Podcast appearances and mentions of billie tsien

In this episode of Exquisite Corpse, architects Wendy Evans Joseph and Billie Tsien discuss the art-centered roots of their friendship and the experiential nature of architecture. They discuss what it means to alter or create an experience and how they practice patience with projects in the public realm. They touch on their various projects that alter how the public engages with an environment, such as Wendy's back-of-house glass box for the Music Hall at Snug Harbor Cultural Center or Billie's project for David Geffen Hall, at the Lincoln Center where her firm restructured the lobby to be more inviting and multifunctional. Both invested in community engagement, they share a mutual admiration for producing projects that deepen public connection.

Artist Darcy Miro's metal work has straddled the line between sculpture, jewelry, glass, fashion, and functional objects. Her pieces have earned a place in museum collections like the Museum of Art and Design and captivated collaborators like architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, who worked with Darcy on the façade of the American Folk Art Museum. She meets with ODDA to discuss her practice and what's next for her.

These architects, partners in life and work, are interested in how other couples manage that duality, particularly Michelle and Barack Obama, with whom they worked to design his Presidential Center. Good times at the Center for Architecture. Music: Stephanie Jenkins.

Tod Williams & Billie Tsien join the podcast to discuss the Barack Obama Presidential Library commission, the David Geffen Hall renovation at Lincoln Center, and reflect on their careers and what it means to be a mentor to other architects.

Growing up in the 1950s in the only Chinese family in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, Billie Tsien always felt like an outsider. She would seclude herself in the shower of her family’s home’s master bathroom, behind closed doors, escaping into books for hours before her parents, who had originally moved to America from Shanghai to study at Cornell, would find her. Through this Tsien developed a deep understanding of the value of a rich interior life—a concept she has gone on to apply to her work at the New York–based architectural practice Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Partners (TWBTA), which she co-founded with her husband, Tod Williams, in 1986. The ethereal craft inherent in TWBTA’s structures, which include parks, libraries, museums, and other people-focused places, emanates from Billie and Tod’s belief that architecture is an act of service, and an opportunity to create quiet moments where visitors can indulge in the simple yet powerful emotions that can be stirred when encountering beauty. When Tsien, now 72, reflects on her firm’s philosophy—which entails making buildings that transcend solutions, that respect the earth, and that are measured by the lives lived within them—it’s clear that she profoundly, even poetically, shapes each project’s awe-inspiring energy. Tsien’s deliberate, unhurried methodology is apparent in everything she does. She advocates for listening and community engagement—a central part of her firm’s high-profile, often controversial public works, such as Philadelphia’s Barnes Foundation (2012), Dartmouth College’s Hood Museum of Art (2019), and Chicago’s Obama Presidential Center, which is slated to break ground this fall. Tsien and her staff spend time with the craftspeople who create many of their materials—including Dutch textile artist Claudy Jongstra, whose vibrant felt paintings grace the walls of New York’s David Rubenstein Atrium (2009), and Danish brick-makers whose product features on the facade of dormitories at Pennsylvania’s Haverford College (2012)—and select them according to the emotional responses they elicit. She gives the same focused attention to the holistic experience of a building as she does the handrails that will go inside it. When it comes to the planet, Tsien thinks buildings should embrace measurable ways to minimize their environmental footprints as well as immeasurable ones, such as the meandering pathways of the LeFrak Center (2013), in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, that invite people to appreciate the natural wonders around them.On this episode, Tsien details the origins of and rationale behind her approach to the built environment, talking with Spencer about designing structures as containers for life, why history doesn’t unfold in a straight line, and architecture as both an honor and a responsibility.

Billie Tsien and Tod Williams of TWBTA in conversation with Abby Reed and Grace Zajdel regarding Slowness in Architecture, Art, and Life. TWBTA (www.twbta.com) is a NYC-based architecture firm that sees architecture as an act of profound optimism. Through its work, the office considers what it means to leave a thoughtful legacy on material culture, community, and space.

