Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects (also known as Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners) are a husband-and-wife architectural firm founded in 1986, based in New York. Williams and Tsien began working together in 1977. Their studio focuses on work for institutions including museums, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Tod Williams. Tod Williams (born 1943, Detroit, Michigan) received his undergraduate, MFA, and Master of Architecture degrees from Princeton University, New Jersey after graduating from the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills. He is the father of model Rachel Williams and filmmaker Tod "Kip" Williams, both  by his first wife, dancer Patricia Agnes Jones, whom he met while studying at Princeton. Williams is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and serves as a trustee of the Cranbrook Educational Community. He has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Academy, American Philosophical Society (2017), and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Billie Tsien. Billie Tsien (born 1949, Ithaca, New York) received her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts from Yale University and her M. Arch. from UCLA. She has worked with Williams since 1977 and they have been in partnership since 1986 . Tsien is currently President of the Architectural League of New York and Director of the Public Art Fund. She has been inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Academy, the American Philosophical Society, and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Tsien was one of the recipients of the Visionary Woman Awards presented by Moore College of Art and Design in 2009. Teaching. Williams and Tsien have taught at the Cooper Union, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of Texas, City College of New York, and Yale University. Recognition. Williams and Tsien are the recipients of more than two  dozen awards from the American Institute of Architects. They received a 2014 International Fellowship from the Royal Institute of British Architects and the 2013 Firm of the Year Award from the American Institute of Architects. In 2013, each was awarded a National Medal of Arts from President Obama. They have received the American Academy of Arts and Letters’ Brunner Award, the New York City AIA Medal of Honor, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award, the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, the Municipal Art Society’s Brendan Gill Prize, and the Chrysler Award for Innovation in Design. Tod Williams Billie Tsien