Gyo Obata, an architect known for his work on sports and entertainment venues, airports, and a presidential library, has passed away at the age of 99. He died on Tuesday in St. Louis, though the cause of death has not been disclosed.
Born in San Francisco in 1923, Obata graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1945 and later earned a master’s degree from Cranbrook Academy of Arts in suburban Detroit.
In 1955, Obata, along with George Hellmuth and George Kassabaum, co-founded the firm Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum, which is now known as HOK and stands among the world’s largest architecture and engineering firms.
HOK is renowned for its design work, including the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, Camden Yards baseball stadium in Baltimore, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, and Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.