Steven Holl - Scale: An Architect's Sketch Book

by Steven Holl

Following Written in Water (2002), this is the second publication devoted to Steven Holl’s legendary watercolors. Four hundred watercolors represent the creative process of this renowned and influential American architect and reveal his highly personal method developed over many years, containing preliminary ideas and sketches of all major projects.

Holl is known for his sculptural architecture and his virtuosic use of light, and watercolors are the ideal means to visualize these characteristic aspects of his work. At a time of rapidly changing technology in the service of architectural design, these watercolors become spectacular examples of a low-tech method. The results are invariably original works of art. The water colors are juxtaposed with photographs of the built architecture and emphasize the crucial aspect of scale.

Genres: Architecture

Paperback

First published April 28, 2011

About the author

Steven Holl (born December 9, 1947) is an American architect and watercolorist, perhaps best known for the 2003 Simmons Hall at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the celebrated 2007 Bloch Building addition to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri,[1] and the praised 2009 Linked Hybrid mixed-use complex in Beijing, China.

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 New York City. 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.

Reviews

[jw468 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a modest amount of overlap between this book and the earlier book, Steven Holl: Written in Water. The inclusion of photos in this volume is helpful because the connection between the early watercolors and the finished buildings is very clear. There’s a brief explanation of each project at the end of the book.

As an object, Written in Water is slightly more satisfying due to differences in the cover and the paper.

[Wei Cho · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book of sketches, mainly in watercolor. More recent projects but same power.