Design Mind

Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi

Principals of Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown have been collaborators for more than thirty years. Their Philadelphia-based firm has received widespread acclaim for its breadth in design and urban planning, as well as its contributions to architectural theory. Their books, Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture by Venturi and Learning from Las Vegas by Venturi, Scott Brown and Steven Izenour, have been translated and published in numerous languages, and continue to be architectural bestsellers. Moving away from the simplicity of modern architecture, Scott Brown and Venturi embrace an eclecticism that draws from diverse sources such as historic design styles and popular culture. The firm has engaged in projects for civic, cultural, and academic institutions, including the provincial capitol building of the Haute-Garonne in Toulouse, France; the Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London; additions to the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Seattle Art Museum; Tsinghua University in Beijing, Harvard University; Princeton University and Yale University; and the University of Pennsylvania and University of Michigan. Venturi and Scott Brown were awarded the Presidential National Medal of the Arts in 1992 and Venturi was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 1991.