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FINAL SPECULATIONS
By analyzing Steven Holl’s career, and specially its latest period, it is pos-
sible to highlight the coherence behind his work and how he pushed his
concepts forward as phenomenology. Not all the buildings were success-
ful, but his philosophy is always behind them backing him up.
In the last fifteen years, when Holl started receiving bigger commissions,
he had to expand his office to create a big studio where he is not able to
supervise each decision as in his beginnings. This common situation that
happened to many emergent architects has always had an impact on the
architectural production and this is not the exception.
His first project in China, the Linked Hybrid has some qualities that are
conceptually strong but the resolution is not the best, it is not the same
accurate modeling behind it as in the Simmons Hall, probably that is the
reason why it was not as effective as the MIT block. Nevertheless, in the
Vanke Center and in Chengdu Block, Holl’s craftsman skills and sensitivity
are again there.
Another risk that Steven Holl is facing is the fact of converting his architec-
ture in a brand -something that many architects pursue but he was always
trying to avoid-. The grid skins of the Simmons Hall, the Linked Hybrid and
the Sliced Porosity share a lot of qualities even being buildings in so dis-
similar conditions. This topic was addressed by Scott Cohen in conversa-
tion with Holl during his April ‘12 Harvard GSD visit, and the answer was
not clear. It is difficult to identify how these skins can be strongly entangled
with the site -as he always claims it should be- in each different case.
Finally, it is important to mention how inspiring Steven Holl’s work can be
for current and future generation of architects, not only because of his
tremendous talent and his immanent buildings, but also because of his
architectural philosophy, always trying to push the boundaries, to do the
right thing even if it is not the most profitable solution. This perseverance
is what has led him to his current star-architect position. We should all
learn from that.