Background
Phifer was born in Columbia, South Carolina.
Phifer was born in Columbia, South Carolina.
He earned a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1975 and a Master of Architecture degree in 1977, both from Clemson University. He also studied at the Daniel Center for Architecture and Urban Studies in Genoa, Italy in 1976.
He is perhaps best known for the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Brochstein Pavilion at Rice University in Houston, Texas and the design for the Glenstone Museum in Potomac, Maryland. Phifer held the Stevenson Chair at the University of Texas and taught at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.
Phifer received the Rome Prize in Architecture from the American Academy in Rome in 1995, and was honored with a residency the following year at the Academy’s campus. In 2004, Phifer was awarded the Medal of Honor from the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (American Institute of Architects). Phifer’s Salt Point House won an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Atheneum in 2008. In 2009, he received a Research and Development Award from Architect magazine for his international competition-winning design for New York City’s City Lights light fixture. The Raymond and Susan Brochstein Pavilion and the North Carolina Museum of Art, both designed by Phifer’s firm, received National Honor from the American Institute of Architects in 2010 and 2011, respectively. In 2011, Phifer received a Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects. Phifer was also elected as an Academician for the National Academy of Design in 2012. Phifer’s buildings have won seven American Institute of Architects National Honor and fourteen American Institute of Architects New York Honor Most recently, Phifer was awarded the Architecture Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
