Somos Group Leadership
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Chris Torres
Principal Architect
Chris leads the Civic Studio; a multidisciplinary studio focused on visioning and urban design for domestic and international projects ranging from urban in-fill housing to large scale master planning and ecological planning.
Chris is also the founding Principal of Agency Artifact, a landscape architecture studio designing projects throughout the United States. Previously he was a Design Principal at the Jerde Partnership and served as a Vice President, working with over 100 designers, working around the world.
Beyond his work as a practitioner, Chris was a visiting researcher of Urban Design at the Queensland University of Technology, lecturer in Landscape Architecture and Urbanism at USC, Vice President of the LA Forum for Architecture and Urban Design and member of Mayor Garcetti’s Great Street’s design advisory committee. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Landscape Architecture Foundation. Chris is an active public speaker throughout California on topics related to public space and the future of cities.
Chris holds a BA in Urban Studies from LMU, Master of Landscape Architecture from UC Berkeley, and training in Urban Design from the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation.
