In 1993, he received a grant from the Graham Foundation for study on the impact of the fall of Communism on architectural teachings in Eastern Europe.
As a curator, Bergdoll has participated in several major architectural exhibitions, including "Mies in Berlin", shown in New York, Barcelona, and Berlin (2001–03); "Le Panthéon: Symbole des Révolutions" shown in Montreal and Paris in 1989, and "Les Vaudoyers: une dynastie d'architectes" at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris in 1992.
On January 1, 2007, Bergdoll succeeded Terence Riley as Chief Curator for Architecture and Design at MoMA.
Among the exhibitions he has curated at MoMA since joining in January 2007 are "Lost Vanguard" (2007); "Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling," (2008) which included five full scale prefabricated or digitally fabricated houses on the vacant lot next to the museum; "Bauhaus" (2009) with Leah Dickerman; "Rising Currents: Projects for New York's Waterfront" (2010); and "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream" (2012) with Reinhold Martin.
The exhibition "Labrouste: La Structure Mise en Lumiere" co-curated with Corine Belier of the Cite de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine and Marc LeCoeur of the Bibliothèque Nationale was shown in Paris (2012–13) and presented at the Museum of Modern Art in Spring 2013, followed by "Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern Landscapes," organized with Jean-Louis Cohen.