Annie Kountz is a licensed architect, structural engineer, educator, and advocate. She is an Assistant Professor at Portland State University’s School of Architecture, where she teaches architectural design studios, structures, community-based design, and tectonics through creative making and collaboration. Her work centers social justice and explores how design can connect material making and community priorities to create more equitable, sustainable, and meaningful places.
Her path began in structural engineering, where she worked on stadiums, skyscrapers, and cultural projects. She holds a B.S. in Civil and Structural Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where she was a four-year Dean’s Merit Scholar. She has taught at Barnard/Columbia in New York City and practiced with firms including MASS Design Group, Toshiko Mori, ESKW/A, and Steven Holl, before co-founding Good News Studio. Her built work includes supportive and affordable housing, schools, community centers, restorative justice spaces, libraries, and memorials, several recognized with AIA awards. She has received honors including the SOM Fellowship and President’s Public Service Award, and has lectured and exhibited at Harvard, Princeton, Rutgers, Parsons, and internationally. Across teaching, research, and practice, she is interested in making architecture more accessible, collaborative, and responsive to the people and places it serves.