Celeste Ponce is a registered architect and founder of Ponce Architecture. She received a Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation with honors for Excellence in Design and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston. Her research examines how people’s resiliency shapes their environment, especially in underserved communities. Ponce teaches at the University of Houston’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design and is a faculty member at Wonderworks Houston, a scholarship driven and competitive pre-college architectural program. Her research, “Seeing Double: A Journey Along the Rio Bravo” was featured in Rice University’s, Cite 103 (Rice Design Alliance, 2022). The research was also featured in a solo exhibition at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning in 2018. Her writing surveying Houston’s East Side appeared in Texas Architect’s March/April, Nature/Culture and Commercial issue and July/August, Public/Private issue (2021, 2023, Texas Society of Architects). Ponce is a recipient of an AIA Houston Design award in 2017, 2019, and the Texas Society of Architects Award in 2020. She is a LEED Accredited Professional, and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Collaborators: Raghad Al Gaood, Cynthia Cruz, Allison Gander, Jon Henning, Mitzi Jimenez, Sharon Lott, Asmaa Olwi, Sharon Philip, Greg Tauriac, Sheryl Tucker de Vazquez, Elizabeth Westmoreland, and Austine Yu