Gyo Obata

Updated on Nov 23, 2023

Edit

Comment

Occupation Architecture Name Gyo Obata		Role Architect Organizations founded HOK


Born February 28, 1923 (age 101) ( 1923-02-28 ) San Francisco, California, U.S Education Washington University in St. Louis, University of California, Berkeley, Cranbrook Educational Community Structures National Air and Space Museum

Gyo obata on the reason hok was founded

Gyo Obata (born February 28, 1923) is an American architect, the son of painter Chiura Obata and his wife, Haruko Obata, a floral designer. In 1955, he co-founded global architectural firm HOK (formerly Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum). He lives in St. Louis, Missouri and still works in HOK's St. Louis office. He has designed several notable buildings, including the McDonnell Planetarium at the Saint Louis Science Center, the Independence Temple of the Community of Christ church and the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Gyo Obata Gyo Obata Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Clients talk about hok s gyo obata

Biography

Gyo Obata Gyo Obata on the Reason HOK Was Founded YouTube

Obata was born and raised in San Francisco. Due to his family's Japanese heritage, he was nearly interned with other Japanese-Americans during World War II. Though his family was sent to an internment camp, he avoided it by leaving the School of Architecture at the University of California-Berkeley to study architecture at Washington University in St. Louis the only university in the United States willing to accept Japanese nationals at that time. He earned his bachelor of architecture degree there in 1945.

He then studied under master Finnish architect Eero Saarinen at the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, receiving his master's degree in architecture and urban design in 1946.

Gyo Obata HOK Founding Partner Gyo Obata Shares the Spotlight with Clients in

After serving in the U.S. Army from 1946–1947 and working as an architect in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill from 1947–1951, Obata returned to St. Louis in 1951 to join the firm of Minoru Yamasaki, designer of the World Trade Center towers. Four years later, in 1955, he joined architects George Hellmuth and George Kassabaum in establishing the St. Louis-based architecture firm Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum.

Due in part to Obata's prowess and growing reputation, the firm achieved global renown, and Obata himself has won numerous awards for his designs. Today, HOK has more than 1,800 employees in 23 offices worldwide.

Gyo Obata Gold Honor Award American Institute of Architects St Louis

In 2010, Obata was featured in a book written by Marlene Ann Birkman and published by The Images Publishing Group titled, Gyo Obata: Architect | Clients | Reflections. The book features 30 of Obata's projects (and clients) spanning five decades.

Obata's design philosophy is "to provide spaces which are not only functional, but also enhance the quality of life for those who work and live in them." In Gyo Obata: Architect | Clients | Reflections, he says that, "The language that architects use to define space is daylight. Each project offers new potential for discovery, for understanding the site and program, and an opportunity to do a thoughtfully designed building that will bring meaning and enjoyment to the people who will occupy it."