Diller Scofidio + Renfro


Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Charles Renfro, and Benjamin Gilmartin – who work with a staff of architects, artists, designers, and researchers.

Biography

The studio was founded by Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in 1981; Charles Renfro joined in 1997 and became partner in 2004. Benjamin Gilmartin became a partner in 2015. Elizabeth Diller attended The Cooper Union School of Art and received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the Cooper Union School of Architecture. She is a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University School of Architecture and a visiting professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture. In 2009, Diller was selected by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Ricardo Scofidio attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture and received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. Scofidio is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cooper Union. Charles Renfro attended Rice University and received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. Renfro has served as visiting professor at Rice University and Columbia University, among others.
From 1999-2004 the MacArthur Foundation honored the firm’s work with the 'genius' award, stating that they “have created an alternative form of architectural practice that unites design, performance, and electronic media with cultural and architectural theory and criticism. Their work explores how space functions in our culture and illustrates that architecture, when understood as the physical manifestation of social relationships, is everywhere, not just in buildings.”

Work

Diller Scofidio + Renfro's international body of completed architectural work includes the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Redevelopment in New York, the renovation and expansion of the Juilliard School, the Hypar Pavilion Lawn and Restaurant, the expansion of the School of American Ballet, renovations to the New York State Theater lobby, the canopy entry to Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, public spaces throughout the campus, Information Landscape, and the President's Bridge.

Selected work

Projects in construction or in design include:
In 2013 Diller Scofidio + Renfro won the international design competition for Zaryadye Park, a new 35-acre public space next to the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia.

Installation and performance projects

Installation and performance projects recently completed include: The Art of Scent 1889-2010, an exhibition of olfactory art at the Museum of Arts and Design; Open House, an installation in Levittown in collaboration with Droog; How Wine Became Modern for SFMOMA; Be Your Self with the Australian Dance Theatre; the Exit exhibition for the Fondation Cartier, also presented at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen; Traveling Music for Evento 2009 in Bordeaux; Chain City for the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th International Architecture Exhibition; Arbores Laetae for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial; Does the Punishment Fit the Crime? for the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Turin; and Action Painting for the Beyeler Museum in Basel.

Gallery

Awards

In 1999, the MacArthur Foundation presented Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio with Fellowships for their commitment to integrating architecture with issues of contemporary culture. They were recently made fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects and were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2012, Elizabeth Diller was elected into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and selected as an Aspen Institute Harman-Eisner Artist in Residence. In 2013, she was honored with the Barnard Medal of Distinction.
Other prestigious awards and honors received by Diller Scofidio + Renfro include: the National Design Award from the Smithsonian; the Brunner Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; an Obie for an off-Broadway theater production; the Centennial Medal of Honor from American Academy in Rome; the AIA President’s Award; the AIA Medal of Honor; and AIA Design Awards for numerous projects. In 2003, the Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of the studio’s work, recognizing the firm’s unorthodox practice. In 2009, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio were named among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in the World and the partners were featured in a one-hour segment with Charlie Rose. In 2010, Fast Company named Diller Scofidio + Renfro the most innovative design practice in the profession and among the 50 most innovative companies in the world.

Publications

Books by Diller Scofidio + Renfro include Bodybuildings: Architectural Facts and Fictions; Back to the Front: Tourisms of War; Flesh: architectural probes; and Blur: the Making of Nothing. The studio's most recent book, Lincoln Center Inside Out: An Architectural Account, chronicles a decade of work redesigning a New York City icon. Diller Scofidio + Renfro is the subject of SCANNING: The Aberrant Architectures of Diller + Scofidio, published by the Whitney Museum and including essays by Aaron Betsky, K. Michael Hays and Laurie Anderson; the monograph Diller + Scofidio : The Ciliary Function by Guido Incerti, Daria Ricchi and Deane Simpson; and Diller Scofidio + Renfro: Architecture After Images by Edward Dimendberg

Selected projects

Architecture:
Installation and curatorial:
Performance: