Diller Scofidio + Renfro is the New York-based interdisciplinary architectural practice founded in 1981 by Elizabeth Diller (b. 1954, Łódź, Poland) and Ricardo Scofidio (1935–2025), with Charles Renfro joining as partner in 2004. The firm's contemporary New York portfolio — The High Line elevated park (2009–2014, with James Corner Field Operations and Piet Oudolf), the Lincoln Center campus renovations (2010 and continuing), the MoMA expansion (2019), The Shed at Hudson Yards (2019), the David Geffen Hall renovation (2022), and 15 Hudson Yards (2019) — has substantially reshaped the contemporary New York architectural and cultural landscape. Diller and Scofidio jointly received the first MacArthur Fellowship ever awarded in architecture (1999).
The New York-based interdisciplinary architectural practice whose substantive contemporary New York portfolio — including The High Line elevated park (with James Corner Field Operations and Piet Oudolf, 2009–2014), the Lincoln Center campus renovations (2010 and continuing), the David Geffen Hall renovation (2022), the Museum of Modern Art expansion (2019), The Shed cultural venue at Hudson Yards (2019), and 15 Hudson Yards (2019) — has substantially reshaped the contemporary New York architectural and cultural landscape.
At a glance
| Founded | 1981 |
| Founding partners | Elizabeth Diller (b. 1954, Łódź, Poland); Ricardo Scofidio (1935–2025) |
| Subsequent partners | Charles Renfro (partner since 2004); Benjamin Gilmartin (partner since 2015) |
| Headquarters | New York City |
| Staff | Approximately 130 |
| MacArthur Fellowships | Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio (jointly, 1999 — the first MacArthur Fellowship awarded in architecture) |
| Time 100 Most Influential People | 2018 (Elizabeth Diller) |
| Major NYC residential work | 15 Hudson Yards (2019) |
| Major NYC public infrastructure | The High Line (2009–2014, with James Corner Field Operations and Piet Oudolf); The Shed (Hudson Yards, 2019); Lincoln Center campus renovations (2010 and continuing); David Geffen Hall renovation (2022); MoMA expansion (2019); Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University (2016) |
Why Diller Scofidio + Renfro matters
Diller Scofidio + Renfro is the contemporary New York-based interdisciplinary architectural practice whose substantive New York portfolio across the past two decades has, by any meaningful measure of cultural-infrastructure consequence, substantially reshaped the contemporary New York architectural and cultural landscape more than that of any other firm. Founded in 1981 in New York by the partnership of Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio — at the time a young architectural couple operating an unconventional practice that crossed substantially the boundaries between architecture, performance art, museum installation, and urban-design speculation — the firm has developed across approximately forty-five years into a substantial international architectural practice whose work continues to operate at the substantive intersection of architectural practice and the broader contemporary cultural-and-civic infrastructure.
The firm's substantial New York portfolio is, in cumulative consequence, remarkable. The firm designed The High Line — the substantial elevated park constructed on the former West Side Line freight rail viaduct, completed in three principal phases between 2009 and 2014 — in collaboration with James Corner Field Operations (landscape architects) and Piet Oudolf (planting designer). The substantial Lincoln Center campus renovations (substantial work across the principal Lincoln Center buildings beginning in 2010 and continuing across subsequent years) substantively rethought the campus's public-realm and circulation infrastructure. The substantial David Geffen Hall renovation (the New York Philharmonic's principal concert hall, substantially renovated by the firm and completed in 2022) restructured one of the city's principal cultural venues. The substantial Museum of Modern Art expansion (completed 2019) substantively reshaped the principal modern art museum's program infrastructure. The substantial Shed cultural venue at Hudson Yards (2019) anchored Hudson Yards' principal contemporary performing-arts infrastructure. The substantial Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at Columbia University (2016) anchored Columbia's medical-school education program. The substantial 15 Hudson Yards residential tower (2019) anchored Hudson Yards' principal residential infrastructure.
The cumulative effect — substantial cultural-and-civic infrastructure work concentrated substantially within New York City across the substantial portion of the firm's mature period — has anchored Diller Scofidio + Renfro as among the most-consequential contemporary firms operating in New York City and one of the small handful of architectural practices whose work has shaped substantial portions of the contemporary cultural landscape.
