Katie MacDonald is a licensed architect in Virginia and Cofounder of After Architecture, an award-winning architecture studio which has completed projects for a wide range of clients including Landmark Columbus Foundation, the Washington D.C. Department of General Services, Lycoming College, Cornell University, and Marriott.

MacDonald is  Assistant Professor of Architecture at the University of Virginia where she is Director of the Before Building Laboratory, leading material research and development. MacDonald pioneers renewable, carbon-sequestering material assemblies. Current projects focus on rapidly renewable biomaterials, including wood, bamboo, grass, various invasive plant species, and hemp. In 2022, she co-curated the Biomaterial Building Exposition.

MacDonald’s accolades include the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers, Emerging Designer in the Virginia by Design Awards, Educator of the Year in Metropolis Magazine’s Planet Positive Awards, the Small Project Award from the American Institute of Architects National, ten honors from the Society of American Registered Architects, and four placements in The Architect’s Newspaper Best of Design Awards.