Tod Williams | Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects

Tod Williams is a Founding Partner of Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects | Partners. Their practice is known for their humanistic approach to architecture primarily for institutional clients such as museums, schools, and nonprofits. Prioritizing experience above all, their designs choreograph light, texture, solidity, and a deep sensitivity to the places for which they’re built. While the work has grown in scale, the foundational principles of the practice remain intact: “to serve, to make good marks on the earth, to acknowledge the work comes from not just two hands, but many hands, and, fundamentally, architecture is an act of profound optimism.”

With over five decades of experience, Williams will share how his earliest experiences, relationships, and explorations continue to influence the work today—with a special focus on the design for the Obama Presidential Center, currently under construction on the South Side of Chicago.

This lecture is supported by the Wolfe and Janet Jessen Centennial Lectureship in Architecture.