Ulfers Foundation Award Ceremony Honoring Annabelle Selldorf

Annabelle Selldorf is the Principal of Selldorf Architects, a 70-person architectural design practice that she founded in New York City in 1988. The firm creates public and private spaces that manifest a clear and modern sensibility to enduring impact. Since its inception, the firm’s design ethos has been deeply rooted in the principles of humanism. Ms. Selldorf has served as Lead Designer on each of the firm’s projects, including the current redesign of the Sainsbury Wing of The National Gallery in London, the expansion and enhancement of The Frick Collection in New York now under construction, and a 50,000 sf expansion for the Art Gallery of Ontario also in design. In New York City she has designed the Neue Galerie New York: Museum for German and Austrian Art on Fifth Avenue and numerous galleries for David Zwirner, Hauser & Wirth, Barbara Gladstone and Michael Werner amongst others. Other completed projects include Luma Arles, a new contemporary arts center in France, and the expansion and renovation of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.

Born and raised in Germany, she received a Bachelor of Architecture from Pratt Institute and a Master of Architecture from Syracuse University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and serves on the Board of the Architectural League of New York, the World Monuments Fund, the Chinati Foundation, and the Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. Additionally, Ms. Selldorf is a board member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and in 2014 was the recipient of their prestigious Award in Architecture, and in 2016 received the AIA New York Medal of Honor.

The event will feature a conversation between Annabelle Selldorf and Rosalie Genevro.

Architectural historian and urbanist Rosalie Genevro has led The Architectural League, a non-profit cultural organization based in New York City, as executive director since 1985. The League’s public programs, publications, exhibitions and research projects present the work of the world’s leading architects as well as emerging talents, and investigate and propose approaches to important issues in the built environment. Ms. Genevro has led initiatives at the League addressing a variety of building types, including housing, schools, and libraries, as well as climate change, among many other topics. She has served as a peer reviewer for the NYC Departments of Design and Construction, City Planning, Cultural Affairs, and Parks and Recreation, and as a critic and juror for many architecture school juries and prize competitions, including the inaugural juries of the Jane Jacobs award of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Women in Architecture award of Architectural Record. Ms. Genevro received an Arts and Letters Award in Architecture from the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2015. She studied history as an undergraduate at Occidental College, and did graduate work in architectural history at Cornell University.

Additional remarks will be provided by:

Elisabeth Strowick (Chair, Professor, Department of German, New York University) 

Jon Ritter (Clinical Professor, Department of Art History & Urban Design and Architecture Studies, New York University)

Friedrich Ulfers (Associate Professor, Department of German, New York University)

Juliane Camfield (Director, Deutsches Haus at NYU University)

The Ulfers Foundation Award is presented by the New York University Department of German in recognition of an individual whose achievements have served to promote and highlight German culture and history. This award is endowed with a $5000 grant. This is the fourth time the award is being presented. In 2018, the Ulfers Foundation Award was awarded to Margarethe von Trotta; in 2019, to Barton Byg, and in 2021, to Daniel Kehlmann.

Friedrich Ulfers is Associate Professor of German at New York University. In the past he also served as Assistant Dean of the College of Arts and Science, the German Department’s Director of Undergraduate Studies, Director of the NYU in Berlin Summer Program and Director of Deutsches Haus at NYU. He teaches courses in German and Comparative Literature that engage a range of interests, including literary theory, continental philosophy, and the relationships between science, literature, and philosophy.

The University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements—that all members of the NYU community, including employees, faculty members, students, affiliates, vendors, and visitors, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and, once eligible, boosted—remain in force.

All visitors must be prepared to present proof of compliance with the University’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements if asked to do so. 

To RSVP for in-person attendance, please click here.

This event will take place at 42 Washington Mews. This semester, based on NYU's guidelines, in-person events will be open to members of the general public.

This event is made possible by the generosity of Professor Friedrich Ulfers and is hosted by NYU's Department of German and Deutsches Haus at NYU. Additional support provided by the DAAD.