Perisphere

Biography

James Corner graduated as a landscape architect and urban planner from the University of Pennsylvania. Subsequently, he received a PhD in Architecture and Engineering (Dr.-Ing. E.h.) from the Technical University of Munich and a PhD in Design (honoris causa) from Manchester Metropolitan University. He is recognised by TIME and Fast Company magazines as one of the “Ten Most Influential Designers” and as one of the “Top 50 Innovators”. James Corner is a founding partner and CEO of James Corner Field Operations. His work is renowned for its contemporary, innovative and audacious design, which he applies to a wide variety of projects, with a particular commitment to the design of dynamic public spaces. Design projects in the public realm include the acclaimed High Line in New York, the Underline in Miami, South Park Plaza in London's Elizabeth Olympic Park, Tongva Park in Santa Monica, Navy Pier in Chicago, the Public Square in Cleveland, Race Street Pier in Philadelphia, Salisbury Garden and Tsim Tsa Tsui waterfront promenade in Hong Kong, and the new Qianhai Water City in Shenzhen, home to 3 million people. Some of his work has been recognised and honoured with awards, including the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award, the Architecture Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Daimler-Chrysler Design Excellence Award and the AA&D Black Pencil Award. In addition, his work has been widely published and exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum, the National Building Museum, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Venice Biennale.He combines his profession as a landscape architect and urban planner with teaching. He is professor emeritus of landscape design and urban planning at the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, where he was elected Chair from 2000 until 2013. He is also on the Board of the Urban Design Forum and the Advisory Board of the Shenzhen Government, and he is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His penchant for teaching, public speaking and writing has lead him to write 5 books: The High Line: Foreseen/Unforeseen (Phaidon, 2015), The Landscape Imagination (Princeton, 2014), Recovering Landscape (Princeton, 1999), and Taking Measures Across the American Landscape (Yale, 1996). These are books in which other artists have participated, especially photographers and graphic artists such as Alex MacLean. James Corner is involved in the definition of human-scale elements, designing urban elements conceived so that people can enjoy outdoor spaces. He is the author of the Perisphere bench (2016), an update and homage to the iconic New York seat, an interpretation that optimises functionality and ergonomics while retaining its unique character. Know more