Katherine Chia, FAIA
Katherine Chia, FAIA, is a founding principal of Desai Chia Architecture. Since 1996, she and her partner & husband, Arjun Desai, have established the firm’s reputation for authentic design, creating inspiring environments expressive of light, materials, and spaces that foster collaboration; Desai Chia’s portfolio includes cultural, residential, commercial & institutional projects as well as commissions for product design and collaborations with artists. Desai Chia’s projects have been published extensively and received numerous accolades including numerous AIA and American Architecture Awards, Interior Design Best of Year Awards, Good Design Awards, and an AIA Institute Honor Award. In 2018, ARCHITECT Magazine ranked Desai Chia Architecture #19 in the nation for Design.
Katherine grew up in New York State and Belgium. She earned her Master of Architecture degree from M.I.T. and received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College. Prior to founding Desai Chia Architecture, she worked for Maya Lin on numerous art and architecture commissions. Katherine is a registered architect in the states of New York and Connecticut. She has also been a faculty member in the architecture department at Parsons The New School of Design. She is a trustee emerita of Amherst College (former chair of the Board of Trustees’ Buildings & Grounds Committee), a former Trustee of the United Nations International School (former chair of the Board of Trustees’ Buildings & Grounds Committee), and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. As a member of the AIA NY Chapter, Katherine is currently on the Board of Directors & the Executive Committee, serving as Treasurer for the AIA NY and the Center for Architecture.
Throughout her career, Katherine Chia FAIA has worked on projects that require an ever-evolving, inter-disciplinary approach-- weaving together site, community, and culture into a range of inspiring buildings and environments. Her projects extend from Manhattan to Singapore, and many locations in between. Current projects are in design in the UK, Mexico City, Telluride, and the tri-state area.
DIg In - Work in the Field is the Best Teacher
January 21, 2021
Katherine will discuss ‘lessons learned’ from pursuing a diverse portfolio while running a hands-on architecture firm of 5 people, which she manages with her partner and husband, Arjun Desai.
One of the lessons learned is how to build a project team and manage a project when working abroad or far from your main office (where you need to get on a plane to visit the site), especially when you are a small office. This includes how one immerses oneself in the site, the local context, and local community issues, as well as dealing with consultant coordination, design meeting interfacing with clients, getting permits and finding contractors.
Katherine will share how the relationships made along the way, and the experience of digging into field work, that helped her develop as an architect.