B.Arch., Louisiana Tech University; M.Arch., Yale University
Christopher Coe teaches second-year, third-year and topic studios and serves as a guest juror throughout the school year. He is a practicing architect and is CEO of his own Los Angeles-based design firm, COE Architecture International, which is widely recognized for its unique approach to architecture as city-making. It is a critical practice focusing on the city as a sustainable organism and designs mixed-used, urban in-fill projects and transit-oriented developments that are skillfully integrated into the larger fabric of the city with the knowledge that each new building is framed by those of the past. Past and current projects include performing arts centers, public schools and high-rise residential, hotel and office projects in the United States and aboard.

Mr. Coe’s distinguished career has been marked by uncommon leadership and design vision. He holds architecture degrees from Yale University—where he served as teaching assistant to the legendary Vincent Scully—and Louisiana Tech University. With early training in the New York office of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, Coe moved to Los Angeles from the New York office of Richard Meier and Partners to be project designer on the Getty Center. He then established the Los Angeles office of Arquitectonica, where he was Managing Director and Director of Design.

Coe’s extensive building experience is bolstered by a firm standing in academia which provides a depth of research into city-making and architectural exploration. In addition to teaching at USC, Mr. Coe has served as an instructor and visiting critic at architecture schools throughout the country. In addition, he has received numerous design awards including Honor Awards from the Los Angeles AIA, Louisiana AIA, Gulf States Region AIA and the Los Angeles Business Council. Christopher was a juror on the National AIA Honor Awards jury and was awarded the American Institute of Architect’s highest honor for young practitioners: The Young Architects Citation for Design Excellence.  In 1998 he received the Award of Distinction in the juried exhibit “101 New Blood”. In addition, His work has been featured in Architectural Digest, Interiors, Interior Design, Store Design and Design Journal magazines and in publications by Thames & London and Rizzoli.

An active member of the Los Angeles AIA, Coe has served both as a board member and co-chair of the intensely competitive Design Awards Program. He is a member of the LA Area Chamber of Commerce Awards Committee, Lambda Alpha Land Use Society and the Urban Land Institute, and has been appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to the Department of Public Works Architectural Evaluation Board for three consecutive terms.