Building for What’s Next
Photo by Stephen Munchel.
videos by Joe O'Neill and Stephen Munchel
Architect Chris Sharples ’87 Returns to Dickinson as Burgess Institute Executive in Residence
Chris Sharples ’87 has spent his career shaping some of the world’s most recognized buildings. As the founder of SHoP Architects—the New York firm behind projects ranging from the Barclays Center to the redesign of the Domino Sugar Factory site—he has built a reputation for design that is as conceptually rigorous as it is culturally responsive.
Recently, he returned to Dickinson as an executive in residence with the Burgess Institute for the Global Economy, bringing that same rigor to a week of conversations with students.
“What was really exciting was how the students were looking at the data, drawing conclusions and then saying, ‘What can we do to improve?’ ” Sharples said of a discussion with students in Environmental Data Analysis in Practice, a class taught by Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Maggie Douglas. “When you learn that in school, that’s not something you leave here on campus. That’s something you take with you for the rest of your life."
Through the class, the students are conducting a semesterlong experiential research project to analyze Dickinson’s electricity use for 2025 in partnership with the college's Center for Sustainability Education. The project aims to provide real-world analysis of energy use by building type, size, occupancy, building features, age and weather. The results will be presented to campus stakeholders later this month to provide recommendations to increase efficiencies, thereby reducing emissions and saving money.
"This is really where I see the importance of the liberal arts at Dickinson," Sharples said on the work the students are doing. "You're not only learning theories and crossing disciplines, but you're actually applying what you're learning to real-life problems.”
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Published April 9, 2026