Archinect - News

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to deliver $122M Detroit Music Hall expansion

2023-10-24T12:26:00-04:00

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) has been attached to a major new expansion of the historic Detroit Music Hall, the firm announced on Monday. The project aims to connect an important part of downtown to a burgeoning economic revitalization while providing Detroiters with a “canvas to express the energy and creativity for which the city is globally recognized.”

At seven stories and a total of 100,000 square feet, the new Detroit Music Hall Center will sit next to the existing 95-year-old Wilson Theater and offers the public a 1,900-seat main concert hall, 200-seat recital hall, offices, rooftop restaurant, music academy educational component, and a 4,000-square-foot activated public outdoor area.

In terms of its design, the building utilizes an LED-lit perforated metal rain screen facade to cast itself and its twin as the vibrant cultural anchors for new development in the neighborhood. The duality between industrial daytime activities and the city’s nightlife scene is f...

Two years ahead of schedule, Diamond Schmitt/TWBTA's David Geffen Hall revamp is ready to debut at Lincoln Center

2022-09-27T18:23:00-04:00

A revamp inside one of America’s most important cultural venues is ready to debut two years ahead of schedule (and reportedly on budget) after the project team behind Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall in Manhattan announced an October 8th public opening date on Tuesday.

NYC's redesigned new "cultural living room" is the product of a collaboration between cultural sector heavyweights Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien (TWBTA), noted acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks, and theater design specialist Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates.

The project's scope includes an acoustical and seating arrangement overhaul of the New York Philharmonic's main Wu Tsai Theater performance space, the creation of a new restaurant and 1,680-square-foot Welcome Center, new multipurpose Sidewalk Studios, and the reconfiguration of public spaces around the building that was originally designed by Max Abramovitz in 1962.

Video courtesy of Lincoln Center for the Performing A...

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on their Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park refresh

2022-06-09T13:11:00-04:00

Garden officials said Fred Meijer insisted on surpassing accessibility standards, as demonstrated by a miniature version of Nina Akamu’s 1999 bronze 'The American Horse' that allows the visually impaired to feel the sculpture. Mr. Williams and Ms. Tsien designed the landscape without significant grade changes, eliminating the need for landings and handrails, as well as stairs or steep ramps between buildings. The subtle slopes allow every visitor to use the same paths for the same experience.

As part of the Times’ new dedicated series for Milan Design Week, Matt Shaw previewed Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA)’s renovation of the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan ahead of its opening on July 1st.

The preview noted the project's deliberate focus on improved accessibility and the incorporation of local materials, as well as the introduction of new sculptural elements, and an interior inspired by the Pantheon in Rome.

The level of personal involvement for both architects was hand-designed wall tapestries and rugs scattered throughout the new welcome center's visitor and administrative areas. It is the extension of a vision first initiated by the West Michigan Horticultural Society in the early 1980s. As Tsien describes it, the 69,000-square-foot result “is a place both of the spirit and for people to gather."

Renderings reveal a new design for David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center

2021-04-12T19:30:00-04:00

The newly released renderings show an innovative “single-room” concept for the theater with audience seating surrounding the stage, like a black box theater. Yet, despite the surround-seating, the overall capacity will be reduced by 500 (to a total of 2,200 seats). The design team includes Diamond Schmitt Architects and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, acoustic consultant Akustiks, and theater design studio Fisher Dachs Associates.

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien named 2019 Praemium Imperiale architecture laureates

2019-09-17T14:33:00-04:00

Japan's preeminent art and architecture prize, the Praemium Imperiale, today announced the newest round of laureates with the award in the Architecture category going to Tod Williams and Billie Tsien this year.

Established in 1986, the New York-based practice Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects has gained international recognition through their thoughtful and materiality-focused approach towards mostly public and institutional projects, such as the American Folk Art Museum (R.I.P.), the Barnes Foundation, the LeFrak Center at Lakeside, and more recently, their competition-winning design for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.

The American Folk Art Museum in New York City before it was demolished in 2014. Photo: Dan Nguyen/Flickr

"No matter the complexity or size of project," praises the Japan Art Association's laureates description for Williams and Tsien, "their values remain intact and their pursuit of leaving good marks on the earth and transcending expectations is unwaveri...

MoMA's temporary closure provides a moment of self-reflection

2019-02-06T19:28:00-05:00

As the Museum of Modern Art begins the final stage of its $400 million overhaul, it will close for four months to reconfigure its galleries, rehang the entire collection and rethink the way that the story of modern and contemporary art is presented to the public. The Picassos and van Goghs will still be there, but the 40,000 square feet of additional space will allow MoMA to focus new attention on works by women, Latinos, Asians, African-Americans and other overlooked artists...

Over the span of its 89 year history, The Museum of Modern Art has been the subject of both praise and disappointment among cultural elites. In particular, its Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed plan to expand into the adjacent American Folk Art Museum, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, was the subject of sharp criticism when it was announced only a few short years ago.

Rendering of new Museum of Modern Art Facade. Credit: Diller + Scofidio Architects.

But as that project draws closer to its opening day by the end of this year, the museum has decided to use the months of its temporary closure (between June 15th and Oct. 21st) as an opportunity to reconsider how it exhibits its world-famous collection. This not only means a reassessment of the segregation of media, but also that of racial and sexual representation.

