2006, Holl received honorary degrees from Seattle University and Moholy-Nagy University in Budapest. He is a tenured professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture and Planning. He has also taught at the University of Washington, the Pratt Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania. He has lectured and exhibited widely and has published numerous texts.

This lecture qualifies for AIA Continuing Education System learning units.

The public is invited to attend. Admission is free, with limited seating.

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu/.