Karla was born and raised in Maracaibo, on the Caribbean coast of Venezuela. She earned an architecture degree with honors from La Universidad del Zulia and completed her MArch from the University of Illinois at Chicago as a Fulbright-Laspau grantee. Her hyphenated identity and experiences as a first-generation immigrant and member of the Venezuelan diaspora, fuel her explorations on cross-cultural translations, redefining fundamentals, and democracy in design. Karla is a registered architect in Hawai'i, Illinois, and Venezuela and a member of the American Institute of Architects. She has served on the AIA Honolulu Board of Directors and as co-president of the Chicago Architectural Club.

At the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Karla is an associate professor with tenure at the School of Architecture, where she serves as the director of undergraduate studies, coordinates the Design Fundamentals Studio, and teaches advanced courses that explore the process and agency of design through analytical drawing and architectural production. In 2020, she was honored with the UHM Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching. Karla is a Principal Investigator and member of the start-up team at the University of Hawai'i Community Design Center, where she conducts public-interest design research projects serving the citizens of Hawai'i.

Since 2003, Karla has co-authored creative projects, productions, collaborations, and calls for action with Brian Strawn. This partnership was ignited by a proposal for the 9/11 Memorial in New York, which was selected as one of eight finalists amongst 5,201 entries in what turned out to be the largest architecture competition ever held. Sierralta and Strawn's work responds to the layered complexities and responsibilities of design, focusing on reimagining spatial typologies and architectural artifacts as catalysts for expanding understanding. Their work has been recognized nationally and internationally, including honors and awards from AIA, ACSA, IIDA, Graphic Design USA, Fast Company, and SEGD. Brian and Karla's independent and collaborative efforts continue to inform the Strawn Sierralta body of work, lineage of ideas, and way of thinking.

Before joining the faculty at UHM, Karla was a Studio Associate Professor at the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where she was curator of foundational graduate studios and taught across the graduate and undergraduate curriculum. She has also served on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Universidad Rafael Urdaneta, and La Universidad del Zulia.

karla@strawnsierralta.com

Brian grew up on his family's farm in Mid-Central Illinois, established in the 1830s. His agricultural and rural upbringing sparked his interest in the environment, leading him to pursue a BA in Zoology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and a Master of Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Seeking to expand beyond the traditional boundaries of architectural practice, Brian earned a Master of Design with a focus on design strategy and user research from IIT's Institute of Design, founded as The New Bauhaus by László Moholy-Nagy. Brian is a registered architect in Illinois and Hawai'i, is a member of the American Institute of Architects, and served as co-president of the Chicago Architectural Club.

At the University of Hawaiʻi, Brian is the inaugural Director of the Office of Planning and Spatial Experience, where he leads efforts centered on imagining the physical and digital realms of the campus of the future. In his previous roles at UH, Brian led public interest design projects for multiple state agencies and nonprofits serving the citizens of Hawai'i and taught research-focused design studios at the School of Architecture, where he served as a Principal Investigator, Lecturer, and key member of the start-up team at the University of Hawai'i Community Design Center.

Since 2003, Brian has co-authored creative projects, productions, collaborations, and calls for action with Karla Sierralta. This partnership was ignited by a proposal for the 9/11 Memorial in New York, which was selected as one of eight finalists amongst 5,201 entries in what turned out to be the largest architecture competition ever held. Sierralta and Strawn's work responds to the layered complexities and responsibilities of design, focusing on reimagining spatial typologies and architectural artifacts as catalysts for expanding understanding. Their work has been recognized nationally and internationally, including honors and awards from AIA, ACSA, IIDA, Graphic Design USA, Fast Company, and SEGD. Brian and Karla's independent and collaborative efforts continue to inform the Strawn Sierralta body of work, lineage of ideas, and way of thinking.

Before joining UH, Brian served as a Design Director at IA Collaborative, an innovation and design consultancy in Chicago, where he led multidisciplinary teams composed of user researchers, product designers, business strategists, UI/UX and graphic designers on projects for clients that included Abbott, Godrej, Hyatt's Andaz boutique hotels, and FedEx. As a young architectural designer, Brian trained at Vinci Hamp Architects in Chicago under John Vinci, FAIA, where he worked on the renovation of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park, an expansive exhibit on Josef Hoffmann’s work at the Neue Galerie in New York, and various projects at Crab Tree Farm, a 19th-century, lakefront, dairy farm reimagined as a Museum of Arts and Crafts furniture and decorative arts in Lake Bluff.

