Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects facts for kids

Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is a design company run by a husband and wife team, Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. They started their company in 1986 in New York. Before that, Williams and Tsien had already been working together since 1977. Their company mainly designs buildings for important places like museums, schools, and groups that help people.

About Tod Williams

Tod Williams was born in 1943 in Detroit, Michigan. He studied at the Cranbrook School and then went to Princeton University in New Jersey. There, he earned several degrees, including one in architecture. Williams is a respected member of the American Academy in Rome and helps guide the Cranbrook Educational Community. He has also been recognized by important groups like the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Philosophical Society.

About Billie Tsien

Billie Tsien was born in 1949 in Ithaca, New York. She studied Fine Arts at Yale University and later earned her architecture degree from UCLA. Tsien began working with Tod Williams in 1977, and they became business partners in 1986. She is currently the President of the Architectural League of New York and a director for the Public Art Fund. Like Williams, she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Philosophical Society. In 2009, she received a special award called the Visionary Woman Award.

Teaching and Sharing Knowledge

Both Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have shared their knowledge by teaching at many well-known universities. These include the Cooper Union, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of Texas, City College of New York, and Yale University.

Awards and Recognition

Williams and Tsien have received many awards for their amazing designs. They have won more than 25 awards from the American Institute of Architects. In 2013, they were given the Firm of the Year Award by the American Institute of Architects. That same year, President Obama personally gave each of them a National Medal of Arts, which is a very high honor for artists in the United States. They have also won other important awards like the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award and the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture.

Some of Their Designs

Here are some of the buildings and projects Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects have designed:

• David Geffen Hall, New York, NY (2024)
• Obama Presidential Center, Chicago, IL (2021)
• Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (2015)
• Tata Consultancy Services, Banyan Park, Mumbai, India (2014)
• LeFrak Center at Lakeside, Prospect Park, NY (2013)
• Savidge Library Addition, The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH (2013)
• Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Admiralty, Hong Kong (2012)
• Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, PA (2012)
• Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago (2012)
• Kim & Tritton Residence Halls, Haverford College, Haverford, PA (2012)
• Center for the Advancement of Public Action, Bennington College, Bennington, VT (2011)
• David Rubinstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, New York, NY (2009)
• C.V. Starr East Asian Library, University of California, Berkeley, CA (2008)
• Skirkanich Hall for bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (2006)
• Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ (2006, 1996)
• The Robin Hood Foundation Library Initiative, various locations, New York, NY (2004-5)
• First Congregational United Church of Christ, Washington, DC (2001)
• American Folk Art Museum, 45 and 47 West 53rd Street, New York, NY (2001)
• Mattin Center (a student arts and activities center), Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (2001)
• Cranbrook Natatorium, Cranbrook Schools, Bloomfield Hills, MI (1999)
• Helen S. Cheels Aquatic Center, Emma Willard School, Troy, NY (1998)
• Hunter Science Center, Emma Willard School, Troy, NY (1996)
• The Neurosciences Institute on the campus of The Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, CA (1995)
• Hereford College, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA (1992)
• Whitney Museum of American Art Downtown Branch, New York, NY (1988)
• Feinberg Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (1986)