Liz Ranieri

Liz Ranieri, FAIA, is an architect, educator, and Managing Principal of Kuth Ranieri Architects, the bicoastal practice she co-founded with Byron Kuth, FAIA, in 1990. Her work explores architecture at the intersection of design, infrastructure, environment, and public life—an approach that has shaped projects ranging from intimate public spaces and community museums to large-scale transportation infrastructure and airports.

Under Liz’s leadership, Kuth Ranieri Architects has developed a national reputation for expressive, site-specific, and environmentally responsive design. Working across scales and disciplines, the practice approaches architecture not as an isolated object, but as part of larger social, ecological, and infrastructural systems. Liz has led the firm’s research into the relationship between built and natural infrastructure, advancing design strategies that address climate change, rising seas, extreme weather, and the long-term resilience of cities and communities.

Her architectural practice is closely connected to a longstanding commitment to teaching and research. Liz has taught at California College of the Arts, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design, where she served as Friedman Professor and Esherick Visiting Professor. She has also served as a Capstone Advisor at UC Berkeley’s Fung Institute for Engineering. Across these roles, her teaching has explored architecture’s capacity to engage broader questions of environment, technology, infrastructure, and culture.

Liz currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Department of Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design, the AIA California Monterey Design Conference Committee, and AIA San Francisco’s Fellowship Nomination Committee. Her past service includes the MIT Corporation Visiting Committee for the Department of Architecture from 2012 to 2020 and ten years on SFMOMA’s Accessions Committee for Architecture, Design & Digital Projects.

The work of Kuth Ranieri Architects has received numerous local, regional, and national AIA awards, as well as recognition from the Architectural League of New York through its Young Architects and Emerging Voices programs. The firm’s monograph, Kuth Ranieri Architects, was published by Princeton Architectural Press with support from the Graham Foundation. Liz was elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 2010 in the Object of Design category.