Current Work is a lecture series featuring leading figures in the worlds of architecture, urbanism, design, and art.

Founded in 1984 by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake, Philadelphia-based KieranTimberlake designs educational, cultural, civic, governmental, and residential buildings. Seeing research as a fundamental part of architectural practice, the firm has a trans-disciplinary team “dedicated to interrogating and advancing building design practices through material, system, process, and environment driven questions.”

Projects that embody the firm’s commitment to sustainability and materials research include the Melvin J. and Claire Levine Hall at the University of Pennsylvania, which employs the first actively ventilated curtainwall of its type in North America; SmartWrap™, a mass-customizable building envelope exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and Cellophane House™, a fully recyclable, energy-gathering dwelling exhibited at The Museum of Modern Art in New York. KieranTimberlake’s mixed-use building at 181 Mercer in New York City is currently under construction as part of New York University’s campus expansion. The firm designed the Embassy of the United States in London with the aim to significantly reduce energy consumption and set an agenda to achieve carbon neutrality. Through the creation of a civic plaza and park, the embassy contributes to the current revitalization of South Bank’s industrial zone.

KieranTimberlake received the AIA Firm Award in 2008 and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award in 2010. The Embassy of the United States in London was the recipient of London’s Centre for the Built Environment New London Architecture Award in 2017.

Stephen Kieran received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University, and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has held visiting professorships at Yale University, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, and the University of Washington, and currently teaches at University of Pennsylvania School of Design.

James Timberlake received a Bachelor of Environmental Science degree from the University of Detroit, and a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He has held visiting professorships at Yale University, the University of Michigan, Princeton University, and the University of Texas at Austin, and currently teaches at University of Pennsylvania School of Design. He was appointed by the Obama Administration to serve on the Board of the National Institute of Building Sciences in 2012.

Marion Weiss is cofounder of WEISS/MANFREDI Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism, based in New York City and the Graham Chair Professor of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.

This lecture is co-sponsored by The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of The Cooper Union.

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.