Curtis Worth Fentress, FAIA, RIBA

Curtis Fentress, FAIA, RIBA was born to a North Carolina farming family “between two wide spots in the road—Summerfield and Oakridge.” While in high school, he immediately gravitated to drafting and engineering.  Hard work enabled him to attend the School of Architecture at North Carolina State, where he graduated with honors.

After leaving a position with I.M. Pei, Fentress pursued his fascination with large-scale public projects and strove to make civic buildings more humanistic. Fentress came to Denver in the late 1970s.  He had been tasked with designing the Rocky Mountain headquarters of Amoco for New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox. Enchanted by Colorado’s beauty, Fentress decided to stay in Colorado.  He founded Fentress Architects in 1980 and was soon after awarded the opportunity to design Denver International Airport. His iconic, peaked-roof design—voted “Best Airport in North America” and fourth “Favorite American Architecture”—propelled him into the international realm.

Fentress designed Incheon International Airport in South Korea.  Thanks to comments from almost 9 million airline passengers, Incheon was voted 2009 “World’s Best Airport” by Skytrax. Incheon was also voted “World’s Best Airport” for four consecutive years by Airports Council International. He is also renowned for design of the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Greater Washington, DC, which has garnered over 20 awards for innovation and design excellence.

Fentress is known for his “Patient Search,” a meticulous discovery process that he and his design team follow.