“A new generation of curators is discovering the richness of what is in our collection, and there is great work being made around the world that we need to pay atte...

TWBTA's Hood Museum of Art makeover scheduled to open in January 2019

2018-06-27T15:10:00-04:00

Students—as both learners and curators—are leading the way at Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art, which is due to reopen on 26 January 2019 after a closure of nearly three years for an expansion and revamp by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. The $50m project expands the museum’s space by 50% to over 62,000 sq ft, adds six new galleries and renovates the museum’s original 1985 Charles Moore building (which was “not healthy” [...] revealing rust and mould in the renovation process).

Previously on Archinect: "It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum" — TWBTA take on Charles Moore's Hood Museum

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects selected to design the Obama Presidential Center

2016-06-30T13:23:00-04:00

The Obama Foundation has selected Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners (TWBTA) to lead the design team for the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, and Interactive Design Architects (IDEA) to be their partner as they begin this exciting project. TWBTA stood out in their commitment to explore the best ways of creating an innovative center for action that inspires communities and individuals to take on our biggest challenges.

The husband and wife team of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (TWBTA) first started their practice back in 1986, with Paul Schulhof becoming the firm's third partner in 2013. The thirty person team is headquartered in New York.

"We believe that architecture is the coming together of art and use, and can bring a sense of grace to life," the architects state in the announcement. "The greatest buildings are places, which contribute to more than their particular task by elevating and improving the world.

"We are deeply moved by the mission of the Obama Foundation and the role the Center can play in empowering that mission. It is a joy, an honor, and a responsibility to create a place that reflects the optimism and integrity of the President and the First Lady."

TWBTA have designed a number of notable and highly-praised institutional projects in the past, including the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, the Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and the Center for the A...

"It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum" — TWBTA take on Charles Moore's Hood Museum

2016-03-29T13:36:00-04:00

To those concerned about the renovation of the Hood Museum of Art, the situation is charged with paradox: The architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, who protested the Museum of Modern Art’s dismantling of the Folk Art Museum they designed in Manhattan, are now transforming the Hood, an award-winning museum designed by Charles Moore [...]. “It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum [...] It’s totally insensitive to the Moore building.”

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien previously in the Archinect news:

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien presented with National Medal of Arts by President Obama

2014-07-30T21:04:00-04:00

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien were honored with the prestigious National Medal of Arts from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). As the highest award bestowed to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. federal government, the medal specially recognizes individuals or groups for their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the country.

President Barack Obama individually presented the medals to Williams, Tsien, and all the recipients during the recent awards ceremony at the White House in Washington D.C.

Read on for more info:

"Billie Tsien and Tod Williams [were acknowledged] for their contributions to architecture and arts education. Whether public or private, their deliberate and inspired designs have a profound effect on the lives of those who interact with them, and their teaching and spirit of service have inspired young people to pursue their passions"

The list of notable medal recipients also included:

Julia Alvarez, Noveli...

Cummins picks Deborah Berke, SHoP and TWBTA to design its Downtown Indianapolis HQ

2014-07-18T13:14:00-04:00

Cummins Inc. hasn't revealed even a back-of-the-napkin sketch of what its regional headquarters in Downtown Indianapolis might look like, but one thing is certain at this point: It won't be locally designed. The engine maker said today it's picked three small to mid-sized New York City architectural firms to compete for the contract to design the $30 million multi-story building [...]. The competitors are Deborah Berke Partners, SHoP Architects, and Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects.

Here's some additional information about the Indianapolis office design competition we've received directly from Cummins Inc.:

"The design competition engages design and architecture experts to assist in delivering on the Company’s goals to construct a building that enhances the community, creates a productive workplace for Cummins employees and reflects Cummins’ mission and values. [...]

The winning architect will be announced in September and selected based on a number of factors including their ability to align with Cummins values, deliver on the vision of the building, and assemble a diverse team. [...]

Cummins initially announced plans to build its new Indianapolis office in March of 2014. Cummins will build on approximately four acres that previously housed a portion of Market Square Arena and expects to break ground in early 2015 and open in late 2016. The company’s plan for the site includes an office building with ground floor retail, a flexible learning center, public green s...

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to design UC Santa Cruz's new Institute of the Arts and Sciences

2014-06-06T19:59:00-04:00

The University of California, Santa Cruz recently selected notable New York firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects to design the university's new Institute of the Arts and Sciences. Competition was tough indeed, as TWBTA was one of three finalists that included Allied Works Architecture and Patkau with Fong & Chan.

UCSC states the new building will be the first of its kind at a research university, with a cross-disciplinary focus that brings the arts and sciences -- and their relations to other fields -- all under one roof. The Institute is one of UCSC's priority initiatives in a comprehensive fundraising campaign that was announced in fall 2013.

The architectural plan of the 30,000 sq.ft multi-functional facility includes space for student and faculty research, site-specific installations, exhibitions, seminars, residencies by artists and scholars, and other public gathering events. The Institute will also curate traveling art exhibitions and feature projects relevant to UCSC's cu...