New York City architects Abby Suckle and William Singer are the authors of Cocktails and Conversations: Dialogues in Architectural Design.  AIA New York’s Center for Architecture has a great Friday night format:  invite people to to hear a famous architect paired with a master bartender who creates a custom cocktail to share with a thirsty audience.  Architects have included David Adjaye, Jeanne Gang, Peter Gluck, Frank Harmon, Tom Kundig, Daniel Libeskind, Eric Owen Moss, Billie Tsien, and Tod Williams, among many others. Host George Smart spoke with Abby and William at the Long Island Bar, 110 Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn. Joining them were David Moo and Toby Cecchini (inventor of the Cosmopolitan!), master bartenders behind all the cocktail creations.   About a month later, George and co-host Tom Guild met Australian Phillip Jones, the Martini Whisperer, poolside at the swanky Hotel Skylark in Palm Springs. For over a dozen years Jones worked as a fine dining manager and ran restaurants and events companies around the world.  Then he created a website for lovers of Martinis, craft spirits and cocktail culture with an Australian point of view.  In 2015 he gave the first ever TED talk on the Martini. And as he was leaving the Eau du Vie bar in Melbourne one fateful night, a lovely gang of actresses approached ....

Billie Tsien is the co-founder of Tod Williams Billie Tsien architects, which works on buildings for museums, universities, and the Obama Presidential Center.

Photo by ©Taylor Jewell Billie Tsien was born in Ithaca, NY and received her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Yale University and her Master of Architecture degree from UCLA. In 1986 she and Tod Williams founded their New York based architecture firm Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners. Located in New York City, their studio focuses on work for institutions including schools, museums, and not-for-profits. A sense of rootedness, light, texture, detail, and most of all, experience, are at the heart of what they design. Some of their notable projects include The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and the Asia Society Center in Hong Kong. They are currently designing The Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Over the past three decades, they have received numerous national and international citations, including the 2013 Firm Award from the American Institute of Architects and the National Medal of the Arts from President Obama. Billie is deeply involved in the cultural community and maintains long-standing associations with many organizations devoted to the arts. She is currently President of the Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, and has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Academy of Design, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Philosophical Society. In parallel with her practice Billie also maintains an active academic career and lectures worldwide. As both an educator and practitioner, she is deeply committed to making a better world through architecture. Tod Williams Billie Tsien, Lefrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, photo ©Michael Moran Tod Williams Billie Tsien, Lefrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, photo ©Michael Moran Tod Williams Billie Tsien, Lefrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, photo ©Michael Moran  

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien are the architects responsible for designing what was formerly the Neurosciences Institute (NSI); the buildings now make up the Hazen Campus and serve as the focal point of The Scripps Research Institute. Listen as we talk about the history of the build, common motifs for all science buildings and the importance of afternoon tea. Show notes: Tod Williams and Billie Tsien bios http://www.twbta.com/studio/people/tod-williams-billie-tsien Project Images of the building complex http://www.twbta.com/6675 2017 LongHouse Award https://www.archdaily.com/805628/tod-williams-plus-billie-tsien-win-2017-longhouse-award-discuss-design-ideas-for-obama-presidential-library 2013 National Medal of Arts Award https://www.arts.gov/honors/medals/billie-tsien-and-tod-williams In memoriam: Gerald Edelman https://www.scripps.edu/newsandviews/e_20140602/edelman.html

