Leadership
Christopher Stienon is the founding principal of Urban Matrix. He is an architect and a certified planner specializing in the design of buildings and urban places that contribute to the broader formation of memorable cities and public spaces. His architecture promotes a contextual design that responds to the unique features of individual places; the history, human activities, environmental factors, and the physical conditions of a place. Both urban and rural settings are shaped by a combination of established cultural, natural and physical systems that are used to craft designs that are sensitively attuned to each individual setting. He uses context and precedent to establish a basis for a contemporary language of architecture and urban design that reflects the complexities of our modern society.
As both a licensed architect in the State of New York and a licensed professional planner in the State of New Jersey, and having worked with municipalities, planning agencies, private developers and institutions, Christopher has gained a broad familiarity with both the public and private sector forces that shape the modern built environment.
Prior to founding his own company, Christopher Stienon served as the Urban Design and Planning Director for the New York offices of both Stantec and AECOM where he worked on projects such as the Lower Manhattan Coastal Redevelopment study to mitigate flooding in Lower Manhattan due to sea level rise, a master plan for Governors Island, a master plan for Erie Basin waterfront in Brooklyn, as well as multiple studies for Smart Cities and sustainable design projects in diverse locations throughout the world. He has also worked as an architect and urban designer for the firms of EDAW, Skidmore Owings and Merrill, Beyer Blinder Belle, Cooper Robertson + Partners, and Frank Williams Associates. He has also contracted on large scale projects with the firms of FXFowle, HKS, and Perkins Eastman. He is currently engaged with Vita Nuova LLC as an urban designer and master planner on numerous brownfield and adaptive reuse studies.
Mr. Stienon is currently teaching courses about Architecture and Urban Design at New York City College of Technology, and at Fordham University where he teaches a course about Urbanism and the history of cities. He was also recently an adjunct professor at the Rutgers Universtiy Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick, NJ.
He is a member of the American Institute of Architects, the America Planning Association, the American Institute of Certified Planners, and the Urban Land Institute. He is also a certified LEED accredited design professional.