Kris Yao, Hon. FAIA

Founder/ Architect, KRIS YAO | ARTECH

Kris Yao, Hon. FAIA, founded KRIS YAO | ARTECH in Taipei in 1985 and established a Shanghai office in 2001. The firm currently employs more than 160 professionals, and is one of the most important architecture practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Throughout his 30 years of practice, Mr. Yao has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the College of Environmental Design at the University of California at Berkeley in 2005, the “National Award for Arts” in 2007, and the Honorary Fellowship from the American Institute of Architects in 2014. Mr. Yao’s works have been widely published in international magazines, architectural journals, and many of his monographs, including the most recently published three-volume monograph KRIS YAO | ARTECH selected works 30x30 by UED, Beijing.

Mr. Yao’s portfolio demonstrates years of practices in commercial, hospitality, civic, transportation, spiritual, and educational design. His architecture integrates function with culture and history, presenting a unique approach that celebrates the spirit of the locality. The AIA recognize him as an architect who “demonstrates his humanity with the development of physical elements that hold true to human emotion and conditions, cultural and historical context, and a sense of scale and place. His architecture has a poetic nature, using his native eastern aesthetic and spirituality with a sense of natural light, interplay of surfaces and forms and executing all with a high level of innovation and professionalism.”