Ahrens named Chair of Graduate Architecture

“I am delighted to have Chandler step into this role,” Aki Ishida, director of the Graduate School of Architecture & Urban Design, said. “From his extensive professional practice experience, Chandler brings a great range of expertise and skills in building systems, fabrication, and digital technologies.

"He knows how to think through making, which is an invaluable skill to impart to our students,” Ishida added. “He is a talented designer and a trusted teacher, mentor, and colleague, and I know he will be a thoughtful leader in shaping the future of the graduate architecture program.”

Ahrens shared that he is “looking forward to contributing in this new role toward the evolution of the school that builds on our legacy of critical thinking and design experimentation grounded in history and theory.”

Since joining the Sam Fox School as an assistant professor in 2012, Ahrens has taught a variety of courses, including a section of Degree Project, the final design studio for graduate students, and Advanced Building Systems, the final class in the building technology sequence that tasks graduate students with developing all major building systems on a previous studio project. He has also chaired and served on several committees, including the Steedman Fellowship committee.

Ahrens has also worked closely with the school’s Office for Socially Engaged Practice, most recently leading the new Summer Public Design Workshop. The program tasked art, architecture, and design students with designing and prototyping decorative screens for the Be Well Café and Market currently under development in St. Louis’ Hyde Park. In an interview with St. Louis Public Radio, Ahrens noted the importance of students listening to and collaborating with community partner Fatimah Muhammad, owner of Be Well Café.

Prior to his arrival at WashU, Ahrens held roles as an architect at several firms, including nine years at Morphosis Architects, where he was responsible for significant projects like the New Academic Building at Cooper Union in New York, the U.S. Embassy in London, and the Phare Tower in Paris.

In 2004, he co-founded Open Source Architecture, an award-winning design research practice with offices in St. Louis, Los Angeles, and Tel Aviv. The firm’s innovative work ranges from industrial and interior design to residential and commercial buildings. In St. Louis, Ahrens has worked on spaces operated by the Kranzberg Arts Foundation, including the popular Sophie’s Artist Lounge, as well as an installation at 21c Museum Hotel, “View Finder.” Further afield, significant projects include retailer Rajeunir Palm Desert in California and the Naver Cloud Data Center GAK2 design competition in South Korea, which the team — including landscape firm West-8 and engineering firm Buro Happold — presented to the client in Seoul.

Ahrens co-founded another firm, AVV A, in 2024 with Sam Fox School colleagues Constance Vale and Kelley Van Dyck Murphy. Among their projects is The Key, is a 9,000-square-foot adaptive reuse of an old hardware store and market into a music venue and restaurant/bar in the Grand Center Arts District, slated to open in August 2025. They are also at work on three houses for the On Olive development in collaboration with Höweler + Yoon and Atelier Cory Henry, and are currently serving as 2024-25 University Design Research Fellows with Exhibit Columbus.

Ahrens earned his Bachelor of Architecture at Savannah College of Art and Design and his Master of Architecture at the University of California, Los Angeles. He succeeds Mónica Rivera, who held the role from 2018-2025, when she joined the faculty at Rice University as the Harry K. and Albert K. Smith Professor and director of graduate studies.