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A. Christopher Purvis

Christopher is a registered architect in New Mexico, Arizona, Hawaii, Colorado and Massachusetts, and holds a certificate from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards. He was born in Montreal, Canada and graduated with honors from Milton Academy. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Hampshire College, Masters of Architecture from the University of New Mexico and has taught a planning studio in conjunction with MIT curriculum at Cheng Hwa University in Beijing, China.

Christopher ran his own design-build firm in Chicago and New York which specialized in office spaces renovations and exterior historic preservation. He apprenticed to a Japanese architect (Terou Hara) and Japanese temple craftsmen, building a residence on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts published in Architectural Digest. After receiving his Masters of Architecture, Christopher worked in the office of Antoine Predock FAIA. He has also spent four years traveling to and learning about historic sites and cultures across six continents.

For seven years Christopher was a partner at Architects Santa Fe there he designed several published residential projects, the Cesar Chavez Elementary School (58,000 sq. ft.) and the renovation of the Wood Gormley Elementary School (50,000 sq.ft.). Mr. Purvis worked on the South Central and Northwest Survey of Churches, visiting churches statewide to document existing conditions and making preservation recommendations for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. This work received a national Preservation Honor Award for the Preservation of New Mexico's historic churches from the National Trust for Historic Preservation 1992 Included in his preservation work was crafting an addition to an 1850s plaqued house on upper canyon road improving its functionality while preserving the character.

Currently Christopher has his own Architectural firm (founded in 1997) which has done work on a diverse group of projects such as; the New Mexico Academy for Mathematics and Sciences, Commercial projects such as several restaurants including the new Restaurant Martin, and Christ Church Santa Fe, Renovations to the Museum of Fine Arts and development of various affordable housing projects, and custom residential projects.

Christopher is the past president of the San Acacio neighborhood association, and past chair on the City of Santa Fe Historic Design Review Board. And past member of the Cultural Properties Review Committee. He has direct experience interacting with City and State staff and developers from both sides of many issues.