Ricardo Merrill Scofidio (April 16, 1935 – March 6, 2025) was an American architect. With his wife

Elizabeth Diller Elizabeth Diller, also known as Liz Diller, is an American architect and partner in Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which she co-founded in 1981. She is also an architecture professor at Princeton University. Life Elizabeth Diller was born in 1958 in ...

, he founded interdisciplinary design studio

Diller Scofidio + Renfro Diller has several uses including: People with the surname *Barry Diller (born 1942), American businessman *Burgoyne Diller (1906–1965), American abstract painter * Dwight Diller (1946–2023), American musician * Karl Diller (born 1941), Germ ...

Early life and education

Scofidio was born in New York City on April 16, 1935, to Earle and June (Matthews) Scofidio. His father, a jazz musician who played alto saxophone and clarinet, was Black. His mother, though light-skinned, was of mixed Black heritage. He had a brother, Basilio. He attended the

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

School of Architecture and then

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where he received a bachelor’s degree in 1960. He began teaching at the Cooper Union in 1965.

Career

In 1979, Scofidio and Diller opened their architecture firm. In 1999, they completed a 100 unit block of apartments in

Gifu, Japan is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...

. Among Scofidio's most well-known projects was the

High Line The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Op ...

, a collaboration with architects

James Corner James Corner (born 1961) is a landscape architect and theorist whose works exhibit a focus on "developing innovative approaches toward landscape architectural design and urbanism." His designs of note include Fresh Kills Park on Staten Island and t ...

and Piet Oudolf. It has become one of New York's signature destinations since its opening in 2009. A 2019 renovation of the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

building, and a $1 billion restoration of

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. The firm designed a new business school building for Columbia University's Manhattanville campus, and the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center for Columbia's medical school, as well as

The Broad The Broad () is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue (Los Angeles), Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropists Eli Broad, Eli and Edythe Broad, who financed the $140 million building that houses the Broad ...

museum in Los Angeles. Highline 02

Personal life and death

In 1955, Scofidio married Allana Jeanne Deserio, with whom he had four children. They divorced in 1979. He married Elizabeth Diller in 1989. Scofidio lived in Manhattan. He died on March 6, 2025, at the age of 89. In addition to his sons Ian, Gino, Marco and Dana, he was survived by six grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Awards and honors

In 2019, Scofidio and Diller won the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

architecture prize. In 1999, along with his wife Elizabeth Diller, he became one of the first architects to win a

MacArthur Genius grant The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and colloquially called the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to typically between 20 and ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Scofidio, Ricardo 1935 births 2025 deaths 20th-century American architects African-American architects Architects from New York City Columbia University alumni Cooper Union faculty