AIAVT's Awards Committee members are pleased to announce the following individuals will be making up this year's AIA Vermont Design Awards Jury. This group collectively represents a wide range of backgrounds and expertise within the field of architecture. The jury will select the winning projects of the AIAVT Design Awards competition, which will be announced on Thursday, December 9th, 2021 at our Annual Meeting.

Katherine Austin, AIA

Katherine Austin is an architect based in Bend OR and Sebastopol CA. She holds an M.Arch from UCLA and a BFA and MFA from Boston University. She was licensed in CA in 1991 and established her firm in 1995. Katherine has been an AIA member continuously since 1993 and served 5 years on the National Housing Knowledge Community, 3 on the Board Knowledge Community and is a past President of the Redwood Empire Chapter of CA. Currently Katherine serves on the executive committee of the AIA Oregon. She has served on the Jury of the National AIA Housing Awards and Small Project Awards. Katherine’s specialty is sustainable affordable housing with approximately 900 units of housing built to date. She currently serves on the City of Bend’s Affordable Housing Advisory Committee advocating for affordability in her region. As a former Mayor and Planning Commissioner she believes strongly in public service.

Erica L. Cedar, AIA

Erica Ceder is an architect at DLR Group specializing in the restoration and rehabilitation of historic properties. Erica completed her undergraduate degree at Ball State University and a Masters of Architecture at the University of Oregon. She has focused the majority of her 23-year career on complex historic renovations and has worked on a variety of properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Erica is consistently fascinated by the way that buildings become physical manifestations of history and representations of the people and communities that touch them over time.  She is passionate about building reuse as both a way to conserve resources and to keep our connections to history alive. Most recently Erica was a key leader on the reconstruction of The Portland Building, an iconic post-modern building originally designed by Michael Graves. She has presented sessions at multiple regional and national venues including AIAU, AIA Conference on Architecture, and DBIA National Conference.  Erica also serves as vice-chair on the Oregon State Board of Architect Examiners.

Derrick McDonald, AIAS

Derrick McDonald is a student, researcher, and designer working in various capacities for various organizations committed to design justice. He has assisted with developing and implementing high school and college-level design education curriculum, lectured at undergraduate and graduate-level programs in the Architecture and Urban Planning departments at Portland State University, co-facilitated lectures and workshops for design offices and professional conferences such as the 2020 Society of Campus and University Planners (SCUP) Conference and 2019 American Institute of Architecture: Oregon (AIAO) Future Vision Conference, presented work on race and space as a student leader in the Space Matters cohort at the 2019 Critical Race Studies in Education Association (CRSEA) Conference, 2019 SCUP Conference, and 2019 Student Success and Retention Conference. Derrick is driven by a strong commitment to justice and a belief in the possibilities of “a world of many worlds.” When not working to understand and unravel the importance of design in society, he enjoys stories and storytelling, working with his hands, and connecting with others.

Chandra Robinson, AIA

Chandra Robinson is a Principal at LEVER Architecture, a Portland, Oregon-based design practice recognized for material innovation. She is passionate about creating beautiful places that are accessible for everyone. Chandra is currently working with communities on transformative designs for affordable housing and libraries. In addition to her civic design work, Chandra is a member of the Portland Design Commission; a Founding Board Member and Treasurer of the National Organization for Minority Architects (NOMA), Portland chapter; and on the advisory board of Hip Hop Architecture Camp.

Learn more about the AIAVT Annual Design Awards, and How to Submit Your Project Here.