Chris T Cornelius (Oneida)
Chris Cornelius is a citizen of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. He is Professor and former Chair of the Department of Architecture at the University of New Mexico. Chris is the founding principal of studio:indigenous and creates artifacts that offer a distinct vision of contemporary Indigenous culture.
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.
Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, studio:indigenous is working at intensely varied scales. Their distinct and highly personal approach leverages the cultural underpinnings, devices, and thinking of Indigenous culture to manifest original architecture, art, and objects.
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. His work is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). He has been a visiting professor at Yale and Columbia and was the Spring 2025 Eero Saarinen Visiting Professor of Architectural Design at Yale University.
Chris lives and works on the ancestral lands of the Pueblo, Tewa and Piro people.