Forum Lecture: Look, Feel, Listen

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, Tsien 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. 

Tsien will speak to her personal experience and evolution as a woman practicing architecture. Along the way, she will talk about projects that have been particularly meaningful to her – ones that have led her on a path to where she finds herself today. She will also speculate on the ways that the practice of architecture has changed and what lies ahead.