Brian's diverse skill set has led to his engagement on a wide range of projects, including research and creative work for Santa Clara University, Johns Hopkins, Chicago Loop Alliance, Hyatt, China Guardian, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

brian@strawnsierralta.com

2023 SEGD Global Design Award, Beyond Wayfinding

2023 Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Award, ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi Campus

2023 AIA Honolulu Award of Excellence, ‘Ōlelo Hawaiʻi Campus

2023 AIA Honolulu Distinctive Detail Award, Beyond Wayfinding

2023 Graphic Design USA’s Digital Award, Beyond Wayfinding

2023 Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Award, Art & Design, Beyond Wayfinding

2022 ACSA Architectural Education Awards, Collaborative Practice, Future of Hawaii’s Housing

2021 ACSA Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, and Society, Just Play (with Das, Ho Schar, White)

2021 National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Grant, Building Voices (with Dungca, Ho Schar, White)

2020 AIA Honolulu Design Award, Honorable Mention Institutional, Lawn Loungers

2020 AIA Honolulu Distinctive Detail Award, P1CT Infusion Suite Mock-up

2019 International Interior Design Association, Hawai‘i Pacific Chapter, Ho’ohuli Maker Award, A-Frames

2019 AIA Honolulu Design Award, Honorable Mention Unbuilt, Plural Territories

2018 ACSA Play with the Rules, Large Pavilion Competition Finalist, Plural Territories

2017 AIA Honolulu Design Award, Honorable Mention Institutional, Design Islands

2015 The Shining Maze Competition Finalist, The Shining Maze

2011 Modern Mountain Home Award, Tahoe Quarterly, Ski On Home

2007 Emerging Visions Award, Chicago Architectural Club

2006 IBM Engineering Innovation Award, History Channel’s City of the Future, Lake Effect

2006 Gold Star Citation Award, Global Green USA Sustainable Housing Competition for New Orleans, House Made of Cups

2005 McCormick Tribune Foundation Sculpture Competition Finalist, Freedom by Numbers

2004 Ford Calumet Environmental Center Competition Finalist, Ecology of Foreign Objects

2004 Green Tent Design Competition First Prize Award, Endemic Synthetic

2004 Paris Olympic Landmark Competition Notable Entry Award, Field of Play

2003 World Trade Center Memorial Competition Finalist, Dual Memory

2019 SALT in Kaka’ako, Honolulu, HI. “Parking Day” installation. September 20, 2019. Lawn Loungers

2019 Carnegie Museum of Art Music Hall Foyer and Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. “Drawing for the Design Imaginary” exhibit. March 23-30, 2019. Draw Story

2018 Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum and UWM SARUP, Milwaukee, WI. “PLAY (things)” exhibit. October, 18, 2018 - Jan 27, 2019. Plural Territories

2017 Hawaiʻi Convention Center, Honolulu, HI. ”Polynesian Voyaging Society Hōkūleʻa Welcome Gala” installation. June 20, 2017. Design Islands

2017 Hawaiʻi State Capitol, Honolulu, HI. “Building Voices Design Festival” installation. April 22, 2017. Design Islands

2016 Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “50 Designers, 50 Ideas, 50 Wards” exhibit. May 24, 2016 - January 2017. Inside / Out (with Susan Conger-Austin)

2015 Chicago Architecture Biennial at Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “Currencies of Architecture” exhibit, September 30 - December 04, 2015. Come to the Table (with Carlo Parente)

2013 Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “The 2013 Burnham Prize Competition” exhibit, June 6 - 28, 2013. Next Stop

2012 Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “Reconsidering an Icon” exhibit, November 6, 20 - March 28, 2013. Future Prentice

2012 IIT Institute of Design, Chicago, IL. “75th Anniversary Celebration” installation, May 11-23, 2012. Concept Loop (with Martin Thaler)

2011 Centro de Bellas Artes, Maracaibo, Venezuela. “SUB40, Arquitectura Emergente en Venezuela” exhibit, February 24-25, 2011. Ski-On Home

