Friedrich St. Florian’s career as an architect and educator spans more than 55 years, and though his success has taken him all over the world, his commitment to his adopted home of Providence has made him an influential figure in the city’s renaissance. Along with fellow RISD professor William Warner, Friedrich famously helped reimagine the Providence waterfront with a sketch on a restaurant napkin. He has been at RISD for more than half a century, including eight years as the Dean of Architecture and three as Acting Provost. Some of his early works are housed in the permanent collections of the RISD Museum, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has reshaped not only our state’s capital, but the nation’s as well, winning a national competition to build his most important work, the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC. “Friedrich St. Florian is a titan in the architecture world,” declared the selection committee. “What really elevates him is his strong commitment to teaching. He has continued to teach and mentor throughout a career that has taken him all over the world.”
