LOWER MERION, PA.- The Barnes Foundation announced today the selection of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien of New York to design its new facility on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Center City, Philadelphia. The firm was selected following a unanimous decision by the Foundation's Board of Trustees.

The art education center will house the Barnes Foundation's preeminent collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist and early modern paintings. By creating this new facility in the center of Philadelphia, the Foundation will advance its educational mission and ensure its long-term viability.

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien's responsive and sensitive approach to the Barnes Foundation's commission will be refined and developed over the next year. The eventual architectural design will increase the capacity of the Foundation's educational programs and realize more fully Dr. Albert C. Barnes's mission of enabling individuals to appreciate and understand the collection, while replicating the original galleries currently located in Merion, Pennsylvania, consistent with the Orphan's Court decision.

In addition to providing a substantial increase in space for art education programs, in the form of classrooms and an auditorium, the new building will include much-needed facilities for conservation, research and administration; a gallery for special exhibitions; a retail shop and restaurant; and areas for special events and visitor services.

The Barnes Foundation's building committee made its recommendation to the Board after several months of meetings with the finalists, who included Tadao Ando (Osaka, Japan), Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York), Kengo Kuma (Tokyo, Japan), Rafael Moneo (Madrid, Spain), and Thom Mayne/Morphosis (Los Angeles).

The two-stage process invited more than 30 international firms to submit qualifications. After careful evaluation, six firms were short listed for further consideration. To familiarize themselves with the project, the architects visited the Barnes Foundation in Merion, saw the new site on the Parkway and met with Building Committee members and staff. The Building Committee continued its research through the early summer traveling throughout the United States and across the world visiting numerous buildings designed by all of the six short listed architects. The selection process culminated in an interview stage where the firms presented design ideas and outlined what they viewed as the opportunities and challenges of the proposed new facility. Martha Thorne, Executive Director of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, advised the Foundation during the selection process, with the assistance of Professor Gary Hack, Dean and Paley Professor at the School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and Suzanne Stephens, editor and architecture critic. The Building Committee was tremendously impressed by each one of the final presentations.

"We are very pleased to have reached this important benchmark. On the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, the Barnes Foundation's new art education center will be available to everybody," said Dr. Bernard C. Watson, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Barnes Foundation. "It was Dr. Barnes himself who said that art is not just for the elite, it's for the 'plain people who work every day in offices, shops and factories,' and it is our job to carry out his legacy."

"We are delighted with our decision to build a future with Tod Williams and Billie Tsien," said Aileen Roberts, Chairman of the Barnes Foundation's Building Committee. "Together we will be able to create a more viable and less restrictive center for art education that retains the intimate viewing experience of the original galleries and is still the special place that people love."

"Tod and Billie have demonstrated that they are extremely sensitive to our program, our history and our founding mission," said Derek Gillman, President of the Barnes Foundation. "It will be a privilege and a pleasure to work with them to design the new campus."

"We are honored to have been selected to design the new Barnes Foundation," said Billie Tsien. "We are attracted by the unique challenges of this project, the rich history of the Foundation and the exceptional quality of the collection. It is our intention that the new Barnes will do full justice to the visionary collector Albert Barnes and the aspirations of his educational mission."

Tod Williams and Billie Tsien formed their collaborative practice in New York in 1986. The studio is known for successfully combining theory and practice, architecture and the fine arts. Its work emphasizes the importance of place and explores the nature of materials. Williams has a seasoned grounding in the practice of architecture. Tsien brings to architecture a background in the fine arts and a keen interest in crossing disciplinary boundaries.

Completed buildings include: Feinberg Hall at Princeton University (1986); the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, California (1995); the Phoenix Art Museum, Phase I completed in 1996 and a second one recently completed; the Cranbrook Natatorium (1999); the Mattin Art Center at Johns Hopkins University (2001); the American Folk Art Museum in New York (2001); and most recently, a bioengineering building at the University of Pennsylvania (2006). The East Asian Library at the University of California at Berkeley is scheduled to be finished in the autumn of 2007. Harmony Atrium project at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is under development, as is a corporate campus in Mumbai, India.

Williams and Tsien have received numerous awards for their work, including the Brunner Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award for Architecture, the Chrysler Award for Design Innovation, the President's Medal from the Architectural League of New York, and the Medal of Honor from the American Institute of Architects, New York Chapter.

The Barnes' Building Committee is comprised of Aileen Kennedy Roberts, the Honorable Jacqueline F. Allen, André F. Duggin, Agnes Gund, Stephen J. Harmelin, Esq., Joseph Neubauer, Dr. Neil L. Rudenstine, together with Barnes President Derek Gillman.