2007 Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, IL. “City of the Future” exhibit, June 7 - October 10, 2007. Lake Effect

2007 Acme Art Works Gallery, Chicago, IL. “Envisioning the Bloomingdale Line” exhibit, May 18 - June 3, 2007. ArtLine Chicago

2006 The History Channel at Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “City of the Future Competition” Installation, November 17, 2006. Lake Effect

2006 Chicago Cultural Center and Chicago Center for Green Technology, Chicago, IL. “Water Tanks: The Chicago Prize Competition” exhibit, November - January 29, 2006. City Hive

2005 Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “Public Process for Public Architecture” exhibit, January 2005 - May 2006. Dual Memory and Freedom by Numbers

2005 Chicago Tribune Tower, Chicago, IL. “McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum Sculpture Competition Finalists” exhibit, June 2005. Freedom by Numbers

2005 Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA. “C2C Cradle to Cradle Homes Competition'' exhibit, January - March 2005. Filtering Patterns

2005 Pavillon de L’Arsenal, Paris, France. “454 projects for Paris 2012” exhibit, December 7 - February 13, 2005. Field of Play

2004 HDTS High Desert Test Sites 4, Joshua Tree, CA. “Ecoshack Green Tents” exhibit, October 23-24, 2004. Endemic Synthetic

2004 gardenLAb experiment at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA. “Ecoshack Green Tents” exhibit, September 7 - October 16, 2004. Endemic Synthetic

2004 Chicago Architecture Center, Chicago, IL. “Big & Green Chicago” exhibit, June 1 - September 12, 2004. Ecology of Foreign Objects

2004 Graham Foundation, Chicago, IL. “WTC Memorial Competition Chicago Entries” pop-up exhibit of Dual Memory accompanied by other Chicago entries, February 24, 2004. Dual Memory

2003 World Financial Center, New York, NY. “WTC Site Memorial Competition Finalists” exhibit, November 20 - December 6, 2003. Dual Memory

The Wall Street Journal, “Chicago’s Marina City Towers Get Cast in the New Candyman” by Alina Dizik, November 4, 2021

The Financial Times, “Beyond the Log Cabin: New Chalet Living” by Ruth Bloomfield, October 14, 2021

Monkeypaw Productions, Bron Studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Universal Pictures and BRON Creative. “Candyman [Film]” by Nia Da Costa, 2021

KITV4 Island News for ABC, Good Morning Hawai‘i. “Building Voices: Housing for All and the Hawai‘i Housing Lab”, Interview by Nicole Tam, October 1, 2019

Hawai‘i Business Magazine, “Higher Education: Architects are planning Hawai‘i’s first vertical school, which might be as tall as 10 stories, in the middle of Kaka‘ako” by Brittany Lyte, September, 2017

Oxford University Press. Commonplace Witnessing, Rhetorical Invention, Historical Remembrance and Public Culture by Vivian Bradford, 2017

Dezeen, “Californian ski chalet by Strawn+Sierralta draws inspiration from the slopes”, by James Brillon, December 2017

Hawaii Public Radio. “Building Voices: Community Design Toolkit.” Interview by Noe Tanigawa, April 18, 2017

Khon2 News. “Building Voices, Generating Ideas, Solutions for Hawaii’s Biggest Issues.”, Interview by Kristine Uyeno, April 18, 2017

Harvard University Press. Who Owns the Dead? The Science and Politics of Death at Ground Zero by Jay Aronson, 2016

Little Brown and Company. One World Trade Center: Biography of the Building by Judith Dupre, 2016

Oxford University Press. Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11 by Harriet F. Senie, 2016

University of Massachusetts Press. The Stages of Memory, Reflections on Memorial Art, Loss and the Spaces Between by James E. Young, 2016

National Geographic Society. A Place of Remembrance, Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial by Allison Blais and Rasic Lynn. Foreword by Michael R. Bloomberg, 2015

ABC’s Nightline, “New American Dream-Rent or Own?”, ABC News, July 26, 2012

Chicago Magazine, “Where to go - Now!.” by E. Glusac and Nina Kokotas, January 2012

Dwell Magazine, “Houses We Love”, by Sam Graw. Volume 11, no.5, April 2011

Tahoe Quarterly Magazine. “Go Big, Then Go Home.” 8th Annual Mountain Home Awards, by Vangela Wightman, Spring 2011 (cover).

