Steven Holl Architects turns fifty this month. The globe-spanning operation that first began in California in 1974 and formed in New York three years later has been behind some of contemporary architecture’s most celebrated designs with 79 realized works in 13 U.S. states and 15 countries. Now, with five new projects in the pipeline, founder Steven Holl has shared with Archinect some reflections on his journey through architecture to mark the special anniversary milestone as part of a year-long commemoration.

“Architecture is a great art with potential to change the way we live. I love drawing and painting ideas for architecture with the hope of public spaces realized as a gift to future generations. Merged with landscapes and ecologically advanced, I am looking forward to architecture as blossoms of the human spirit. As Frank Lloyd Wright said, ‘Buildings, too, are children of the Earth and Sun," he told us when prompted about what motivates his practice looking forward to further commissions he and the firm are now embarking on with Olaf Schmidt as a newly-elevated Partner.

Among these is the forthcoming Ostrava Concert Hall in the Czech Republic, the latest addition to a portfolio of cultural projects like the Nelson-Atkins Museum and Storefront for Art and Architecture that have an immeasurable role in building his critical reputation and success as an architect.

Listen to our conversation with Steven Holl from our podcast Archinect Sessions ^

"I think that all of the arts, the way they intersect and interrelate, that’s much more stimulating than just studying architecture qua architecture," Holl stated in a 2015 Archinect feature interview in which he delved into the influence of music and poetry in his designs.

When asked which projects he is most proud of and which he found the most challenging to realize, Holl mentions: "The REACH expansion of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2019) in Washington, D.C. was very gratifying, as was the Lewis Center at Princeton University (2017)—after a process that took nine years."

They will soon be joined by a new performing arts center for students at the University of Pennsylvania, which broke ground this year. The next eight months will see the completion of two residential projects (one in Helsinki, and another for a private client in the Hudson Valley). Another Czech project, the new Terezín Ghetto Museum, was announced in February with Marcela Steinbachová.

Other observances will be made throughout the year via the firm's Instagram and YouTube channel. Our 2017 Proust Questionnaire conversation with Holl can also be found here.