Friedrich St. Florian

Friedrich St. Florian, a practicing architect since 1974, is best known as the architect of The National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people. The Second World War is the only 20th Century event commemorated on the National Mall’s central axis. 

Born in 1932 in Graz, Austria, St. Florian first moved to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship Columbia University) in 1961. After teaching at Columbia, he joined the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design, and also taught at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas, Austin, and McGill University in Montreal, among others.

St. Florian’s work is part of the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.