"Lake of the Mind. A Conversation with Steven Holl"

Abstract

A review of a new book centering on a single conversation between author Diana Carta and the American architect Steven Holl, discussing his early morning watercolour studies design process and the importance of physical place in relation to this process. It is a recent publication on precisely his cabin at Round Lake. It's a little book [80 pages in A5 15x21cm], curated by Diana Carta, a young Italian architect/critic/curator, illustrated, consisting of a conversation between Carta and Holl, with an introduction by Yehuda Safran, and a post-face by Carta herself. It is published by LetteraVentidue, a small Italian publisher specialized on architecture and design. The key insights in the review are the significance of the regularity of the process, rather than the physical place where it takes place and that Hill uses this process to both initiate new ideas as well as revises or develop further ideas already in development. The review is critical of the design and structure of the book but makes a number of comments which would inform further research into Steven Holl's design methodology.