Chris Ford

Associate Professor, College of Architecture
University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Education:
Master of Architecture, North Carolina State University (1998) 
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, UNC Charlotte (1995) 

Previous Employment:
Rob Paulus Architects (Tucson, AZ) 
Rick Joy Architects (Tucson, AZ) 
Richard Meier & Partners (New York, NY) 

Hometown:
Raleigh, NC

Chris is an Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Nebraska College of Architecture where he also currently serves as Assistant Director. Since Fall 2005, Chris has taught design studios and electives across six years of the curriculum and also mentors Design Thesis students. He is a former coordinator of the Architecture Internship program, a past Chair of the Hyde Lecture series, a past President of the Larsen Tractor Museum and was the 2008-2010 Steward Professor in Sustainable Design for his funded research project titled “REIs: Renewable Energy Infrastructures,” which also received a national AIA Upjohn Research grant. As an architectural educator, Chris has maintained scholarly interests in both Modern Craft and Design Methodology which were subjects first introduced and nurtured through coursework and distinguished lectures at UNC Charlotte.

“The early 1990s were an exciting time to be an architecture student at UNC Charlotte. The first architecture lecture I attended was by Douglas Darden, which set a very high standard for future lectures. The young faculty represented a wide range of interests and they didn’t seem to shy away from any opportunity to be polemical. When pedagogies clashed, students benefitted. The curriculum, and particularly the second year writing-intensive seminar, was instrumental in developing critical thinkers who could forge an intent, explore the fullness of it, and represent it in dexterous ways including the written word, the spoken word, the hand-drawn line, the plotted line, physical models, and yes, even virtual models.”

“Classmates became roommates, and roommates became life-long friends. The “new building” smell lingered for years. While the library housed no books, I remember entering one day to find Charles Gwathmey sitting at a table, willing to engage a naïve student in a conversation about the larger architectural discipline. The Wood and Metal shops, as well as the dedicated persons who managed them, fostered a prevailing Culture of Making that was both strong and infectious. The Storrs building itself was excellent in a number of ways, and it too was an instrumental teaching tool in conditioning the expectations of future architects.” 

“I am both thankful for and proud of my undergraduate education at UNC Charlotte as I believe the level of preparation for engaging a range of design problems was second-to-none.”