Karla Britton

Karla Britton is a Lecturer in the School of Architecture. Her academic work focuses on the modern architect’s engagement with tradition in twentieth-century architecture and urbanism. Her teaching has emphasized the intersection of classicism and modernization, the evolution of modern ecclesiastical building, and in a multireligious context the relationship between religion and modern architecture. She has taught and led a symposium on modern religious architecture, and is organizing an international conference on sacred architecture of the Middle East.

Ms. Britton’s books include the monograph Auguste Perret (published by Phaidon in both English and French, 2001); the prize-winning Hawaiian Modern (Yale, 2008; edited with Dean Sakamoto); and the interdisciplinary Constructing the Ineffable: Contemporary Sacred Architecture (Yale School of Architecture, 2011). Her current research addresses modern sacred architecture in the non-Western world. Before coming to Yale, Ms. Britton was director of the architecture program in Paris of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, and associate professor (adjunct) of architecture. At Yale, she has taught at the Institute of Sacred Music, the Yale-in-London program, and Yale College. Ms. Britton received a B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder, an M.A. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. from Harvard University.