Dr. Christopher Hawthorne

Biography

Christopher Hawthorne is a Senior Critic and Lecturer at Yale School of Architecture with a secondary appointment in English. He is a writer, architecture critic, and filmmaker. From 2018 to 2022, he served as the Chief Design Officer for the city of Los Angeles, a position he was appointed to by Mayor Eric Garcetti. In this role, he provided design oversight on major building infrastructure projects and launched initiatives related to housing, architecture, urban design, civic memory, and public art. Prior to this, from 2004 to 2018, Hawthorne was the architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times. His writings have appeared in notable publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harvard Design Magazine, Architect, Architectural Record, and Domus. He has contributed to various book chapters and is frequently involved in public discourse about architecture and urban planning. His teaching experience includes appointments at the University of Southern California, Occidental College, Southern California Institute of Architecture, and U.C. Berkeley. He is also recognized for his work as a documentary filmmaker and received an Emmy Award for his contributions to KCET’s programming, including his documentary “That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles.” Hawthorne has engaged in numerous public conversations about architecture and urban planning through projects like the Los Angeles Project.

Research Interests