We're taking a break from One-to-One this week to set off fireworks and contemplate the potential future of a Trump Presidential Center. In the meantime, we present some of our favorite episodes related to this big ol' hot mess of a nation. We've got it all:   "Traditional" architecture, not necessarily just like Jefferson would have wanted: Building Our Best Nature: Archinect Sessions One-to-One #8 with Scott Merrill, winner of this year's Driehaus Prize The too-common tragedy of mass shootings: Queer Space, After Pulse: Archinect Sessions #69 ft. special guests James Rojas and S. Surface Seeing through anti-LGBTQ legislation: Due Protest: pushing back against HB-2 and fighting for interns on Archinect Sessions #64, ft. special guest Gregory Walker Gun-control in the classroom: Guns in the Studio: Texas' new campus carry law prompted Architecture Dean Fritz Steiner to resign. He joins us to discuss the law's effect on architecture education, on Archinect Sessions #55 Public health crises from compromised infrastructure: Dispatch from Flint: How architects can help, on Archinect Sessions #54 Good ol' American architecture institutions: Inside the Institute: Archinect Sessions goes to the AIA National Convention on Episode #30 Interview with the architects who would become the designers for Obama's Presidential Center: "Starts with me, ends with us": A conversation with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien on Archinect Sessions Episode #22 and, of course, hot dogs: Hot Dogs Around the World: James Biber, architect of US Pavilion "American Food 2.0" at EXPO Milan, joins us for Episode #31 of Archinect Sessions I (Amelia) also personally recommend you check out these prior One-to-One's: The "Impossible" Car – Faraday Future's lead designer, Richard Kim, on One-to-One #17 The Ascendancy of Theory: writer and theorist Sylvia Lavin on Archinect Sessions One-to-One #13 The Art of Architecture Criticism: Archinect Sessions One-to-One #7 with Michael Kimmelman, architecture critic for the New York Times Our brand new interview podcast "Archinect Sessions One-to-One" premieres today! Listen to episode #1 with Neil Denari  

Thom Mayne and Eui-Sung Yi join us to discuss their recently published book, Haiti Now – a herculean resource on post-disaster urbanism in Haiti, published by their urban think tank, the NOW Institute. The rest of this episode takes a look back at the first forty episodes of Archinect Sessions, as we wrap up season one. Each new episode has expanded, and sharpened, our idea of what the podcast can and should be. We've spoken with some pretty heavy hitters, including Denise Scott Brown, Kevin Roche, Patrik Schumacher, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, Bjarke Ingels, Thomas Heatherwick, Christopher Hawthorne and Michael Rotondi, as well as some up and comers, like Andrés Jaque (winner of MoMA's 2015 YAP), Jimenez Lai, and Nicolas Moreau and Hiroko Kusunoki (winners of the Guggenheim Helsinki competition). It's been a blast, but moving forward, we want to tighten up, dig deeper and move the proverbial furniture around. We'll start up season two in the coming weeks, but while we're on hiatus, we'd love to get your feedback – tell us what you think of the podcast by taking this short survey, or rating us on iTunes. Your thoughts will help us shape Sessions' next season.

We are delighted to devote the entirety of this episode to an interview with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. Our discussion spanned their nearly 30 years (and counting) working together, focusing not on individual projects but their architectural philosophy, their material explorations, and their work with landscape. The rising cream throughout was the way Williams and Tsien talk with one another, each pulling on their side of the rowboat to craft a truly collaborative response.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, designed by New York-based architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, is a space for UChicago students to realize their creativity and a destination for visiting artists and the public to engage with exhibitions, performances, concerts, and programs. The fluidity of the center stimulates artists from within the community and abroad to think differently, push their creative boundaries, and invigorate their audience.

If you experience any technical difficulties with this video or would like to make an accessibility-related request, please send a message to digicomm@uchicago.edu. Steve Wiesenthal, Associate Vice President and University Architect at the University of Chicago, moderated a panel discussion featuring architects and designers Tod Williams and Billie Tsien, Ann Beha, and Jamie Carpenter. All of the panelists have designed new projects or renovated existing buildings on the University of Chicago campus. With this experience, each panelist provided different insights into recent initiatives to revitalize the campus while also preserving its underlying unity. The Architecture and Design Society sponsored the event, which was held at the Art Institute of Chicago on May 24, 2012.