Steven Holl. Making Architecture - exhibition in Ostrava

The exhibition STEVEN HOLL: Making Architecture | OSTRAVA presents twelve projects by the renowned American architect Steven Holl, who designed a new concert hall for Ostrava. The exhibition project was created in collaboration with the Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava (GVUO), the statutory city of Ostrava, the Architecture Cabinet, and the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The opening will take place on Tuesday, September 21, at 5 PM at the House of Arts in Ostrava. It will also be streamed on the organizers' Facebook pages. The exhibition can be visited until December 5 of this year.

Steven Holl's exhibition is a Czech premiere, and I am very pleased that we can showcase the work of this world-famous architect here in Ostrava. The reason is clear. Among the presented projects is the design of the Ostrava concert hall, which is currently being worked on by Steven Holl's studio and the Prague office Architecture Acts. Collaborating with Steven Holl and his team is a huge experience and inspiration for us. The design work is progressing at a rapid pace, and we believe that we will begin construction of the concert hall, which will be part of the comprehensive reconstruction of the existing House of Culture, as early as next year, said Tomáš Macura, the mayor of the statutory city of Ostrava, who took patronage over the exhibition.

Modern architecture has become a very popular discipline in recent years, and I am not afraid to say that it connects construction with art. That is why I was excited about the idea of presenting the projects of significant American architect Steven Holl in our gallery. Visitors will be able to learn about his creative process from initial sketches and visions to models of the buildings he designed. I am very pleased that besides more than a dozen already completed buildings, the exhibition will also feature his design for a modern concert hall that will be built in Ostrava, stated Lukáš Curylo, the Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region for culture and heritage care, who took patronage over the GVUO exhibition projects.

About the exhibition
The traveling exhibition presents eleven already realized projects by American architect Steven Holl. As part of a European tour, it also includes a twelfth project (currently in the preparatory phase): the concert hall in Ostrava. The exposition reveals the complex and unique process behind Steven Holl's architectural projects, which are presented from the first watercolor sketches through building designs to their models. Projects such as the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Jinbaosan Necropolis in Taiwan, a library in Malawi, or the Cancer Care Center in London will be presented.
Steven Holl's architectural works are divided into three sections: Thinking, Building, and Reflecting. Thinking captures watercolor sketches, small working models, and material samples that lead to defining ideas and form the foundation of each Holl project, explained Enrique García, the exhibition coordinator from Steven Holl Architects, adding that the Building section reveals the creative process through models and photographs taken during construction. Reflecting then presents Steven Holl's thoughts through selected film recordings, official statements, and published responses, concluded García.

Steven Holl's creative work is characterized by watercolor drawings. The challenging concept of connecting artistic elements with mathematical calculation is used by only a few architects today. Steven Holl draws every morning because his mind is clearest and most open to intuitive and inventive thinking, which is necessary for creating architecture. It is common for him to draw hundreds of watercolors during a single project. As he himself states, the mutual communication between the brain and the hand engages human imagination in an immediate, neurologically connected way that digital processes cannot model.

The immediacy of children's drawing brings us back to the beginning of thought. When a child draws a mark on paper, they significantly involve their hand, eyes, and brain; however, the surprise – for example, the imaginative creation of the "moon rabbit" – is a product of the mind. Each of my architectural projects began as a drawing – usually a watercolor in a notebook measuring 13 × 18 cm, of which I have over thirty thousand archived. The entire process is an expression of joy, and I hope that this joy is then transferred into the buildings for the pleasure of their users, said architect Steven Holl.
The original form of the traveling exhibition STEVEN HOLL: Making Architecture was prepared by the Steven Myron Holl Foundation and curator Nina Stritzler-Levine. Its world premiere took place at the Samuel Dorsky Museum in New Paltz, New York, in 2018. The form of the Ostrava exhibition was prepared by Enrique García from Steven Holl Architects and curators Tadeáš Goryczka and Jaroslav Němec from the Architecture Cabinet.



Accompanying programs
The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication on Steven Holl's work, which GVUO is publishing in collaboration with the Architecture Cabinet for the first time in the Czech environment. GVUO will also offer guided tours and creative workshops for schools and the public. Dates will be announced on the gallery's website, and personal participation must be reserved in the Accompanying Programs section.

Practical information
The project is being held with the financial support of the statutory city of Ostrava and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The exhibition is under the patronage of Tomáš Macura, mayor of the statutory city of Ostrava, Lubomír Zaorálek, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, Ivo Vondrák, Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region, and the Embassy of the USA in Prague. The patronage over the year-round GVUO projects was taken by the Deputy Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region Lukáš Curylo.
The House of Arts, GVUO is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission is 40 crowns full and 20 crowns reduced. Admission is free on Sundays and for seniors.