ARCHITECT | AUTHOR | MUSICIAN | ARTIST
Anthony Poon combines discipline and improvisation to create transformative architecture and reimagine social engagement. He asserts that good design belongs to everyone. Through a process that blends rigor, artistry, and optimism, Anthony’s work elevates quality of life. He has been admitted into the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, for “exceptional contributions to society nationally”—an honor bestowed on less than 3% of the national industry.
His Los Angeles company, Poon Design Inc., a multi-disciplinary architecture studio, serves national and international clients in residential, commercial, educational, and religious projects. With over 300 completed buildings, Anthony’s eclectic body of architecture has received 50 national and regional honors, and has been chronicled in over 100 publications.
Anthony received his Master of Architecture from Harvard University, with a thesis studying how the making of jazz can influence the making of architecture. He received his Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley, Magna Cum Laude—studying architecture and music and serving as co-editor of Concrete: The Journal for the College of Environmental Design.
As a frequent public speaker, he presents at national and regional conferences, as well as schools and universities. Anthony is LEED-accredited and a certified Feng Shui professional, holding membership with the International Feng Shui Guild. In 2004, he was invited to the Pop Culture Panel of USA Today. He also performed as solo pianist for the 2012 Architects in Concert, and is an awarded mixed-media artist for the 2013, 2020, and 2021 national Beverly Hills Art Show. His visual arts have been exhibited in Berkeley, Cambridge, and Los Angeles. His black and white photography has been published by Van Nostrand Reinhold press.
Anthony’s 2017 book, Sticks and Stones / Steel and Glass: One Architect’s Journey, is available at Amazon. Part essays and critique, part behind-the-scenes, and part auto-biographical—this book captures the artistic spirit: the nobility and the humility. The writing examines art as shelter and the role of architecture in daily life and for social good.
Available at Amazon, the 2020 hardcover book, Live Learn Eat: Architecture by Anthony Poon, is internationally published by ORO Editions and edited by acclaimed architectural critic, Michael Webb. For this fully illustrated, large format monograph, Webb states, “Anthony Poon’s passion for music inspires a vibrant architecture that engages its users and the environment. This monograph explores three fields in which Poon Design have excelled: housing, schools and restaurants. . . Here you can track the creative process from concept sketch to model, plan to completion.”
Anthony’s debut 2022 novel, Death by Design at Alcatraz, examines ego and arrogance. The architectural thriller explores redemption within the creative process. Taking place in San Francisco cloaked in fog and secrets, architects are being murdered as they compete for a new museum of art at the notorious Alcatraz Island. Who will win and at what cost? Available at Amazon.