Annabelle Selldorf

Other notable projects include an expansion of the Frick Collection, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Hauser & Wirth's new gallery on 22nd street in Chelsea, a new greenhouse and renovation of the historic greenhouse at Dumbarton Oaks, and an Interpretation Center at the Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City in Beijing, China.

Selldorf also found inspiration in Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe's designs, citing his 1930 Tugendhat House in Brno, Czech Republic as typifying a balance of daily living and design.

Annabelle Selldorf (born 1960) is a German-born architect and founding principal of Selldorf Architects, a New York City-based architecture practice.

Selldorf was born on July 5, 1960, in Cologne, Germany.

While growing up, she was inspired heavily by both her father, Herbert Selldorf, and his subtle architectural approach as well as modernist tradition.

At the age of 12, Selldorf's father purchased a house in Cologne, Germany, making tiny adjustments to the lighting, furniture, and wall color that formed the foundation for her own architectural approach.

Selldorf moved to New York City in 1980.

She received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Pratt Institute in New York and worked briefly for architect Richard Gluckman, then earned a Master of Architecture degree from Syracuse University in Florence, Italy.

Selldorf explains in an article for Architectural Digest that she did not want to be an architect growing up.

Her father was an architect, and he eventually recommended she work for a contractor.

This experience sparked her interest to pursue the profession.

As she moved into more traditional workspaces, many of her projects involved balancing both interior design and architectural endeavors for private and residential clients.

Selldorf founded her first independent practice in 1988, which today employs upwards of 65 employees.

Her company is present in four continents.

Selldorf is a sought after architect in the art world, designing a plethora of gallery spaces, museums, and homes for both artists and collectors.

She has designed gallery and exhibition spaces for Hauser & Wirth, the Whitney, Gladstone Gallery, Michael Werner, David Zwirner, Acquavella Galleries and Frieze Art Fair's Frieze Masters.

Her firm routinely collaborates with the Gagosian Gallery on exhibition designs.

Her clients also include Christophe Van de Weghe and Per Skarstedt.

Selldorf's approach to design has been described in the Wall Street Journal as "...about restrained and understated elegance. From reinvented Beaux-Arts galleries to handsome residential towers, the Selldorf statement goes against the grain."

Her work has also been praised by Paul Goldberger, Architecture Critic for The New Yorker as "...a kind of gentle modernism of utter precision, with perfect proportions."

In another article by Architectural Digest, Selldorf describes her design process—as demonstrated in her work on a Fifth Avenue apartment—as focusing on "unconscious comfort" and "clean and clear space."

Selldorf is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and an Academician of the National Academy Museum and School.

She has taught at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and Syracuse University and is a frequent juror and lecturer.

In 2010, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg honored Selldorf's firm with a Public Design Commission Award for the design of the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility a processing center for New York City's curbside metal, glass, and plastic recyclables.

Michael Kimmelman reviewed the building in the New York Times: "Selldorf was, in retrospect, an inspired choice. The German-born Annabelle Selldorf runs the firm, which stresses crisp lines, elegant volumes and a clean, formal vocabulary in which nothing goes to waste."

The Sunset Park Material Recovery Center opened on the eleven-acre 29th Street Pier in the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in December 2013.

The plant, built by Sims Municipal Recycling and the City of New York, “is the largest and most sophisticated plant for commingled (mix of metal, glass, and plastic) residential recyclables in North America.” Selldorf Architects created an expressive design for the complex by placing structural components of the pre-engineered buildings on their exterior.

The complex's multi-building design near the mouth of the East River l is meant to optimize functionality while keeping aesthetics in mind.

All aspects of the complex's design keep sustainability in mind.

First, the location along the water, and 850 feet of dock space, mean the complex can transport commingled recyclables in and out of the center by barge rather than by truck, cutting the center's carbon footprint.

With an understanding that the more environmentally friendly option (barge transport rather than truck) still has negative impacts on the location's aquatic environment, the Center installed fuzzy ropes alongside its mooring pier to support mussels, which purify water.

Recycled materials were used throughout; as, site fill is a composite of materials taken from the Second Avenue subway, recycled steel comprises the buildings, and the complex's plazas are finished with recycled glass.

The addition of New York City's first commercial wind turbine and a large solar array not only allow the center to lower operational costs, but also keep sustainability in mind.

Last, the inclusion of an educational center means the complex can educate the city on the importance of recycling.

The Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility is also a winning site of Built by Women New York City, a competition launched by the Beverly Willis Architecture Foundation during the fall of 2014, to identify outstanding and diverse sites and spaces designed, engineered and built by women.

As of 2015, Selldorf lived in Greenwich Village with her partner, Tom Outerbridge.

She is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA) and the recipient of the 2016 AIANY Medal of Honor.

Her projects include the Sunset Park Material Recovery Facility, Neue Galerie New York, The Rubell Museum, a renovation of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, David Zwirner's 20th Street Gallery, The Mwabwindo School, 21 East 12th Street, 200 11th Avenue, 10 Bond Street, and several buildings for the LUMA Foundation's contemporary art center in Arles, France.

Completed in 2016, the 10 Bond is a residential building on the corner of Lafayette and Bond Street in the NoHo neighborhood of Manhattan.

The seven-story residential structure is in line with the rooflines of the rest of the area, but its exterior, composed of prefabricated terracotta sections, weathered steel, glass, and wood, sets it apart from the neighborhood's other low-rise buildings.