Steven Holl Wins 2010 Jencks Award
Steven Holl has been awarded the 2010 Jencks Award: Visions Built at the
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The Jencks Award is
given annually to an individual that has recently made a major
contribution simultaneously to the theory and practice of architecture
internationally.
Charles Jencks states, “Steven Holl has divided his time between writing
and architecture. This two-way traffic between theory and practice has
led to the considered development of several themes, which work on
different scales. For smaller commissions, houses and chapels, he has
explored a tightly layered and faceted aesthetic based on light studies –
direct, oblique and reflected colors that play over intricate surfaces.
This research is furthered through his watercolors and writings on
phenomenology - both a form of theoretical investigation. From them
comes a haptic architecture, related to that of Carlo Scarpa, and one
that engages many senses, not just the visual. At the large scale Holl
investigates more conceptual and systematic models, such as structural
and scientific ideas of porosity or the fractal known as Menger’s
Sponge. Here his urban work in the USA and China creates formal order at
several scales, and is tied to social ideas of passage, meeting and
communal well-being. Color, light and phenomenology also inform his city
buildings and together with his domestic architecture, writing and
watercolor, form a consistent body of work that is as rare as it is
impressive.'
The award will be presented at the RIBA on 30 November 2010, followed by
a public lecture by Steven Holl, chaired by Charles Jencks.
Source: Bustler
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