He enrolled in the architectural program at the University of California, Berkeley in 1942, but his education was interrupted during his freshman year by the internment of approximately 117,000 people of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. Gyo was 18 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and an anti-Japanese hysteria swept the United States. Gyo with this sister, Yuri, and his parents, Haruko and Chiura Obata. “My parents were both great teachers and taught me life’s most basic lesson: to listen very carefully.” “Our house was like a studio, and was always filled with paintings and flowers,” said Gyo in the 2010 book by Marlene Ann Birkman: Gyo Obata: Architect | Clients | Reflections. West Coast, and his mother, Haruko Obata, did the same for ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. His father, Chiura Obata, introduced the classical sumi-e style of painting to the U.S. His parents, both artists from Japan, met in San Francisco after emigrating to the U.S. With an approach to life that regarded each day as a portal to possibility, Gyo also loved spending time with his family and friends, gardening, tennis, art, travel, reading, his dogs, birds, music, theater, opera, films and cooking. (1976) King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1983) King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1984) Community of Christ Temple, Independence, Missouri (1994) and the Japanese American National Museum Pavilion in Los Angeles (1998). A few noteworthy examples include the Priory Chapel at Saint Louis Abbey, Creve Coeur, Missouri (1962) The Galleria in Houston (1970) Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (1973) Bristol-Myers Squibb Campus, Princeton, New Jersey (1973) National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. The Gyo Obata-designed Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri.ĭuring his 50-year tenure as HOK’s design principal, Gyo shaped iconic, award-winning projects around the world. People believed in him, which is an essential part of turning drawings into buildings.” He was a kind, thoughtful man who developed warm, personal relationships with his colleagues and clients. “Instead of designing for the fashions of the times or to make a personal statement, Gyo designed to improve lives. “Gyo embodied everything that’s honorable about the architectural profession,” said Bill Valentine, FAIA, HOK’s chairman emeritus. Rather than imposing his will upon a project, Gyo paid close attention to the needs expressed by clients and then let the project guide the design of a building that would bring meaning and enjoyment to its visitors and inhabitants. Underpinning Gyo’s pioneering design approach was a fundamental belief that each project must be approached without preconceptions and designed to serve the needs, values and aspirations of the people and community it serves. “As an example to all of us, he led HOK to become the largest architecture-engineering firm in the United States while never abdicating his role as a designer of significant projects.” “Gyo’s extraordinary career at HOK continued into his 90s, and he served as a mentor to several generations of designers including myself,” said HOK Chairman and CEO Bill Hellmuth, FAIA. Louis studio, where he regularly served as a design advisor to his colleagues. From the time of his retirement in 2012 and continuing into 2018, Gyo maintained an office in HOK’s St. His distinguished career spanned six decades. Louis-based architectural practice into one of the world’s most respected global design, architecture, engineering and planning firms. Gyo was one of three principals who built HOK from a regional, St. Gyo Obata, FAIA, a world-renowned architect who cofounded HOK in 1955 with a vision for enhancing lives through building design, passed away on March 8, 2022.
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