Karen Fairbanks headshot

Karen Fairbanks

Faculty Director, Professor of Professional Practice in Architecture

Department

Architecture Department, Urban Studies, Design Center

Office

500N The Diana Center

Contact

CV

Karen Fairbanks, Professional Practice in Architecture and Chair of the Department of Architecture, joined the faculty of Barnard in 1996 where she teaches design studios and courses on architecture and technology. As Department Chair, she oversaw the merger of the Barnard and Columbia Architecture programs and has developed the current department curriculum. In addition to her teaching duties for the Department of Architecture, she is affiliated with Barnard's Urban Studies Program.

Professor Fairbanks received the 2015 Educator Award in New York State’s American Institute of Architects (AIA) Annual Honor Awards. She has been a jury member for design awards around the country and advised on architectural education around the world. She currently chairs the American Library Association’s national committee on Buildings for College and University Libraries.

Professor Fairbanks is a partner in the independent architectural practice, Marble Fairbanks. The firm specializes in cultural and institutional work and the integration of digital technology into design and production. Notable projects include the Glen Oaks Branch Library in Queens, the Toni Stabile Student Center for the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, and Tenrikyo Mission New York Center Church in Flushing. The firm has also worked with NYU, The New School, Princeton University, The New York Public Library, Lawrence University, The Cooper Union, Hunter College, and Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center. Marble Fairbanks was commissioned by the Museum of Modern Art to design Flatform, a speculative architectural wall system for the exhibit Home Delivery and drawings by Marble Fairbanks for the Nara Convention Hall Design Competition are in the permanent collection of MoMA. They were selected for the NYC Department of Design and Construction’s Design Excellence Program and have been recognized with numerous international design awards including multiple AIA Design Awards and American Architecture Awards, the Building of the Year by American-Architects, Emerging Architect Award, and a Progressive Architecture Award.

  • BS, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
  • MArch., Columbia University

  • Architectural design for cultural and institutional projects
  • Design of teaching/learning environments
  • Library Design

  • Marble Fairbanks: Bootstrapping (University of Michigan, 2005).
  • 1000 x Architecture of the Americas (Berlin, 2008).
  • The Architect: Women in Contemporary Architecture (Australia, 2001).

In The News

Through this inaugural collaboration with Design Summer Institute, the College empowers and equips young women to pursue careers in architecture and design.

August 7, 2023

From anthropology to neuroscience, Barnard professors were recognized by the American Institute of Architects, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and more.

May 10, 2021

We spoke to the director and chairs of each department, who shared what makes the end-of-year shows and performances by students in art, music, and theatre special.

May 28, 2019

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture—an institution integral to Barnard’s Harlem Semester—has been newly renovated thanks to the architecture firm led by Claire Tow Professor of Professional Practice and Department of Architecture Chair Karen Fairbanks.

October 9, 2017