Kris Yao

In 2014, Yao received an Honorary Fellowship of the American Institute of Architects (Hon. FAIA). In 2003, Yao represented Taiwan in the 8th International Architecture Exhibition at Venice Biennale of Architecture (La Biennale di Venezia), in Venice, Italy. Yao was reinvited to the same event in 2008, at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition at La Biennale di Venezia. In 2004, Yao was invited to present his project, the THSR Hsinchu Station, at the 1st International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In the same year, he was also invited to present his projects at the 1st International Architecture Biennale in Beijing, China. In 2005, Yao was named a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni of the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2013, Palace Museum, Southern Branch was anticipated in The International Architecture Showcase, London Festival of Architecture 2013 – Atlas of the Unbuilt World in London, UK. In 2014, Yao was re-invited to the 14th La Biennale di Venezia–Collateral Event / Time Space Existence –The Ninth Column.

In 1997, Kris Yao was awarded the "Chinese Outstanding Architect Award". In 2007, Yao became the first practicing architect in Taiwan to receive the "Taiwan National Award for Arts and Architecture", the highest honor in cultural and art disciplines in Taiwan. Yao is also collaborating with architect Rem Koolhaas in the design of the Taipei Performing Arts Center, scheduled for completion in 2015.

Established by Kris Yao in 1985, KRIS YAO | ARTECH is an architectural firm composed of more than 160 professionals with offices in Taipei and Shanghai. The firm's projects are mainly located in the Asia-Pacific region, but are also found in the United States, Europe, and Africa. Project categories range from corporate, residential, cultural, educational, hospital, commercial, transportation, industrial architecture design, and urban planning, etc. The award-winning and selected works including: Lanyang Museum, China Steel Corporation Headquarters, Water-Moon Monastery, and Wuzhen Theater, etc.

Yao was born and raised in Taipei, Taiwan. Yao received his Bachelor of Architecture at Tunghai University in 1975, and received his Masters in Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1978.

Kris Yao (Chinese: 姚仁喜 ; born December 1951) is a Taiwanese architect, and the founder and head architect at KRIS YAO | ARTECH in Taipei and Shanghai.