Gyo Obata, famed St. Louis-based architect, dies at age 99

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Gyo Obata, an architect whose designs included sports and entertainment arenas, airports and a presidential library, has died. He was 99.

Obata died March 8, 2022 in St. Louis, his family said. A cause of death was not announced.

Obata was born in 1923 in San Francisco. He graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1945 and earned a master’s degree at Cranbrook Academy of Arts in suburban Detroit.

In 1955, Obata, George Hellmuth and George Kassabaum opened Hellmuth, Obata & Kassabaum. St. Louis-based HOK is now among the world’s largest architecture and engineering firms.

HOK’s notable designs include the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, Camden Yards baseball stadium in Baltimore, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois, the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport and Oracle Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

He was the son of the late noted artist Chiura Obata.