Bio:
The great architect, Ingrid is an advocate for community engagement through her participation with the ACE Mentor Program of Austin, AIA Austin’s Latinos in Architecture, National AIA Equity + Future of Architecture Committee, & Advisory Board Member for the Hip Hop Architecture Camp. By engaging in these organizations, she is strengthening the importance of education & mentorship, where creating opportunities to become an agent of change within your community is key to an equitable practice of Architecture.

How did you first learn about architecture and when did you decide that built environment profession was an area of interest for you?
Through my HS art teacher, and my father. I had always been drawn to my surroundings &the historic context of the town I grew up in, without fully understanding that it was the architecture of the built environment that called to me.

What do you do?
My title is Design Architect, and my role is many including Project Architect, Project Manager, Business Development Manager, Volunteer Leader, and Mentor. I work with my peers, consultants, and clients to create a collaborative design experience.

What excites you in the work you do?
I’m most excited to create a vision that is the fruit of everyone’s labor, not one sole person is dictating, but everyone contributing to create a richer design experience.

Who or what inspires you professionally?
I’m most inspired by the young leaders that I see creating their own path like Mike Ford, Beau Frail, Pascale Sablan, Bryan Lee, and Tiffany Brown to list a few. They are doing the work to create a new architecture that is equitable.

What is your proudest professional accomplishment or achievement?
Licensure & being a mentor for my own peers. When my friends & peers come to me for guidance to share in their own experiences with mine and looking for insight that is the best feeling. In a way licensure was a form of validation that I can be here.

Featured Project Name: 
The Wedding Venue
 
Featured Project Location: 
Dripping Springs, TX
 
Featured Project Completion Date: 
2020

Role in Featured Project: 
Project Architect/Assist
 
Featured Project Description:
The Wedding Venue is a carefully sited event space nestled into the Hill Country. Sited to take advantage of the existing natural landscape, the building negotiates the predicament of having an indoor & outdoor wedding ceremony space. Public and private realms are shifted in plan, with the primary hall inviting one to enter. The building is tucked between existing trees on the lot, allowing for the change in grade to protect one side while the other openly invites one into the landscape.

Photography Credit:
Matt Fajkus Architecture