Born in Latvia, educated in Germany and now living in the United States, Birkerts is one of America's most innovative and distinctive architects. Among his most celebrated works are the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum, the IBM Corporate Computer Centre in New York, the Corning Museum of Glass, the U.S. Embassy in Helsinki, The Federal Reserve Bank in Minneapolis and the University of Michigan Law Library.

Birkerts has worked with Eero Saarinen and Minoru Yamasaki, and has been greatly influenced by Alvar Aalto and the Scandinavian belief that buildings should be individual solutions to a given problem, using materials to express their spirits in the most absolute ways. His projects have won 58 major awards around the world.

The online architect encyclopaedia 'Archpedia' calls Birkerts one of today's finest architects and describes his style in the following way:

"He designs with bold forms of simple geometrical shapes, the square, circle and triangle. These forms are often segmented, distorted, and shifted to form abstract compositions. The layering of planes and stacked volumes allow for plenty of space to be inhabited by the user of the facilities. He takes great care in an unscrupulous detailing as he articulates the surfaces of the buildings with metals, glass and materials that express a natural feeling.

He views light as a building material in its own right. He introduces artificial and natural sun light into the building as much as possible. This light is used to define space and add contrast to the natural materials, wood, stone, brick, and concrete. He has said that "light should be reflected, deflected and otherwise borrowed into spaces that lack direct assess." He cuts, slices and twists planes for this sole purpose."

Birkerts' own description of his career and design philosophy carry a special significance when reflecting on his design for the Latvian National Library, his first project ever for the land of his birth:

"In our lifetimes we educate ourselves, we adapt new technologies, we create and we progress. Our development is based on organic growth, as are our best buildings. It is an evolution, a progression, and that is what I believe I am doing. I am growing and evolving in the time span in which I am destined to live and be creative."

For more information on Birkerts see http://www.archpedia.com/.