A renowned architect, theorist, educator, and writer, Bernard Tschumi has been instrumental in exploring architecture as a non-prescriptive medium of cultural expression. Through his built work and theoretical writing, Tschumi has opposed the notion that architecture conditions human behavior, and has instead proposed its role as a physical means for exploring and questioning one's role in society.

Tschumi studied in Paris and at the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, receiving his degree in 1969. He began teaching at the Architectural Association in London in the early 1970s and has since held positions at several institutions, including the Princeton School of Architecture, Cooper Union, and Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.

In 1982 Tschumi won the design competition for Parc de la Villette, a 125-acre public park in Paris consisting of dramatic buildings, walkways, bridges, and gardens. He established his Paris office in 1983 and opened a second office in New York City five years later. Tschumi's recent commissions include a student union building for Columbia University, a concert hall in Limoges, France, and the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.