Elizabeth Diller: Design as a Challenge to Shape the Future

A major civic gesture, born from the almost naïve idea of reclaiming an abandoned piece of urban infrastructure destined for demolition, saving it and repurposing it for the public realm: this is where Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s High Line project in New York begins. It also marked the starting point of architect Elizabeth Diller’s presentation, introduced by architecture historian Fulvio Irace at Cersaie 2025 in the halls of BolognaFiere.

On Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at the Europauditorium of the Palazzo dei Congressi, Elizabeth Diller delivered the opening lectio magistralis of the cultural program Building, Dwelling, Thinking. Her keynote focused on the meaning of architecture beyond aesthetics for their own sake. In this light, one of DS+R’s most visionary and emblematic works is indeed the High Line: a disused elevated railway transformed into a 2.3-kilometer-long public park, now one of New York’s most iconic landmarks.

Irace described the High Line as “a mix of realism and utopia,” the product of an architecture that is conceptual and deeply innovative—qualities that have long characterized the practice of Elizabeth Diller together with Ricardo Scofidio, her partner in life and work, who passed away recently. Founded in 1981 in New York, the studio became Diller Scofidio + Renfro in 2004 with the addition of Charles Renfro as partner.

Following the High Line, Diller’s lectio continued with other works that reflect her visionary outlook, such as The Shed, a cultural center on Manhattan’s West Side defined by a telescopic structure that expands and contracts, embodying the paradigm of flexibility.

She also presented the V&A East Storehouse at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park: inspired by storage warehouses, the project redefines the museum concept, conceived as an open archive that offers visitors a level of accessibility far beyond traditional exhibition complexes.

Finally, she discussed the Al-Mujadilah Center in Doha, the first contemporary mosque purpose-built for women, extending across one square kilometer and designed to foster a more inclusive Muslim society.

Through these projects, which exemplify the extraordinary quality, scope, and variety of DS+R’s work, Elizabeth Diller outlined how architects can and should act within the contemporary city—highlighting the transformative social power of architecture and its fundamental role in fostering a sense of community belonging.

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