Architectural Record. “The Rebirth of the World Trade Center (and New York).” by Gregory Wessner, September 2011

The History Channel, Engineering an Empire “The City of the Future, A Design and Engineering Challenge”, January 22, 2007

Cornell University Press. Communities of Memory: On Witness, Identity, and Justice by W. James Booth, 2006

Indiana University Press. Religion, Violence, Memory, and Place by Oren Stier, J. Shawn Landres, 2006

University of Chicago Press. Celebrating Freedom:12151791, McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum by Yood, James, 2006

National Public Radio – Eight Forty-Eight, WBEZ Chicago, “Lake Effect Proposal”, 9:00 p.m. Nov. 24, 2006

Architect Magazine, “City of the Future” by Edward Keegan, February, 2007

Chicago Sun Times, “Building the Future” by Kevin Nance, December 31, 2006

The Russel Sage Foundation. Contentious City: The Politics of Recovery in New York City by John Mollenkopf, 2005

Random House Trade Paperbacks. Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York by Paul Goldberger, 2005

Chicago Tribune, “Finalists Named for Sculpture at Tribune Tower Museum.” by Charles Storch, April 01, 2005

Architectural Record, Rizzoli. Imagining Ground Zero: The Official and Unofficial Proposals for the World Trade Center Site by Suzanne Stephens, Ian Luna, Ron Broadhurst, Robert Adams Ivy, Jr., 2004

Competitions Magazine, “A Green Sanctuary in the Industrial Heartland.” by Stanley Collyer, Fall 2004

Chicago Tribune, “Camping Shelter Made of Old Pipes Wins Competition.” by Blair Kamin, September, 14, 2004

Architectural Record, “Chicago Comes Back.” by Kamin, Blair, May 2004

Architectural Record, “Young Firms Bring a Breath of Fresh Air to the Windy City.” by John Czarnecki, May 2004

Architectural Record, “Chicago Moves On.” by Pearson, Clifford, May 2004

Chicago Tribune, “Ones to Watch.”, Blair Kamin, March 28, 2004

Chicago Tribune, “Environmental Center Site Finalists Named.”, by Blair Kamin, February 24, 2004

Chicago Magazine, “Eight Notes for January.”, by Jennifer Tanak, January 2004

Planeta FM, Caracas, Venezuela, Interview by Jonathan Reveron, January 13, 2004

Circuito Union Radio, Caracas, Venezuela, Interview by Eli Bravo, January 12, 2004

Architectural Record, “World Trade Center Memorial Finalist Designs”, by Sam Lubell, Sam, December, 2003

Newsweek, “World Trade Center Memorial: How Should We Remember ?”, by Cathleen McGuigan, December 2003

Architecture Magazine, “WTC Memorial Competition Finalists Selected”, Abby Bussel, December 2003

Time Warner Cable, News NY1 “World Trade Center Memorial Site Finalists Announced”, November 20, 2003

Architectural Lighting, “Editor’s Note”, “Eight Finalists Selected.”, Emilie Sommerhoff, Elizabeth Donoff, Nov.- Dec. 2003

The New York Times, “Eight Designs Confront Mini Agendas at Ground Zero.”, Glen Collins, Nov. 20, 2003

The New York Times, “Designs Are Shimmering Elegies in Light, Water and Glass.”, “Presenting Several Versions of the Shape of Grief and Recollection.”, David Dunlap, Nov. 20, 2003

The New York Times, “A Voice of Simplicity Cries to be Heard.”, Herbert Muschamp, Nov. 20, 2003

The New York Times, “From Around the World, Artists and Architects who Rose to a Challenge.” Ben Sisario, Nov. 20, 2003

Chicago Tribune, “9/11 Memorial Finalists.”, Kirsten Scharnberg, Nov. 20, 2003

USA Today, “Eight World Trade Center Designs Make Final Cut.” by Martha Moore, Nov. 20, 2003

Chicago Sun Times, “8 Design Finalists Chosen For Memorial at WTC Site.”, Amy Westfeld, Nov. 20, 2003

The Wall Street Journal, “Watch this space: 8 Proposals for Memorial for WTC Site Unveiled.”, Alex Frangos, Nov. 19, 2003