Karla Sierralta

M.Arch, University of Illinois at Chicago 2003 | B.Arch, Universidad del Zulia, Venezuela 1999
Licenses: Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Venezuela

Karla Sierralta, AIA is an architect, educator, and design advocate. She is an Associate Professor and the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa’s School of Architecture, where she teaches design studios and seminars that explore the process and agency of design through analytical drawing and architectural production. In parallel to her academic endeavors, she is co-founder of Strawn Sierralta, an award-winning open practice exploring urgencies and reconsiderations related to the built environments since 2003.

Karla is a founding team member and a Principal Investigator at the University of Hawaiʻi Community Design Center, where she has conducted projects for the Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority, the Department of Education, and the University of Hawaiʻi. Recent academic and design honors include the 2022 ACSA Collaborative Practice Award, the 2021 Course Development Prize in Architecture, Climate Change, & Society, the 2020 UHM Presidential Citation for Meritorious Teaching, and AIA Honolulu Design Awards in 2017, 2019, and 2020.