Steven Holl: Drawing as Thought

The work of internationally renowned US architect Steven Holl is distinguished not only by his extraordinary buildings, with a focus on cultural and public structures such as museums, art centres, concert halls, libraries and universities worldwide, but also by his artistic oeuvre, which today comprises more than 50,000 sketches, black-and-white drawings and watercolours.

Steven Holl’s international career took off in 1988 when he won the competition for the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek in Berlin. The exhibition at the Museum for Architectural Drawing begin with the large-format black-and-white drawings from his winning design.

Holl’s work is grounded in his “three principal missions”: art that drives architecture, the necessity of ecological excellence and the significance of space, light, material and detail as experimental phenomena. Among other works, the exhibition includes unrealised projects for the Palazzo del Cinema in Venice (1990) and Porta Vittoria in Milan (1986), as well as designs for well-known buildings such as Kiasma Museum for Contemporary Art in Helsinki (1993–1998), Chapel of St. Ignatius for the Seattle University (1994–1997), Maggie’s Centre in London (2012–2017) and The REACH, Kennedy Center in Washington (2012–2019), culminating with sketches for Holl’s lakeside retreat in Rhinebeck, near the Hudson River – his ʻideal placeʼ for drawing.

While exhibition visitors will only encounter a small portion of his extensive body of work, each drawing should be explored and studied individually, in keeping with Holl’s intent.

The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.

On the occasion of the exhibition opening, Diana Carta, architect and scholar (Rome), will hold a conversation with Steven Holl and Sergei Tchoban on February 6, 2025 at 5 pm in the Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory.

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