Chris T Cornelius (Oneida)
Chris Cornelius is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. He is Professor and Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of New Mexico. Chris 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.
Chris 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.
Cornelius’ awards include the inaugural Miller Prize from Exhibit Columbus, multiple Best of Design Awards from the Architect’s Newspaper, and an Artist residency from the National Museum of the American Indian. Studio:indigenous is the recipient of the 2023 Architect’s Newspaper Best of Practice Award for Best Small Firm, Southwest. Chris has been exhibited widely including the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale and 2023 Chicago Architecture Biennial. He was the Spring 2021, Louis I. Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University and is the Spring 2024 Dean’s Visiting Professor at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
Chris lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Pueblo, Tewa and Piro people.