Barry Bergdoll is the Meyer Schapiro Professor of Art History at Columbia University, where he has taught for more than thirty years. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to the history of modern architecture and for his innovative curatorial work. From 2007 to 2014, he served as Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, where he redefined the role of architecture exhibitions. Among his most influential shows were Rising Currents: Projects for New York’s Waterfront (2009–10), Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream (2012), and Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955–1980 (2015), all of which explored urgent environmental, social, and political questions through the lens of design. He continued this ethos in the exhibition: Reset: Toward a New Commons (2002) during his tenure as President of the New York AIA’s Center for Architecture.
Throughout his career, Bergdoll has emphasized architecture’s place within broader cultural and historical contexts. His curatorial work has extended beyond MoMA to include exhibitions at the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Canadien d’Architecture, the Banamex Cultural Center, and Bard Graduate Center. He is the author of numerous publications, including European Architecture: 1750– 1890, monographs on Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Mies van der Rohe, and Léon Vaudoyer, and co-editor of Marcel Breuer: Building Global Institutions. Currently he is working on a forthcoming volume based on his 2013 Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art. In 2025, the National Building Museum awarded Bergdoll the Vincent Scully Prize, which recognizes excellence in scholarship, criticism, or practice in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design.
Throughout his career, Bergdoll has emphasized architecture’s place within broader cultural and historical contexts. His curatorial work has extended beyond MoMA to include exhibitions at the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Canadien d’Architecture, the Banamex Cultural Center, and Bard Graduate Center. He is the author of numerous publications, including European Architecture: 1750– 1890, monographs on Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Mies van der Rohe, and Léon Vaudoyer, and co-editor of Marcel Breuer: Building Global Institutions. Currently he is working on a forthcoming volume based on his 2013 Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art. In 2025, the National Building Museum awarded Bergdoll the Vincent Scully Prize, which recognizes excellence in scholarship, criticism, or practice in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design.
