Drawing Spotlight – Steven Holl

We can’t emphasize more that drawing is an important part of an architect’s life. It may sound too much, but IT IS. There is no better way of expression and visualization than drawing. I mean, you can be yourself when drawing, there is no wrong or right in a drawing. When you draw, you are showing who you are, what you like, how you think, what you want.

If you don’t draw, or you are scared of starting, we have gathered some great architects and their works found in drawings. Different types of drawings. Check out Giorgio Grassi’s drawings here.

In this opportunity, we have Steven Holl. All of his watercolor drawings were taken from his page, www.stevenholl.com

DAEYANG GALLERY AND HOUSE 2012

Steven Holl is an American architect and a watercolorist. He graduated from the University of Washington College of Architecture and Urban Planning.

CIFI HEADQUARTERS BEIJING 2020

Holl’s architecture has undergone a shift in emphasis, from his earlier concern with Typology to his more modern style of phenomenology.

HUNTERS POINT LIBRARY, QUEENS PUBLIC LIBRARY 2019

ICARBONX 2020

If Everybody Else Quits Drawing, It’s Fine With Me”

Steven Holl

ILE SEGUIN (FONDATION FRANCOIS PINAULT) 2001

MEANDER HOUSING, HELSINKI 2010

He has been inspired and influenced by philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty and architect-theorist Juhani Pallasmaa.

QINGDAO CULTURE AND ART CENTER 2013

“For me, drawing is a form of thought,” he says. “I start every project with a concept diagram. I used to do pencil drawings. Those took eight hours. Around 1979, I streamlined it to five-by-seven-inch watercolours, because they were easy to fly with.”

NANJING SIFANG ART MUSEUM 2013