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PERSONAL SPACES/PUBLIC VISIONS

The architectural firm Diller Scofidio+Renfro and the graphic design studio 2x4 both create very high-concept work which is attracting not just attention, but raucous enthusiasm. For years, DS(+R) worked behind the scenes as an idea lab, and now their work is bursting onto the public scene with high-profile projects like the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, the upcoming High Line and Lincoln Center projects in New York, and the unforgettable "Blur" a pavilion constructed of Swiss mist.

Similarly, 2x4 was launched from an ivory tower (Yale) and is bringing a cool, fresh, and brainy approach to graphics, with thoughtfulness fueling work that transcends aesthetics. At 2x4, Michael Rock has created high-profile projects for Prada, the Brooklyn Museum, and even Nike for the Olympic Games in Beijing. Is the brainpower of both of these studios antithetical to today's aesthetics-driven process? What comes between a laboratory of ideas and work in the public sphere? What constitutes the track from theory to practice (and back again)? And why are these visual and spatial expressions of such personal visions ultimately so magnetic for wide audiences?

Jake Barton, principal of Local Projects, a media design firm for museums and public spaces, will moderate this illustrated discussion.


Elizabeth Diller is a principal and co-founder of the inter-disciplinary studio, Diller Scofidio +Renfro. DS+R’s work encompasses architecture, urban design, temporary and permanent site-specific installations, multi-media theater, electronic media, and print. DS+R is currently working on various projects for Lincoln Center such as the Julliard School, Alice Tully Hall, and the School of American Ballet; The High Line, a park situated on the obsolete railway running through Chelsea; the new Creative Arts Center at Brown University; and the Mott St. Townhouse, a private residence in NoLIta. DS+R’s new building for the Boston Institute for Contemporary Art opened in December 2006. DS+R has been awarded a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, the first in the field of architecture; the National Design Award in Architecture from the Smithsonian; the Brunner Prize in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; the MacDermott Award for Creative Achievement from MIT; an Obie Award for Creative Achievement in Off Broadway Theater for their multi-media theater work, "Jet Lag" and a progressive architecture design award for the "Blur Building" a building made of fog for the swiss expo 2002.

Michael Rock is a founding partner and creative director at 2x4 and Director of the Graphic Architecture Project at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. At 2x4, he leads a wide range of projects for Nike, MTV, Prada, Vitra, Harvard and CCTV. Before starting 2x4 he was co-founder of Information incorporated in Boston. From 1984–91 he was Adjunct Professor of Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design and since 1991 he has been a member of the design faculty at the Yale School of Art where he currently holds the rank of Adjunct Professor. In addition he was a fellow at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie in Maastricht, The Netherlands, and a contributing editor and graphic design journalist at I.D. Magazine in New York. His writing on design has appeared in publications worldwide. He holds an A.B. in Humanities from Union College and a M.F.A from the Rhode Island School of Design. He is the recipient of the 1999/2000 Rome Prize in Design from the American Academy in Rome and with 2x4 the 2006 National Design Award. The work of 2x4 is currently on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.