Steven Holl has revealed to
CLADglobal the role that watercolour painting plays in his design process; offering a rare glimpse of some of the artwork he has created over his five-decade-long career.
In a lengthy interview, the architect said he always starts work on new building projects the same way: “Me, alone, my little watercolour pad in front of me, at five thirty in the morning, trying to come up with some concepts.”
He described the process as “always a struggle and a mystery”, with his team helping him transform his sometimes abstract ideas on paper into detailed, large-scale models, which are then gradually brought to reality.
Holl's interest in art and the creative process has led to a particular fascination with arts buildings, which he described as “the most important programme you can do as an architect.” His most acclaimed completed projects include the semi-translucent Reid Building at the Glasgow School of Art, the curving Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki and the interconnected glowing volumes of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, while he recently completed work on the Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH).
“I feel, in a certain sense, that religion and philosophy cannot provide the meaning that we need in our lives today, whereas art can give us a window into our human needs,” he told
CLADglobal. “The art museum has become a social condenser, a place of gathering, a kind of 21st-century cathedral.”
Our full interview with Steven Holl features in the most recent issue of
CLADmag, and can be read
here. The watercolours of Steven Holl
Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in HoustonCompleted earlier this month, this L-shaped building features a sloping, walkable roofline that runs the length of the structure and connects a wide-stepped amphitheatre at its base and a roof garden above.
The Institute of Contemporary Art VirginiaSited at the edge of the Virginia Commonwealth University campus in Richmond, Virginia, the newly-completed Institute for Contemporary Art links the University with the surrounding community. With ian inviting double-fronted forum opening to a serene sculpture garden, the 41,000sq ft (3,800sq m) building "provides spatial energy for the most important cutting-edge contemporary art exhibits."
Horizontal Skyscraper – Vanke Center ShenzhenHovering over a tropical garden, this ‘horizontal skyscraper’ – as long as the Empire State Building is tall – unites office spaces, apartments and a hotel. A conference centre, spa and parking are located under the large green, public landscape. The project was completed in 2009.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art Kansas CityCompleted in 2007, this museum extension was described by The New York TImes as “a work of haunting power.” Holl added a new building that extends along the eastern edge of the museum campus, and is distinguished by five glass lenses, traversing from the existing building through the Sculpture Park to form new spaces and angles of vision.
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art HelsinkThe concept of Kiasma, which opened in 1998, involves the building's mass intertwining with the geometry of the city and landscape which are reflected in the shape of the building. Inside, the general character of the rooms, which are almost rectangular with one wall curved, "allows for a silent yet dramatic backdrop for the exhibition of contemporary art."
Malawi LibraryThis 66,000sq ft (6,100sq m) institution, currently under construction, is being funded and developed by The Miracle for Africa Foundation to provide social and study spaces in Malawi’s capital, Lilongwe. The building, which will be created using local stone, bamboo and concrete, will have a wave-like roof fitted with photovoltaic solar panels that power the whole net-zero complex
TuschimoHoll recently won an international design competition to create this 2 million sq ft (200,000sq m) mixed-use district on a former paratrooper airfield in Moscow. The site, situated near the Moscow River, was for the greater part of the 20th century home to a flying and parachuting school and acted as an aviation parade ground. To reference its history, the winning design places the different amenities in separate volumes, described as a new building typology called ‘Parachute Hybrids’. According to Holl, “these [Parachute Hybrids] combine residential bar and slab structures with supplemental programming suspended in sections above, like parachutes frozen in the sky”. Large circular openings in the towers’ facades give a defining geometric character and will be filled with the health and social spaces.
Shanghai Cofco Cultural & Health Center - ShanghaiThe design concept for this two-building complex is described by the studio as a merging of “clouds and time,” in reference to philosopher Karl Popper’s 1965 lecture on the evolutionary model of free will, which was titled “Of Clouds and Clocks.” The buildings will be set in a public landscape, organised in large clock-like circles forming a central public space. A quarter circle pool and fountain will provide rainwater recycling for the complex.
All images courtesy of Steven Holl Architects
