Elizabeth Diller is a founding principal of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a 75 person interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Among the various projects of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's international body of work: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, including the redesign of Alice Tully Hall, the renovation and expansion of The Juilliard School, the expansion of the School of American Ballet, Public Spaces Project, and the Hypar Pavilion Lawn and Restaurant; the High Line, an urban park situated on an obsolete elevated railway stretching 1.5 miles long through the Chelsea area of New York City; the Institute of Contemporary Art on Boston's waterfront; the Creative Arts Center at Brown University; and Blur, built on Lake Neuchatel for the 2002 Swiss Expo. Currently in design: the Broad Art Museum in downtown Los Angeles, CA; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley; the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York City; the Museum of Image & Sound on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Dongguan Factory and Housing Complex in Shenzhen, China; the new art & art history building at Stanford University; and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Expansion on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Installation and performance projects recently completed include: Open House in collaboration with Droog; How Wine Became Modern for SFMoMA; Be Your Self with the Australian Dance Theatre; Terre Natale, an exhibition accompanying the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen; Chain City for the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th International Architecture Exhibition; and Arbores Laetae for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial.
In 1999-2004, the MacArthur Foundation presented Ms. Diller and Mr. Scofidio with the 'genius' award 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 2008. 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 the Arts and Letters, an Obie for an off-Broadway theater production, 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. Most recently, Fast Company named Diller Scofidio + Renfro the most innovative design practice in the profession and among the top 50 most innovative companies in the world.
