People

  • Personal Portfolio: www.amna-ansari.com

    Amna is founding partner of UltraBarrio, an urban design and architecture practice with a central goal to shape cities to be more civic, sustainable, and generationally connected by design. Ansari’s intentional multidisciplinary background aligns architecture, urbanism, landscape, and technologies towards socially vibrant, equitable and enduring spaces. Her recent talks - 'Eco-Altitude', 'Covert Landscapes' and 'Flight, Flows and New Fields' anticipate the overlaps of public space with technology. Amna participated at the Aerial Futures think tank ‘The Next Frontier’ as a speaker and panelist speculating on the future of commercial space flight and its urban impacts among a select number of leaders in NASA and Houston Area Aviation.

    Amna received her Master’s in Architecture and Urbanism from MIT, and her method of actively processing a broad range of scenarios concerning urban strategies for the future has been recognized through exhibitions in Washington DC, Rome, Milan, and Boston. As a designer who has lived and worked in Shanghai, Vienna, Boston, and today Houston, her portfolio of architecture and planning projects has contributed to numerous AIA and ASLA design awards.

    Amna is currently a Visiting Critic at Rice School of Architecture. She has taught graduate and undergraduate architecture studios in Boston and Houston and looks forward to bringing her research into teaching.

  • Personal Portfolio: www.marcusperspective.com/work

    Marcus is a Partner at Ultrabarrio where his experience in architecture and urbanism is dedicated to topics that foster resilient communities, repurposing infrastructure, and building types that relate to cycles of scarcity, surplus, and obsolescence.  

    His lens on these cycles were shaped as a collaborator focusing on mobility at the MIT Media Lab Changing Places group.  There he was responsible for prototyping folding vehicle chassis, incentivized business plans and technological platforms that retooled an urban fabric. These efforts translated into numerous urban core projects in Boston, including the 2024 Olympic Plan – smart city blueprint.  

    His MIT master’s thesis on urban infrastructure has been put into practice on 14 concepts and completed campus projects at the University of Houston, Sam Houston State University, and Prairie View A&M.  His work in established communities like the East End, Near Northside are immersed in culture, legacy, and site performance. He has been the recipient of numerous awards for his design efforts like the preservation award for the Ironworks in the East End, the repurposed Houston freeway – The Pierce Skypark, and recently state and local AIA awards for his design and engagement work in Gulfton.    

    Marcus received his master’s in architecture and urbanism from MIT and has been a thesis instructor at Boston Architectural College, held academic appointments at MIT, and today is a lecturer and studio instructor at the University Houston. He has been an invited critic at Rice University, Wentworth Institute, UBC SALA, and CU Denver.

  • Sara brings a fresh perspective as a Houston native with a focus on community based design that frames ethical and resilient outcomes. Her experience in architecture, planning, and community engagement positions her to approach each project with a thoughtful lens on design and place-making. She plays a critical role in visualizing big topics and ideas for the public, in order to gain meaningful input and feedback on implementable neighborhood improvements. Sara is currently examining the role of transit and mobility in creating cultural linkages that bridge connectivity, ecology, and place.

    Sara received her Bachelor’s in Architecture from the University of Houston.

  • With a background in sculpture and exhibitions, Anna entered architecture with an interest in social and ecological histories of land with a focus on materials and how they relate to a given context. During her time at Rice University, Anna received a travel fellowship to study architectural and infrastructural responses to unstable geologic and climatic conditions along Honshu, Japan’s eastern coast. Prior to joining UltraBarrio, Anna worked for Houston-based research and design collaborative HOME-OFFICE and has a range of experience in fabrication and artist assistance.

    Anna is a 2024 Master of Architecture Candidate at Rice University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art.

  • Moneeza is passionate about helping underserved communities through education and housing policy. She has consulted with Children at Risk and the New York City Department of Education to research schools and evaluate policies and programs aimed at serving children and families. While completing her Masters in Public Policy at NYU, she received the Education Pioneers Fellowship and was a research assistant at the NYU Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. Her work in the public sector has been informed by her corporate career where she worked in global corporate strategy at Visa and was a management consultant at Bain. Moneeza is a native Houstonian and magna cum laude graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

  • During her time as a researcher at Archea, Abigail conducted site analysis and research into local organizations and locales for a development project in B.C., Canada. She also helped facilitate communication with local stakeholders and the Sumas First Nation to gain input on the forthcoming project. During her tenure as president of Cornell NOMAS (National Organization of Minority Architecture Students) she enjoyed working as part of a team and collaborating on joint design opportunities while assisting with grant applications and external fundraising. This included organizing a three-day virtual conference in which the Cornell team presented a public housing and community center project. As a LEED project manager, she managed funds with a six-member team to build a project in a community that would have a lasting impact for a neighborhood with socio-economic and health implications.

    Abigail received her Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

Selected by MIT Alumni Association - Firm to Feature