We are thrilled to invite you for a special lecture by this year's Design Awards Jury Chair, Billie Tsien, AIA. This event is part of AIA San Diego's year-long celebration of Design Excellence in San Diego and partnership with the World Design Capital.
Thank you to our member firm, RNT Architects, for sponsoring this lecture
RNT Architects City College Expansion | Event Venue
As a practice, we are committed to the idea that a building represents a belief system. This is exemplified by the way it contains and nurtures the events and people inside. Through projects including the Neuroscience Institute, now the Hazen Campus at Scripps Research Institute, the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in New York City and the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Billie Tsien, AIA will illustrate how architecture has the ability to open institutions that have traditionally felt closed, creating an architecture for all.
Neurosciences Institute | Photo by: Michael Moran
Billie Tsien, AIA
Billie Tsien is a founding partner of the New York-based practice Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners. Their practice is committed to reflecting the values of non-profit, cultural and academic institutions toward an architecture of enduring vision. A sense of rootedness, light, texture, detail, and most of all, experience, are at the heart of what they design. Their dedication to this work has garnered numerous awards and citations including the National Medal of Arts from President Obama, the 2013 AIA Architecture Firm Award, and the 2019 Praemium Imperiale presented by the Japan Art Association. Some of their notable projects include The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the Asia Society Hong Kong Center in Hong Kong, and the renovations of the public spaces in David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. Currently in construction are The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, Chicago. In parallel to her practice, Billie teaches at Yale University, and is a devoted participant in the broader cultural community. She currently serves as the first Woman and Asian-American Chair of the Commission of Fine Arts, appointed by President Biden in 2021. As an educator and practitioner, she is steadfast in her mission to create a better world through architecture.
