Liz Diller and Ricardo Scofidio

By Belinda Luscombe

OCCUPATION Architects, the first to win a prestigious MacArthur "genius" grant

GOAL To explore ways buildings can engage the public, using mixed media

QUOTE "The irreducible elements of architecture can be bricks and pixels."

What happens when folks used to the rarefied air of conceptual art have to operate at ground level? It's a plunge avant-garde architect-artists Elizabeth Diller and Ricardo Scofidio made when they agreed to renovate a New York City restaurant.

The husband-and-wife team are best known for conceptual mixed-media installations using video images, such as their display of the contents of travelers' suitcases at an airport, or a performance piece about a woman who flew between Amsterdam and New York more than 150 times to keep custody of her grandson.

But for the Brasserie in the basement of the Seagram building--a modernist icon--they had to contend with a real client. "We were interested in the social aspects of dining--the restaurant culture," says Diller. The restaurateur was more interested in how many tables would fit. But they seemed to find a meeting place. The restaurant--with videos above the bar broadcasting the entrance of patrons, and liquor bottles suspended behind frosted glass like fruit in Jell-O--is generating buzz. So while the duo, who have done scant building before, aren't seeking more interiors work, it's clear they will be sought after.

Would-be clients will have to compete with a cloud. Diller and Scofidio's next project is a space for Swiss Expo 2002 that will sit high above a lake in Yverdon-les-Bains, shrouded in mist created by 15,000 high-pressure water nozzles.

--By Belinda Luscombe