Steven Holl: Drawing as Thought is a major exhibition of Holl’s watercolors and drawings curated by Kristin Feireiss.
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 centers, 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 watercolors.
Steven Holl’s international career began in 1988 when he won the competition for the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek (American Memorial Library) in Berlin. The large-format black-and-white drawings of his winning design are also the focus of this exhibition at the Museum of Architectural Drawing.
The foundation of Holl’s work is based on three principal missions: the art that drives architecture, the need for ecological excellence, and the importance of space, light, material, and detail as experimental phenomena. The exhibition presents, among other unrealized 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 of Contemporary Art in Helsinki (1993–1998), St. Ignatius Chapel for Seattle University (1994–1997), Maggie’s Centre in London (2012–2017), and The REACH, Kennedy Center in Washington (2012–2019). The tour concludes with Holl’s sketches for his lakeside retreat in Rhinebeck near the Hudson River, his ideal place 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.
A catalogue has been published for the exhibition .
On the occasion of the exhibition opening, a conversation between Diana Carta, architect and scientist (Rome), Steven Holl and Sergei Tchoban took place on 6 February 2025 at the Aedes Metropolitan Laboratory.