Chris Fein
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR - DEPARTMENT OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE AND REGIONAL & COMMUNITY PLANNING, KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY

Christopher Fein, AIA joined the faculty of Kansas State University as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Architecture in 2010 and Joined as an Assistant Professor in 2020. Previously he was a partner at HBRA Architects, and a lead designer at Tigerman McCurry architects both in Chicago. As a graduate student, he received two design studio Teaching Fellowships at Yale University. When Fein moved to Kansas City, he founded FORWARD Design | Architecture, a small design practice focused on housing and restoration of historic properties. He has recently won an AIA Kansas City president’s award for his championing of design education. The firm has won numerous awards since its founding. This includes three AIA central states design awards, six AIA Kansas Design Awards, and a preservation award from Historic Kansas. His work is published in both local and national publications regularly.

His scholarly research is focused on post-World War II modernist architecture through the lens of preservation and building adaptation, and histories. He recently has had a Docomomo US article published on modern architecture in Kansas. With Assistant Professor Michael Grogan, he was co-awarded a 2021-22 National Park Service/Kansas SHPO Historic Preservation Fund Grant to survey modern architecture in Manhattan, KS. He has been on the board of directors for KCmodern since 2011 and is a co-founder and on the board of the preservation advocacy organization Plains Modern.

Chris received his M.Arch degree from Yale University and a B.Arch from the Kansas State University and is a registered architect in Kansas, Missouri, and Illinois, a LEED accredited professional, and a member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB).