Known for his progressive aesthetics and vast body of work, 1982 Pritzker Prize laureate Kevin Roche (born June 14, 1922) has headed numerous projects of varying program and scale as the design principal of his firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. In 1980, his firm was described by critic C. Ray Smith in 1980 as "the most aesthetically daring and innovative American firm of architects now working."

College Life Insurance Company Headquarters. Image © KRJDA

Known for his progressive aesthetics and vast body of work, 1982 Pritzker Prize laureate Kevin Roche (born June 14, 1922) has headed numerous projects of varying program and scale as the design principal of his firm Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates. In 1980, shortly before the death of Roche's business partner John Dinkeloo, the firm was described by critic C. Ray Smith in 1980 as "the most aesthetically daring and innovative American firm of architects now working."
© Nathan Benn

Born in Ireland, Roche's early years as an architect are telling: he first moved to the USA in 1948 to study under Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology but left after just one semester, swapping Mies' strict formulaic style for a much more expressive modernism when he joined the firm of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, eventually becoming Eero Saarinen's principal design associate.

Knights of Columbus Building. Image © &l...