Thomas Phifer has been called the “master of meticulous modernism,” whose work ranges from the Corning Museum in New York, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, and the San Francisco corporate headquarters for LinkedIn, to Dallas’ Klyde Warren Park Pavilion and Rachofsky House. The New York City-based architect will be in Dallas to speak to the Dallas Architecture Forum.
Phifer is the Dallas Architecture Forum‘s featured lecturer at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23 at the Dallas Museum of Art. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for DMA members, and $5 for students.
That modernism is evident in his use of light “within a deceptively simple yet elegant design,” Forum Executive Director Nate Eudaly says, describing Phifer’s ability to connect people in man-made environments to their natural surroundings. “His widely celebrated and vast experience spans every scale of design and construction from large public institutions to personal residences,” Eudaly says.
The Dallas Architecture Forum is a not-for-profit civic organization founded in 1996 that brings leading architectural thought leaders from around the world to speak in Dallas, and fosters important local dialogue about major issues affecting our urban environment. Phifer joins a prestigious roster of The Forum’s Lecture Series speakers including Shigeru Ban, Brad Cloepfil, Diller + Scofidio, Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, and Daniel Libeskind, to name a few.
The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation selected Phifer in 2009 as the architect for Klyde Warren Park Pavilion and adjacent 6,000-square-foot Savor Restaurant for his innovative use of sustainable design, technology and for creating architecture that is connected to nature and enriched by an awareness of location and landscape.
“We have created harmony between the light, the landscape and the restaurant space so that the Restaurant Pavilion feels like part of the park,” Phifer said at the time. “The concept reinforces the connectivity this park aims to create within the heart of Dallas.”
The celebrated designer’s other Texas projects include the Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University, the restoration of the historic Gilfillan House in Austin, and Waller Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Austin.
Phifer formed his eponymous firm in 1997 in New York City, where he took up the NYC mayor’s challenge to redesign its city street lights.
Forum reception and check-in takes place at 6:15 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at the door before the lecture. No reservations are needed to attend Forum lectures. Dallas Architecture Forum members receive free admission to all regular Forum lectures as a benefit of membership, and AIA members can earn one hour of CE credit for each lecture. For more information on The Dallas Architecture Forum, visit www.dallasarchitectureforum.org or call 214-764-2406.
