Tim Culbert has worked as an architect since attending Carnegie Mellon University and graduating from the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris in 1984, under
The philosopher and urbanist Paul Virilio. His peripatetic up-bringing between Japan, Switzerland and France has led him to run his own atelier as a deliberately collaborative endeavor, freely relocating his base every decade.
Prior to establishing his own  firm in 2001 in New York, h e worked with Jean Nouvel and  Rem Koolhaas during the early  years of their practice s and with I.M. Pei for more  than a decade  on his late  career projects in Japan, Franc e and Luxembourg.
Among the eight Pritzker architects he has worked with his recent collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron and SANAA are the most noteworthy – both on museum projects – the later for the Louvre-Lens Museum where he was co-author of the completed building which was awarded Best Building of France in 2013 (Équerre d’Argent).
He has been an adjunct professor at NYU Steinhardt School for Museum Studies