Christopher Romano

Director, Studio North Architecture and Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo, BS 2003, M.Arch 2005

Christopher Romano is an architect and an educator appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University at Buffalo. Academic affiliations include the Material Culture Graduate Research Group and faculty co-lead within S.M.A.R.T. (Sustainable Manufacturing and Advanced Robotics Community of Excellence). His research and creative practice are focused on the theoretical and pragmatic bridges that integrate material and structural ingenuity with architectural experience.

The lecture will explore the intellectual production of the research practice Studio North Architecture, which was founded in 2010. The event will examine both completed and ongoing adaptive reuse projects which range in size, function, and stakeholder engagement yet exist within a single, post-industrial landscape. It will describe how the studio’s working methodology frames a process of material investigation by exploring overlaps between precision and imprecision as well as relying on local skillsets. The aim will be to trace the evolution of the office as it attempts to find opportunities for innovation using conventional material systems constrained by limited budgets. It will acknowledge the interdisciplinary nature of the work, the diverse collaborators that have influenced its production, and how ideas of imperfection, recalibration, and resourcefulness have led to invention and new directions for the team.

Christopher Romano. Director, Studio North Architecture. Assistant Professor, University at Buffalo.

As a methodology – he pursues research inquiry through hands‐on investigation, installation, architectural fabrication, and one‐to‐one production. He is a licensed architect in the State of New York, LEED accredited and director of Studio NORTH, a creative practice dedicated to assembling interdisciplinary teams of technical specialists to deliver innovative responses to projects that require a high degree of architectural and engineering integration. This work has been recognized with several awards which include the TEX-FAB SKIN Competition winner, the Architects Newspaper Fabrication Award, multiple Architects Newspaper Product Awards, multiple AIA New York State Design Awards, and multiple Architizer A+ Awards. In addition, he is an active façade specialist and research consultant for Rigidized Metals Corp. in Buffalo, NY and has built relationships with regional manufactures and community organizations that include Holcim Concrete, Southside Precast, Thermal Foams, Alp Steel, Buffalo Wire Works, Boston Valley Terracotta and the Buffalo Maritime Center.