For Manhattan residential buyers evaluating the firm's New York residential commission — 15 Hudson Yards — the architectural attribution carries substantial weight. The firm's substantive contemporary New York portfolio across the broader cultural and civic categories produces a substantive architectural-and-civic context that distinguishes the building's design from the broader contemporary residential inventory.
Founding and architectural philosophy
Elizabeth Diller was born in Łódź, Poland, on February 14, 1954, and emigrated with her family to New York City as a child. She studied architecture at The Cooper Union in New York, completing her training in 1979. Ricardo Scofidio was born in New York City on May 5, 1935, of Italian-American parentage, and studied architecture at The Cooper Union (1952–1955) and Columbia University (1960). The two met at The Cooper Union — where Scofidio was a member of the architecture faculty — and married in 1977.
Diller and Scofidio founded what would become Diller Scofidio in 1981 in New York, initially operating as an unconventional architectural practice whose work substantively crossed the boundaries between architecture, performance art, museum installation, and urban-design speculation rather than concentrating in the conventional commercial-architectural commission market. The firm's early work — projects like the Slow House (an unbuilt 1991 residential project on Long Island), the Bad Press exhibition installation (1993), and various performance-and-installation projects across the 1980s and 1990s — anchored the firm within the contemporary architectural-discourse environment without producing substantial built work.
The firm's transition to substantial built architectural practice began with the Blur Building at the 2002 Swiss Expo — a substantial cloud-form pavilion produced through substantial water-mist infrastructure that effectively produced an architectural building constituted of water vapor. The substantial subsequent transition through the 2000s — anchored by the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2006), the Juilliard School expansion (2009), and the firm's substantial early Lincoln Center campus work — established the firm's substantial built-architectural practice.
Charles Renfro joined the firm as partner in 2004, with the firm renamed Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Benjamin Gilmartin joined as partner in 2015. The firm continues to operate under the four-partner leadership structure.
Ricardo Scofidio died in March 2025 at the age of 89, after a substantial career as one of the founding voices of the firm's architectural practice and as a substantial figure in the broader contemporary architectural-and-cultural discourse. The firm has continued operation under the continuing leadership of Diller, Renfro, and Gilmartin.
The firm's architectural philosophy, articulated by the partners across the firm's continuing practice, emphasizes several recurring themes that distinguish the firm's work from much contemporary architectural production. The first is a substantive engagement with the broader contemporary cultural infrastructure rather than the conventional commercial-architectural commission market — the firm's substantial portfolio concentrates substantially in cultural, civic, public-realm, and museum commissions rather than in commercial or residential project typologies. The second is a substantive engagement with the building's social and cultural function — the firm's projects routinely emphasize the substantive program calibration to the building's specific cultural and social context, with the architectural design strategies calibrated to support the program's substantive cultural goals. The third is a substantive engagement with the design of the building's public-realm and circulation infrastructure — the firm's work on Lincoln Center, The High Line, The Shed, and the broader public-realm portfolio has consistently emphasized the substantive design of the building's public-access infrastructure as a substantive component of the architectural project.
Major works: international portfolio
The firm's international practice across approximately forty-five years includes a substantial portfolio of cultural, civic, museum, and (selectively) residential commissions. The works listed below represent the firm's most-recognized commissions; the full body of work substantially exceeds this list.
New York cultural and civic infrastructure
The High Line (with James Corner Field Operations and Piet Oudolf, New York, 2009–2014). The firm's substantial design for the elevated park constructed on the former West Side Line freight rail viaduct — running from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District north to West 34th Street at Hudson Yards. Completed in three principal phases (Section 1: 2009; Section 2: 2011; Section 3: 2014), with subsequent extensions through the Hudson Yards platform. The substantial public-realm infrastructure has anchored substantially the contemporary transformation of West Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and the broader West Side residential and commercial landscape.
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts campus renovations (2010 and continuing). The firm's substantial multi-phase work on the Lincoln Center campus — including the substantial Alice Tully Hall renovation, the Hypar Pavilion restaurant, the substantial public-realm work across the campus, the substantial Juilliard School expansion, and the substantial subsequent David Geffen Hall renovation. The cumulative work has substantively rethought the Lincoln Center campus's public-realm and circulation infrastructure across approximately fifteen years of continuing engagement with the institution.
