Rauzia Ally

Biography: Born in Guyana, South America, I spent her childhood years in an environment rich for nurturing the imagination. Unlike other Caribbean islands, Guyana did not offer itself easily to human settlement. A narrow strip of land along Guyana’s coast was rescued from the mangrove swamp and kept under cultivation by an elaborate system of dams, dikes and canals, providing drainage, irrigation, and transportation. The ferry ports and the sluices, mills and sugar refineries were parcel of the humanization of the landscape and the culture of the people. But the alligators in canals, massive lily pods, and a canopy of palm trees were fertile ground for dreaming. And the houses on stilts contributed to the notion instilled of the free flow of space. I have worked in large and small firms and owned my own firm for twenty years on a range of projects involving architectural design, preservation, and adaptive reuse. My scope of experience varies from large scale new office buildings to various types of institutional buildings that extend from embassies and corporate headquarters to university law schools, and libraries. Often these culturally significant civic minded buildings have involved fitting skillfully into historic or urban contexts; they explore the relationship between historic architecture and new interventions with a rich repertoire of inventive solutions. Recently, I was the Design Manager for the DC Courts. I also managed the Modernization of the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown DC, Mies only DC building, and the Cleveland Park Library in the 21st Century DC Capital Construction Program. I managed and monitored the design and construction of concurrent renovation and construction projects and provided the technical expertise in construction management. I have also taught at the university level, creating Catholic University’s Comprehensive Capstone Studio. As a design professor, it is the critic’s role to provide encouragement, inspiration