Courtney Klee, MArch 2023. Photo by Georgia Jones.
Recent graduate Courtney Klee, MArch 2023, was selected for the 2023 Metropolis Future100. Chosen by Metropolis Magazine, this award pools the top 100 graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada. She was nominated by LSU School of Architecture faculty Fabio Capra-Ribeiro, assistant professor, and Sergio Padilla, undergraduate coordinator & instructor.
“Notable for her versatility, breadth of knowledge, and technical skill, Courtney has excelled in studio design courses. She has developed a particular and sophisticated awareness of community and regional issues, and cultivated a practical focus on social, spatial, and environmental justice,” faculty nominators wrote.
“Courtney has shown skill and service acumen as an educator, both in her previous life as a preschool teacher and her excellent work as a tutor and teaching assistant for students in the School of Architecture. Her desire to support and assist others has particularly improved the personal and academic development of first-year students in the undergraduate program at LSU. Courtney has likewise excelled in research, focusing her work on the study of social and economic inequality in Baton Rouge and the ecologically degraded area of South Louisiana referred to as Cancer Alley.
“In short, Courtney is a model student and colleague in the architecture school, representing the highest in academic achievement, dedication, personal warmth, and demonstrated willingness to serve others.”
“It’s an honor to have been selected as one of Metropolis’ Future 100 along with many other talented student designers across the country,” Klee said. “I’d like to specifically thank Dr. Fabio Capra Riberio and Sergio Padilla for their nomination and mentorship throughout my time at LSU.”
Klee said that her graduate education at LSU “explored topics including coastal restoration, green corridors, afrofuturism, ways to decolonize design, strategies for net zero architecture, and more, have allowed me to grow as a community and environmentally focused designer prepared to tackle pressing challenges.”
Post-graduation, Klee is excited to be joining the Waggonner & Ball team in New Orleans as a Design Associate II.
About the Metropolis Future100
Following the debut of the Future100 program in 2021, Metropolis set out once again this year to designate the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the United States and Canada. The program, sponsored by CannonDesign, Daltile, Formica, Interface, Keilhauer, Rapt, Sherwin-Williams, and SOM, invited the most talented students from the class of 2022 to apply. The final 100 are featured below.
Nominated by their instructors and mentors, these 56 interior design and 44 architecture students were chosen by the Metropolis team. They hail from some of the best schools in North America, from Tuskegee University to California College of the Arts, and call anywhere from Orlando, Florida, to Toronto home. A diverse group—with many identifying as female, BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, or neurodiverse—they are leaders on their campuses, advocating for equity and inclusion through their work and extracurriculars.
