Graduation Honors Convocation
Saturday, May 22, 2021
11 a.m. ET
The Syracuse Architecture Convocation has been recorded and will be made available for online viewing on May 22 at 11 a.m. ET.
To access the virtual convocation, visit commencement.syr.edu/convocations/architecture.
The recording will be archived so that you can view at a later date if you cannot view at this time.
Convocation Speakers
Chris and Bill Sharples
Founding Partners, SHoP Architects, NYC
Chris and Bill Sharples, Founding Partners, SHoP Architects, NYCChris and Bill Sharples are founding partners at SHoP Architects, a New York-based firm established 25 years ago to bring together diverse expertise in designing buildings and environments that improve the quality of public life. Since 1996, SHoP has modeled a new way forward with their unconventional approach to design. At the heart of the firm’s method is a willingness to question accepted patterns of practice, coupled with the courage to expand, where necessary, beyond the architect’s traditional roles.
The firm is known for its designs of the Uber Headquarters in San Francisco, the Domino Sugar master plan and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and the National Veterans Resource Center at Syracuse University. Chris and Bill also lead SHoP’s work designing embassies and other diplomatic facilities for the U.S. Department of State.
SHoP’s work has been exhibited internationally and included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Its first monograph, Out of Practice, was published in 2012 by the Monacelli Press.
SHoP Architects’ awards also include the 2009 National Design Award for Architecture Design from the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, the Chicago Athenaeum American Architecture Awards, and awards from the American Institute of Architects’ New York City and New York State chapters.
In 2014, SHoP was named Fast Company magazine’s “Most Innovative Architecture Firm in the World”, and one of its “Most Innovative Companies in the World” for its policy of accepting equity in projects, rather than traditional payment, in exchange for services, as well as for its use of modular construction methods.
In addition to their work at SHoP, Chris and Bill’s dedication to moving the profession forward continues in their commitment to lecturing and teaching where they bring SHoP’s message—about the unity of technological invention, artistic inspiration, and public responsibility—to students and fellow professionals around the world.
Chris Sharples received a Bachelor of History degree and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Dickinson College. In 1990, he received a Master of Architecture from Columbia University, graduating with honors for excellence in design.
Bill Sharples holds a Bachelor of Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Architecture from Columbia University.
