CHARLES RENFRO is a Partner at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, a 75 person interdisciplinary design studio that integrates the performing arts, visual arts, and architecture.

Charles serves as Partner-in-Charge of Stanford University's McMurtry Art & Art History Building, Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, the Dongguan Factory and Housing Complex, and the recently completed Creative Arts Center at Brown University. Previously, Charles served as Design Partner for the High Line, the Museum of Image & Sound in Rio de Janeiro, and the redesign and expansion of the Juilliard School/Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Performance and art collaborations have included the recent "Re-Imaging Suburbia" with Droog and "Be Your Self" with the Australian Dance Theater and performed at the Adelaide Festival. Prior to becoming Partner, Charles served as Project Leader on Brasserie, the Eyebeam Museum, the BAM Cultural District Master Plan (with Rem Koolhaas/OMA), Blur, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.

Charles joined DS+R in 1997 and became Partner in 2004. The studio has since received numerous awards including the National Design Award in Architecture from the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in 2006, the AIA President's Award, the AIA Medal of Honor, and AIA Design Awards for numerous projects. The Guardian named Blur as one of the top 10 buildings of the decade while The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker named Alice Tully Hall and the High Line among the most culturally significant projects of 2009. During the same year, Charles was featured along side Liz Diller and Ricardo Scofidio in a one-hour segment with Charlie Rose. In 2010, Fast Company named Diller Scofidio + Renfro the most innovative design practice in the profession and among the top 50 most innovative companies in the world.

Charles' work with DS+R has been exhibited worldwide at many museums and institutions including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Centre Pompidou. Prior to joining DS+R, his independent art and architectural work had been exhibited in galleries nationwide including the Storefront for Art and Architecture in New York for which he has served as a board member since 2009. His writing has been published in Bomb and A+U Magazine. In 2009, he authored the essay, "Undesigning the New Art School" for Steven Henry Madoff's book Art School (Propositions for the 21st Century). He lectures frequently both in the United States and abroad and has participated in symposia at the University of Virginia, Cornell, and Harvard GSD among others. He has been on the faculty of Columbia since 2000 and was the Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice University in 2006.

Charles was a founding partner of Department of Design in Brooklyn. He is a graduate of Rice University and holds a Master's degree from Columbia University's GSAPP.

DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO

Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by three partners who work collaboratively with a staff of 75 architects, artists and administrators.
Elizabeth Diller, a founding member of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, attended The Cooper Union School of Art and received a Bachelor of Architecture from the Cooper Union School of Architecture. Ms. Diller is a Professor of Architecture at Princeton University.

Ricardo Scofidio, RA, a founding member of Diller Scofidio + Renfro, attended The Cooper Union School of Architecture and received a Bachelor of Architecture from Columbia University. Mr. Scofidio is Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Cooper Union.

Charles Renfro, RA, joined the studio in 1997 and became partner in 2004. He attended Rice University and received a Master of Architecture degree from Columbia University. Mr. Renfro has served as visiting professor at Rice and Columbia University, among others.

Among the various projects of Diller Scofidio + Renfro's international body of work: Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York, including the redesign of Alice Tully Hall, the renovation and expansion of The Juilliard School, the Hypar Pavilion Lawn and Restaurant, and the expansion of the School of American Ballet; the High Line, an urban park situated on an obsolete elevated railway stretching 1.5 miles long through the Chelsea area of New York City; the Institute of Contemporary Art on Boston's waterfront; the Creative Arts Center at Brown University; and Blur, built on Lake Neuchâtel for the 2002 Swiss Expo. Currently in design: the Broad Art Museum in downtown Los Angeles, CA; the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive at the University of California, Berkeley; the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York City; the Museum of Image & Sound on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; the Dongguan Factory and Housing Complex in Shenzhen, China; new art and art history building for Stanford University; and the Hirshhorn Museum 'Bubble' on the National Mall in Washington D.C. Installation and performance projects recently completed include: Open House in collaboration with Droog; How Wine Became Modern for SFMOMA; Be Your Self with the Australian Dance Theatre; Terre Natale, an exhibition accompanying the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP15) in Copenhagen; Chain City for the 2008 Venice Biennale 11th International Architecture Exhibition; and Arbores Laetae for the 2008 Liverpool Biennial.

In 1999-2004, the MacArthur Foundation presented Ms. Diller and Mr. Scofidio with the 'genius' award for their commitment to integrating architecture with issues of contemporary culture. They were recently made fellows of the Royal Institute of British Architects and were inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Other prestigious awards and honors received by Diller Scofidio + Renfro include: the National Design Award from the Smithsonian; the Brunner Prize from the American Academy of the Arts and Letters; an Obie for an off-Broadway theater production; the AIA President's Award; the AIA Medal of Honor; and AIA Design Awards for numerous projects. In 2003, the Whitney Museum of American Art held a retrospective of the studio's work, recognizing the firm's unorthodox practice. In 2009, the partners were featured in a one-hour segment with Charlie Rose. Most recently, Fast Company named Diller Scofidio + Renfro the most innovative design practice in the profession and among the 50 most innovative companies in the world.