Renfro will have speaking engagements in Auckland (April 13) and Wellington (April 14) during his 2010 visit, to be held at Auckland University and the City Gallery, in Wellington.

The New York architecture firm Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, is behind some of the city’s most talked about recent projects including the High Line, the redesign of the Lincoln Center, Brasserie, Eyebeam and – further afield – the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art.

Renfro joined the studio in 1997 and was appointed a partner with founders, Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio, in 2004. A native Texan and graduate of Rice and Columbia Universities, Renfro has had his work exhibited worldwide at many museums and institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Whitney Museum, the Netherlands Architecture Institute, the Canadian Centre for Architecture, and the Pompidou Centre. He lectures frequently in the United States and abroad. Renfro has been on the faculty of Columbia University since 2000 and was the Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice University in 2006.

Charles Renfro’s visit will coincide with the release of the fully revised First Specifier’s Guide, to be issued for the first time in soft cover format.