Visions of Architecture: Steven Holl on the Art of Architectural Ideation

Visions of Architecture: Steven Holl on the Art of Architectural Ideation

Join us live as we welcome one of architecture’s most influential thinkers into conversation with the visual tools that shape ideas — long before they are built. In this live talk, Steven Holl reflects on drawing, painting and image creation as engines of design thinking — not as representations after the fact, but as instruments that help to generate space, light, atmosphere and emotion.

As we gear up for the 2026 Vision Awards, Holl will share how visual media can sharpen intuition, clarify intent and carry architectural narratives across cultures and contexts. From the immediacy of watercolor sketches to the evolving language of contemporary visualization, the talk will explores how architects can communicate ideas with precision and poetry, and how images can move projects forward with meaning.

Considered one of America's most important architects, Holl is recognized for his ability to blend space and light with great contextual sensitivity and to utilize the unique qualities of each project to create a concept-driven design.

Attendees will gain insight into visual storytelling as a design skill, learning how to better articulate concepts, test possibilities and advocate for architecture’s broader cultural role. This session is an invitation to rethink representation as a creative act — and to see vision itself as a discipline.

About Steven

Steven Holl, Founding Principal of Steven Holl Architects is a visionary architect, artist and educator who has realized projects both in the United States and internationally including the A+Award-winning Linked Hybrid, Beijing, China (2009), the Lewis Arts complex at Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey (2017), Maggie’s Centre Barts, London, United Kingdom (2017), Hunters Point Library, Queens, New York (2019) and Meander Housing in Helsinki, Finland (2024).

Holl received the 2016 VELUX Daylight Award in Architecture, the 2014 Praemium Imperiale International Arts Award for Architecture, the 2012 AIA Gold Medal, the 2010 RIBA Jencks Award, and the first ever Arts Award of the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards in 2009. Holl is a tenured Professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. He has also taught at the University of Washington, Pratt Institute, and the University of Pennsylvania.

About Paul

Paul Keskeys is Editor in Chief at Architizer. An architect-trained editor, writer and content creator, Paul graduated from UCL and the University of Edinburgh, gaining an MArch in Architectural Design with distinction. Paul has spoken about the art of architecture and storytelling at many national industry events, including AIANY, NeoCon, KBIS, the Future NOW Symposium, the Young Architect Conference and NYCxDesign. As well as hundreds of editorial publications on Architizer, Paul has also had features published in Architectural Digest, PIN—UP Magazine, Archinect, Aesthetica Magazine and PUBLIC Journal.