David Geffen Hall (Lincoln Center renovation, 2022). The substantial renovation of the New York Philharmonic's principal concert hall — substantial reconstruction of the substantial interior acoustic-and-program infrastructure and the substantial public-realm reconfiguration of the hall's lobby and substantial public-access infrastructure.
The Museum of Modern Art expansion (New York, 2019). The firm's substantial expansion of the principal modern art museum's program infrastructure — substantial additional gallery and program space integrated with the museum's existing building infrastructure.
The Shed (Hudson Yards, New York, 2019). The substantial cultural venue at the southwestern corner of the Hudson Yards platform — anchored by the substantial movable shell that allows the venue's principal performance space to expand and contract through substantial mechanical infrastructure. The Shed anchors Hudson Yards' principal contemporary performing-arts infrastructure.
Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center (Columbia University Medical Campus, New York, 2016). The firm's substantial design for Columbia's medical-school education infrastructure — a substantial fourteen-story building with substantial public-realm infrastructure on the building's exterior facade.
International cultural and museum
Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (Boston, 2006). The firm's substantial early American museum commission — the principal contemporary art museum on the Boston waterfront, anchored by substantial cantilevered architectural infrastructure projecting toward Boston Harbor.
The Broad (Los Angeles, 2015). The firm's substantial Los Angeles museum commission — Eli Broad's substantial contemporary art collection's principal exhibition space, on Grand Avenue in central Los Angeles.
Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (Berkeley, California, 2016). The firm's substantial museum project at the University of California, Berkeley.
V&A Dundee (Scotland, 2018). The firm's substantial design for the Victoria and Albert Museum's principal Scottish branch — a substantial building on the Dundee waterfront.
Brown University Granoff Center for the Creative Arts (Providence, Rhode Island, 2011). The firm's substantial Brown University creative-arts commission.
Stanford McMurtry Building for Art and Art History (Stanford, California, 2015). The firm's substantial Stanford University art-and-art-history-department commission.
Blur Building (Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 2002 Swiss Expo). The firm's substantial pavilion commission for the 2002 Swiss Expo — a substantial cloud-form pavilion constituted through substantial water-mist infrastructure.
Residential
15 Hudson Yards (New York, 2019). The firm's principal residential commission — the substantial 88-story residential tower at the southwestern edge of the Hudson Yards platform, adjacent to The Shed cultural venue and the broader Hudson Yards public infrastructure. Covered in detail in the dedicated building guide.
The firm's New York portfolio
Diller Scofidio + Renfro's New York City portfolio is substantively concentrated in the substantive cultural, civic, and public-realm infrastructure commissions covered above. The substantial High Line, Lincoln Center, David Geffen Hall, MoMA, The Shed, Vagelos Education Center, and the broader New York portfolio together constitute one of the most substantive contemporary New York architectural-practice portfolios.
15 Hudson Yards (2019) is the firm's principal New York residential commission, completed concurrent with The Shed at Hudson Yards.
The firm's New York office, as the firm's headquarters, anchors substantially all of the firm's design direction and project development.
Considering a Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed building?
The Roebling Team at Compass works the Manhattan trophy-tier new-development inventory as a structural element of our luxury practice. We publish this architect profile because Manhattan residential buyers and sellers deserve substantive intelligence about the firms whose work has shaped the contemporary inventory.
If you're considering a purchase or sale at 15 Hudson Yards or any of the broader contemporary new-development inventory anchored in significant contemporary architectural practice, a 30-minute consultation is the right starting point.
Corey Cohen, Principal The Roebling Team at Compass
646.939.7375 · c.cohen@compass.com
Run the numbers
Related buildings
- 15 Hudson Yards — the firm's principal Manhattan residential commission
Related guides
- New Development in Manhattan: The 2016–2026 Research Guide — the broader context for the period's inventory
- Co-op vs Condo in Manhattan — the ownership-structure framing for new-development purchases
- Foreign-Buyer Guide — relevant for the international buyer demographic
This page reflects publicly available information on Diller Scofidio + Renfro's practice, the architectural press coverage of the firm's major commissions across its history, the firm's published portfolio, and The Roebling Team transaction experience with the firm's NYC residential inventory. The Roebling Team at Compass does not represent Diller Scofidio + Renfro or the firm's institutional or residential commissioning clients. Specific project attributions, completion years, and current operational details should be confirmed independently. © 2026 The Roebling Team at Compass.
Buildings designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro
No profiles yet. Check back as the catalog grows.