Steven Holl Architects chosen to design arts buildings

Steven Holl Architects designed an expansion and renovation of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Mo., which opened this past June. At left: Five translucent, rectangular pavilions placed in the hillside blend architecture with the landscape. The project won a 2008 Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects. Above: The museum's design draws light down into the galleries that are banked into the hillside. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, described it as "a serene and exhilarating place in which to view art." (Photos: Andy Ryan)   - Below left: The program for the School of Art and Art History at the University of Iowa pushed Steven Holl Architects to convince the school to change the building site in order to move it closer to other existing art buildings and to use a pond and a bluff as part of the landscaping. The building received a 2007 Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects.