beforebuilding@virginia.edu

Katie MacDonald, AIA

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DIRECTOR OF MATERIAL R&D
KMACDONALD@VIRGINIA.EDU


Katie MacDonald is Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia, Cofounder of After Architecture, and a licensed architect in Virginia.

MacDonald is Director of the Before Building Laboratory at UVA, where she leads material research and development. MacDonald pioneers new biomaterial assemblies, with the aim of creating building material systems that sequester carbon and reduce construction’s contribution to the environmental crisis. Current projects focus on rapidly renewable biomaterials, including wood, bamboo, grass, various invasive plant species, and hemp. 

MacDonald was named Educator of the Year in Metropolis Magazine's Planet Positive Awards in 2023 and Emerging Designer in the Virginia by Design Awards in 2018. She is a member of the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture's Board of Directors. In 2022, she co-curated the Biomaterial Building Exposition.

EDUCATION
︎ M.Arch. Harvard University
︎ B.Arch. Cornell University

AWARDS
☆ The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers 2023
☆ Educator of the Year, Metropolis Magazine Planet Positive Awards 2023
☆ Cultured Magazine Young Architects List 2021
☆ Architect Magazine Next Progressives 2019
☆ Emerging Designer, Virginia by Design Awards 2018
☆ Curbed Young Guns 2014
☆ University of Virginia Outstanding Researcher Award 2022
☆ Housing Design Education Award, American Institute of Architects and Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2020

FELLOWSHIPS
☆ Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellowship 2022-23
☆ Tennessee Architecture Fellowship 2019-20
☆ Robert James Eidlitz Fellowship 2017
☆ Paul M. Heffernan Travel Award 2015

Kyle Schumann

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DIRECTOR OF ROBOTIC CONSTRUCTION
SCHUMANN@VIRGINIA.EDU


Kyle Schumann is Cofounder of After Architecture and Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia.

Schumann is Director of the Before Building Laboratory at UVA , where he leads robotic construction. Schumann seeks to advance the accessibility of digital fabrication, leveraging democratized technologies as well as inventing and building low-cost ground-up fabrication and imaging systems. His work spans analog processes in woodworking, metalworking, casting, ceramics, and textile production, to advanced and novel digital fabrication technologies, robotics, and machine visioning systems.

Schumann was awarded the Timber Education Prize in 2024 and the Design Build Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture in 2023.

In 2022, Schumann co-curated the Biomaterial Building Exposition.


EDUCATION
︎ M.Arch. Princeton University
︎ B.Arch. Cornell University

AWARDS
☆ The Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers 2023
☆ Emerging Designer, Virginia by Design Awards 2024
☆ Cultured Magazine Young Architects List 2021
☆ Architect Magazine Next Progressives 2019
☆ Curbed Young Guns 2014
☆ Design Build Award, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture 2023
☆ University of Virginia Outstanding Researcher Award, Research Achievement Awards 2022
☆ William S. Downing Prize for Architectural Design 2012

FELLOWSHIPS
☆ Exhibit Columbus University Design Research Fellowship 2022-23
☆ Tennessee Architecture Fellowship 2019-20
☆ Robert A.M. Stern Architects Travel Fellowship 2017
☆ Robert James Eidlitz Fellowship 2017
☆ Princeton University Fellowship 2016-8

APRIL 15, 2025

Before Building Laboratory awarded UVA Sustainability Leadership Award.


APRIL 9, 2025

MacDonald and Schumann lecture at Penn State University.


MARCH 20, 2025

The College of Distinguished Professors and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture award  Schumann Best Paper at the ACSA Annual Meeting for paper, “Bias in the Machine: Standardized Tools and Irregular Materials.”


JANUARY 23, 2025

Sylvan Scrapple awarded 2025 ACSA Faculty Design Award.


DECEMBER 5, 2024

Crinkle Cuts named Digital Fabrication Editor’s Pick in The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards.


NOVEMBER 23, 2024

MacDonald participated in Sourcing panel at Material Acts: A Symposium at the University of Southern California.