Holl graduated from the University of Washington and pursued architecture studies in Rome in 1970. In 1976 he attended the Architectural Association and established Steven Holl Architects in New York. Holl has created many critically-acclaimed works, such as the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, the Chapel of St Ignatius in Seattle, the Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, and the Horizontal Skyscraper-Vanke Center in Shenzhen. He has been awarded numerous accolades, most recently the 2012 AIA Gold Medal. Holl is a tenured professor at Columbia University.