Four internationally acclaimed architects who are finalists in an invited architecture design competition for Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning will present their proposals for a $25 million building project to a selection jury of prominent architects and the campus community Wednesday, April 18.

The project involves Milstein Hall, which will provide classrooms, studio space, a major auditorium and other related services and offices for the Department of Architecture. The envisioned facility will be a highly visible building at a prominent entrance to the university, adjacent to historic Sibley Hall.

The four finalists and the times they will present their project proposals in Bailey Hall are:

• Peter Zumthor, architect, of Switzerland, from 9 to 10:30 a.m.
• Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects of Santa Monica, Calif., from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Steven Holl of Steven Holl Architects, New York, from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
• Tod Williams and Billie Tsien of Tod Williams Billie Tsien and Associates, New York, from 3:30 to 5 p.m.

Porus Olpadwala, dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, said: "Students will have a unique opportunity to observe this professional design competition. We hope that students and faculty will find the design process for the college's new facility to be a learning process in itself."

According to Roger Schluntz, FAIA, the appointed professional adviser for the design competition, the process is intended to encourage architects to design a building whose primary function will be to enhance teaching and learning. "Additionally, we are asking the architects to envision a building that will instill a strong sense of identity and sense of place for this internationally recognized program," Schluntz said.

Chairing the six-member selection jury is James Polshek, founding partner and senior design principal of Polshek Partnership Architect, New York. He is a former dean of faculty of the

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University and co-founder of Architects/Designers/Planners for Social Responsibility. His firm's projects include Carnegie Hall, the American Museum of Natural History's Rose Planetarium and the Clinton Presidential Library.

Other members of the selection jury are Kenneth Frampton, architectural critic, author and the Ware Professor of Architecture at Columbia University; Toshiko Mori, principal of Toshiko Mori Architect, New York, and professor in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University; Carmé Piños, architect in Barcelona, Spain; Terence Riley, chief curator of the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and Heinz Tesar, architect in Vienna, Austria.

The final decision on the winning design is expected by April 20.

Construction of the $25 million project is expected to be completed by fall 2004.