TULSA, OK.- Cesar Pelli's projects and practice of architecture exhibit in animated video/photography and 3-D models opens for the first time in the United States, May 22 at Tulsa's Philbrook Museum of Art. Pelli's Tulsa arena model is center stage in this visual large-screen display of his 12-point mandate for a winning building (aspiration, skin, family, performance, ceiling, urban fit, public rooms, skeleton, construction, palette and glow) as exemplified in the firm's projects.

"Philbrook worked with Pelli's team in New Haven, Conn. to develop this special exhibit that will have its premiere here," said Philbrook Museum of Art Executive Director Brian Ferriso.

This all-new display is a vibrant and active visual interpretation of Sections Through A Practice: Cesar Pelli & Associates, a photographic 250-page book just published by Hatje Cantz, Germany. On June 2, Cesar Pelli will sign copies at Philbrook.

Large-scale, high-definition photographs, four plasma screens with thousands of digital images, two large-scale projections of computer-animated images, a video of Cesar Pelli, the architect, and three-dimensional project models comprise this exhibit, which includes the Petronas Towers, Washington Reagan National Airport and New York's World Financial Center.

Ferriso explained that a central principle of the firm's approach is established at the outset and revolves around how Cesar Pelli & Associates responds to the inherent constraints of a project presented to an architect, including the limits of the architectural program, site and budget.

Cesar Pelli said, "Architecture is not a painting. It is about extraordinary creative responses to specific situations ... I am committed to an architecture that celebrates life ... An architecture that enhances life accents perception, lightness, and change."

An architectural companion to this exhibit is titled "LANDed: Innovative Garden Structures," which are pavilions designed by nationally known competition-winning architects and built in Philbrook's 23-acre garden. They are all interactive and constructed of mirrors, rope, live vines, steel, aluminum, polycarbonate and various reflective materials. Winning architects from Philbrook's national competition are: MADE LLC, Della Valle + Bernheimer Design LLP, Mitnick Roddier Hicks, designsubset and Lyn Rice Architects.

Philbrook Museum of Art is a 1927 Italianate villa surrounded by 23 acres of renovated gardens. Its collection of 8,500 pieces includes: Rodin, Bouguereau, Corot, Remington and Native American art. Five national exhibitions travel to Philbrook annually.

Sections Through A Practice: Cesar Pelli & Associates opens May 22 and closes July 17. Pelli holds a book signing June 2 at Philbrook, to be followed by a reception with Argentinean dances and music open to the public.