Andrea Ponsi works in the fields of architectural design, design, painting and writing. He graduated in Florence in 1974 with Leonardo Savioli with a thesis on the use of renewable energy in architecture. He then obtained a Graduate Diploma from the Architectural Association in London and, following the award of the ITT Fellowship, a Master of Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania.

From 1978 to 1989 he lived in San Francisco where he worked on urban plans and architectural projects on environmental sustainability. In 2011, with his son Luca Ponsi, also an architect, he founded Studio Ponsi in Florence dedicated to architectural and furniture design.

His drawings and watercolours, to which he has always dedicated a significant part of his activity, have been the subject of personal exhibitions in Italy, Indonesia, Germany, the United States and South America. He is the author of “L’architettura dell’analogia” and “Disegnare analogie” dedicated to the role of analogical thinking in designing, and of “Florence - a map of perceptions” and “San Francisco - a map of perceptions” dedicated to the perception of urban space.

He has taught design and drawing at numerous universities, including the University of California at Berkeley, Syracuse University, the University of Southern California and the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel. Since 2017 he has been Paul Kea Distinguished Professor at the University of Maryland and since 2018 a corresponding member of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence.