Chris T Cornelius of studio:indigenous

Chris Cornelius (b. 1971, Oneida Nation of Wisconsin) is the founding principal of studio:indigenous and creates architecture and artifacts that dismantle stereotypes surrounding Indigenous design and offer a distinct vision of contemporary Indigenous culture. Their search for a new architectural language through drawing and making absorbs, embeds, and ultimately obscures direct references to Indigenous forms. This distinct and highly personal approach leverages the cultural underpinnings, devices, and thinking of Indigenous culture to manifest original architecture, art, and objects.

Cornelius was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a Master of Architecture from the University of Virginia. Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, studio:indigenous works at intensely varied scales. Cornelius is professor and chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of New Mexico, and his awards include the 2017 inaugural J. Irwin and Xenia S. Miller Prize from Exhibit Columbus, a 2018 and 2022 Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Award, and an artist residency from the National Museum of the American Indian. He has exhibited widely including the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale, and was the Spring 2021 Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University.