PONCE ARCHITECTURE

An award-winning, research-driven design practice exploring the intersection of culture, context, and the built environment.

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 FEATURED WORK

Woodlands Christian Center

Spec House
      2019 AIA Houston Award
2020 Texas Architect Studio Award

Zina Garrison Tennis Academy
      2017 AIA Houston Award

  

Four Leaf Towers

Rise Academy of Dance

 PUBLICATIONS

“Seeing Double,” Cite Magazine

“Breathing Lessons,” Texas Architect

“Both Sides Now,” Cite Digital

“In the Air,” Texas Architect ACADEMIC RESEARCH

“The National Trunk Line”

University of New Mexico Exhibition

Hot Ticket














Ponce Architecture is a research-driven design practice that investigates the intersection of culture, context, and the built environment.

Our approach is rooted in a rigorous design process that integrates personal testimonies, historical narratives, and cultural geography. This methodology expands the contextual framework, shedding light on complex questions that encompass sociopolitical, infrastructural, and environmental issues, as well as those related to local vernaculars, cultural networks, and everyday domestic life.

Our ongoing research catalyzes urgent conversations about the built environment. We believe that impactful, community-centered design emerges from thoughtful inquiry and academic rigor.

Ponce Architecture is a certified Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) by the State of Texas. The office was recognized with AIA Houston Design Awards in 2017 and 2019, and received a Texas Society of Architects Design Award in 2020.













Celeste Ponce, founder and principal of Ponce Architecture, is a registered architect. She earned her Master of Science in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, where she was awarded honors for Excellence in Design. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Houston. Celeste is a faculty member at the University of Houston’s Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design and is a LEED Accredited Professional and a member of the American Institute of Architects.

Her research, "Seeing Double: A Journey Along the Rio Bravo," was featured in Cite 103 (Rice Design Alliance, 2022) and exhibited in a solo exhibition at the University of New Mexico’s School of Architecture and Planning in 2018. Her writings on Houston’s East Side have appeared in Texas Architect magazine’s March/April 2021 (Nature/Culture and Commercial) and July/August 2023 (Public/Private) issues.

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, Austine Yu.