Architect Ricardo Scofidio, celebrated for his transformative work on museums, cultural spaces, and public landmarks—including New York City’s iconic High Line—has passed away at the age of 89.
Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the esteemed architecture firm he co-founded with his wife, Elizabeth Diller, announced his passing, acknowledging his profound influence on their projects. “Ricardo’s vision and dedication shaped our practice in immeasurable ways,” the firm stated, adding that its team remains committed to carrying forward his architectural legacy.
While the firm did not disclose the exact cause of death, it confirmed that Scofidio passed away peacefully on Thursday, surrounded by loved ones.
Born in 1935, Scofidio studied architecture at Columbia University before gaining practical experience at a New York firm and later becoming a professor at the Cooper Union School of Architecture. It was there that he met Diller, a former student nearly two decades his junior. Their creative partnership led to the establishment of their architecture studio in 1981. In the early years, their focus was more on conceptual explorations of architecture rather than traditional building design. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, they gained recognition for their work in installations, performance art, and experimental projects that laid the intellectual foundation for their later architectural achievements.
Scofidio and Diller made their first mark on the built environment with Slither Housing in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture in 2000. This distinctive 105-unit residential complex combined bold geometry with subtle curvature, showcasing their innovative design approach. They continued pushing boundaries with the Blur Building at the 2002 Swiss Expo, a striking pavilion that appeared to float above Lake Neuchâtel, wrapped in a mist of water vapor.
Their breakthrough in large-scale cultural architecture came with the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston, which opened in 2007. As the city’s first new museum in over a century, it featured a dramatic cantilevered structure that created an open public space beneath it. This bold design language carried into their renovations of New York’s Juilliard School and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, where they reimagined public accessibility by modifying structures to integrate better with their urban surroundings.
However, it was the transformation of an abandoned railway into the High Line that cemented Scofidio and Diller’s place in architectural history. Opened in phases starting in 2009, the elevated park redefined urban renewal, integrating natural landscapes with industrial heritage. Designed in collaboration with landscape architect James Corner and garden designer Piet Oudolf, the project became a global model for repurposing infrastructure into public green spaces. Scofidio once described their approach as being inspired by nature itself, saying, “The plants taught us to be as opportunistic as they were—growing where conditions allowed, adapting to the environment.”
The High Line not only inspired cities worldwide to embrace elevated parks but also triggered a development boom in its Manhattan neighborhood. Diller Scofidio + Renfro later played a role in shaping that district further with The Shed, a dynamic cultural venue at Hudson Yards, completed in 2019.
Beyond these landmark projects, the firm contributed to major cultural institutions, including The Broad museum in Los Angeles, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, and a major $450 million expansion of New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), increasing its exhibition space by 30%.Though Diller often served as the public face of their firm, Scofidio was widely respected for his problem-solving abilities and technical ingenuity. He described himself as the firm’s “troubleshooter,” working behind the scenes to refine ideas and resolve complex design challenges.
His legacy remains deeply interwoven with that of his wife and creative partner, yet his independent contributions to modern architecture continue to shape the built environment. His visionary approach will endure in the spaces he helped create, inspiring future generations of architects.
