Selldorf Architects is a 70-person architectural design practice founded by Annabelle Selldorf in New York City in 1988. The firm creates public and private spaces that manifest a clear and modern sensibility to enduring impact. Since its inception the firm’s design ethos has been deeply rooted in the principles of humanism. At every scale and for every condition, Selldorf Architects designs for the individual experience. As a result, its work is brought to life–and made complete–by those who use it.
The firm offers services in architectural design, interior design, exhibition design, master planning, landscape concepts and strategic planning.
Clients include museums, cultural institutions and universities for projects such as the expansion and enhancement of The Frick Collection, the renovation of the Sainsbury Wing and surrounding public realm improvements at the National Gallery in London, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden modernization, a 50,000 sf expansion of the Art Gallery of Ontario, and a new Education Center and Historic Greenhouse Renovation at Harvard University’s Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, DC. Other completed projects include the expansion and revitalization of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Luma Arles a new contemporary art center in the south of France, the Clark Art Institute and Neue Galerie New York. In addition, the firm has created numerous galleries for David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, and Gladstone Gallery amongst others, and designed exhibitions for The Jewish Museum, the Corning Museum of Glass, Frieze Masters, Gagosian, and the Venice Art Biennale. Residential architecture, both at the scale of private homes and multi-family dwellings, has been a foundational part of the firm and continues to be an important part of the office’s portfolio.
Alongside cultural clients the firm works on major public and civic projects including Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility on the Brooklyn waterfront, the largest of its kind in the United States, and two wastewater management buildings for the New York City Department of Environmental Protection on the Gowanus Canal.
Contributing to a society where people of diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and economic backgrounds and abilities have equitable access to education, health care, justice and a sustainable environment is foremost in our minds. We believe architecture plays an important role in creating inclusive spaces and buildings where these values are manifest and integral to our daily lives.
Recognizing the magnitude of systemic racism and inequity, we have formed an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Committee at Selldorf Architects, committing ourselves to being an actively anti-racist workplace. The committee’s work focuses on education and training for the office, reviewing the consultants, vendors, and material and product specifications we select, expanding mentoring both within and outside the office, and broadening outreach to students at all levels of schooling for internships and job opportunities to encourage awareness and participation in the profession.
