Friedrich St.Florian was unanimously selected from 400 entries to design the National World War II Memorial to be built in Washington, D.C. He holds a Master Degree in Architecture from the Technical University in Graz, Austria and a Master's in Urban Design from Columbia University in New York City.

He has been a practicing architect in the United States since 1974 and is well known and respected around the world. He has been the recipient of numerous prizes in national and international design competitions, including a second prize in the Georges Pompidou Center Competition in Paris. His early career is distinguished by landmark theoretical works as well as critically acclaimed residences in the Rhode Island area. His role as a proponent of high standards of design has left its impact on the Providence architectural community and and most importantly, on his students at Rhode Island School of Design.

Professor St.Florian joined the Rhode Island School of Design faculty in 1963. During his long tenure at the Rhode Island School of Design, he served as Acting Provost for three years, Dean of Architecture for eleven years and Chief Critic of the European Honors Program in Rome for four years. He has also taught at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, Columbia University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, McGill University in Montreal, the University of Texas in Austin, and the University of Utah. Honors include the Rome Prize Fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, a Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Visual Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Fulbright Fellowship, and a citation for excellence in architectural design from Progressive Architecture. His projects have been exhibited and published in major architectural magazines in Europe, Japan and the United States. His work is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris.

He was Design Architect for Providence Place, a 450 million-dollar retail and entertainment center located in historic downtown Providence and the Providence Skybridge, which frames the entrance to the city. He is supervising construction for the National World War II Memorial, a 160 million-dollar project located at the centerline of the National Mall in Washington DC.