Joseph Allen Stein was an American architect. He was born in Omaha on April 10, 1912. After studies at the University of Illinois and work in New York and Los Angeles, he established a practice in San Francisco. In 1952, he became head of the new architecture program at the Bengal Engineering College in Calcutta and his firm would become the largest in India. Clients included the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations, various non-profit organizations, governmental entities, and private businesses and individuals. Stein's interests included long-span lightweight structures, regional modernism, the environment of the Himalayas, and sustainability more broadly. He is known for such buildings as the India International Centre, the India Habitat Centre, the Triveni Kala Sangam, ICRISAT, the Indian Express Tower, and the Australian High Commission's Chancery.