Chris Fein

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 principal 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, seven AIA Kansas Design Awards, two preservation awards from Historic Kansas City in addition to numerous local and regional awards from design publications. 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).