Terence Riley Leaves A Void In The Fraternity

Terence Riley a curator, critic, author and architect died at the age 66 in Miami. His family said the death was sudden but did not disclose the cause.

Born in 1954 in Woodstock, Ill., Riley studied at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana where he received his B. Arch in 1978, and then at Columbia University, where he received his M. Arch and masters in planning in 1982. Riley and his business partner John Keenan founded their architecture firm Keenan-Riley, (K/R) in 1984, and was known for its work for art museums, galleries, artists, and collectors.

As director of Columbia University’s Architecture Galleries, he co-curated exhibitions on modern architecture. He continued to critically re-evaluate the Modern movement through his exhibitions and also began to promote the new generation of architects and designers after Postmodernism. Terence Riley joined MoMA in 1991 as a curator and was later promoted as the director of the department. He left New York to become the director of the Miami Art Museum–now the Pérez Art Museum Miami. “As both an architect and critic, Riley reimagined how we observe, expand, and challenge Modernism’s afterlives,” says Sean Anderson, MoMA’s associate curator.

The insightful remarks of Terence Riley have shaped many young students into bright architects of future. His work demonstrated his care for high design. Riley’s incisive and prospective thinking remains a guiding ray of light for the Architecture and Design to reflect upon the now and its evolving complex narratives.