Professor Dr. Ann Lui

Biography

Ann Lui is an assistant professor of practice at the University of Michigan and founding principal of Future Firm, a Chicago-based architecture design research practice. Future Firm focuses on designing spaces for changemakers, particularly serving nonprofits and community-led developments as well as arts and culture organizations. The firm received the J. Irwin Xenia S. Miller Prize in 2021 and was exhibited at the Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, Storefront Art & Architecture, and the Chicago Architecture Center. Lui’s scholarly work examines the intersection of professional practice and social justice, investigating access to design services and equitable building code enforcement. She has held teaching positions at multiple universities, including as the Cullinan Visiting Professor at Rice University, and was a co-curator of the Dimensions of Citizenship exhibition at the 2018 U.S. Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale. Additionally, she co-edited Public Space? Lost Found and has current research focused on building code and justice pathways, with publications such as 'Toward Office Public Architect' and 'Building Code Battleground'. Ann holds a Master of Science in Architectural Studies from MIT and a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University, where she received the Charles Goodwin Sands Medal and the Clifton Beckwith Brown Memorial Medal.

Research Interests

Courses