Thomas Phifer

Thomas Phifer in his New York City offices.

Thomas Phifer (born 1953, South Carolina) is an American architect based in New York City.^[1] He is perhaps best known for the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas, and the design or the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland.^[2][3] Phifer was also the winner of New York City‘s City Lights Design Competition, which began replacing the city’s high-pressure sodium streetlights with new standard LED streetlights starting in 2011.^[4]

Biography

Phifer was born in Columbia, South Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1975 as well as a Master of Architecture in 1977, both from Clemson University.^[5] Phifer also studied at the Daniel Center for Architecture and Urban Studies in Genoa, Italy in 1976.^[3]

Thomas Phifer served as a design instructor, lecturer and critic at numerous architecture schools. Most recently he held the Stevenson Chair at the University of Texas and has taught at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.^[2]

Phifer launched his firm Thomas Phifer and Partners in 1997.^[6]

Honors and Awards

Phifer received the prestigious Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome in 1995, and was honored with a residency the following year at the Academy’s campus.^[2] In 2004 Mr. Phifer was awarded the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.^[5] Phifer’s Salt Point House won an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Atheneum in 2008.^[5] In 2009, Phifer received a Research and Development Award from Architect magazine for his international competition-winning design for New York City’s City Lights light fixture.^[4]

The Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion and the North Carolina Museum of Art, both designed by Phifer’s firm, received National Honor Awards from the AIA in 2010 and 2011, respectively.^[7][8]

In 2011, Phifer received a Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects.^[9] Phifer was also elected as an Academician for the National Academy of Design in 2012.^[10]

To date, Phifer’s buildings have won seven AIA National Honor Awards and fourteen AIA New York Honor Awards.^[11] Most recently, Phifer has been awarded the Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.^[12]

Works

• North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina^[2]
• Raymond and the Susan Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas^[5]
• Salt Point House, Hudson River Valley, New York^[13]
• Millbrook House in the Hudson River Valley, New York ^[5]
• Taghkanic House in the Hudson River Valley, New York^[2]
• Castle Clinton National Monument in Manhattan, New York^[14]
• Boulder House in Boulder, Colorado ^[15]
• Clemson University Lee Hall Expansion in Clemson, South Carolina
• Fishers Island House in Long Island, New York ^[16]
• Sagaponac House, New York
• Seoul Language School in Seoul, South Korea
• Steelcase, Inc. Headquarters in Grand Rapids, Michigan
• US Federal Courthouse in Salt Lake City, Utah^[2]
• Spencertown House in Spencertown, New York^[17]
• Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland^[18]
• Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York^[5]
• LED Light Fixture, New York City‘s City Lights Design Competition^[4]

References