Denver Affordable Housing Challenge Jury Panel!

Lucy Begg, AIA, Thoughtbarn
Julien De Smedt, JDS Architects
Troy Fosler, AIA, Koning Eizenberg Architecture
Kendra Garrett, City and County of Denver
Caeli Hill, City and County of Denver
Gosia Kung, Denver Housing Authority
Andrew Maynard, Austin Maynard Architects
Brenna Malaney, Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency, City and County of Denver
Dean Maltz, AIA, Shigeru Ban Architects (SBA)
Rozana Montiel, Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura
Susan Powers, Urban Ventures, LLC
Katie Swenson, Assoc, AIA, MASS Design Group

Lucy Begg, AIA, is a licensed architect and Co-Director of Thoughtbarn, an Austin-based architecture practice recognized for its inventive urban infill projects that support vibrant, livable cities. The studio’s work spans housing, workplaces, public art, and the civic realm and was recently honored with AIA Austin’s 2024 Firm Achievement Award and Architect’s Newspaper’s 2024 Best of Practice Award (Small Firm, Southwest Region). Originally from the UK, Lucy studied at UC Berkeley, where she received the Branner Traveling Fellowship to study participatory design around the world. Her early experience at Auburn University’s Rural Studio sparked her lasting interest in public interest design. She has contributed to advocacy and editorial work through roles with AIA Austin, Texas Architect magazine, and Civic Arts. In 2020, she received AIA Austin’s Emerging Professional Award. Lucy lives with her partner and two children in East Austin, where they advocate for land use reform to support housing access and family living in the urban core.

Julien De Smedt is the founder and director of JDS Architects based in Copenhagen and Brussels. An architect and designer whose work  is internationally spread, Julien’s commitment to the exploration of  new architectural models and programs has helped re-energize the  contemporary architecture discussion. Seminal projects include the VM Housing Complex, the Mountain  Dwellings, Lille’s Maison Stéphane Hessel, the Iceberg, Kalvebod Waves  and the Holmenkollen Ski Jump. Born in Brussels to French art enthusiast Jacques Léobold and Belgian  artist Claude De Smedt, Julien attended schools in Brussels, Paris, and  Los Angeles before receiving his diploma from the Bartlett School of  Architecture in London. Prior to founding JDS Architects, Julien worked with Rem Koolhaas in  Rotterdam, and co-founded the architecture firm PLOT with Bjarke Ingels  in Copenhagen. In 2013 he co-founded with William Ravn the agenda driven design label Makers With Agendas, addressing matters of society to  create meaningful products. Julien has been a guest lecturer in numerous venues worldwide and  a visiting professor at Copenhagen’s Art Academy, Rice University in Houston, Texas, the University of Kentucky, MIT in Cambridge, USA, and  at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. His work is published  and exhibited internationally. He published the monograph PIXL to XL and released 2 influential books:  Agenda, Can We Sustain our Ability to Crisis? and Built Unbuilt. Among other awards and recognition, Julien received the Henning  Larsen Prize in 2003 and the Eckersberg medal in 2005, the Maaskant  Award in 2009 and the Prix Dejean in 2014 from the French Academy of Architecture. In 2004 the Stavanger Concert Hall received the Golden Lion as the  World’s Best Concert Hall at the Venice Biennale, the Maritime youth  House won the AR+D award in London and was nominated for the Mies  van der Rohe award. The Mountain received the World Architecture  Festival Award and MIPIM Award in 2009, while the Iceberg received the latter in 2013 along with the Architizer A+ Award and the Best Building Award in 2015 from Archdaily. More recently Maison Stéphane Hessel was among  the best Hotels at the 2016 MIPIM Awards and the Hangzhou Gateway  was a 2017 Architizer A+ finalist. In 2019 The Holmenkollen Ski Jump  received the Houen Foundation Award, Norway’s most important award for architecture.

Troy Fosler, AIA, is a Principal at Koning Eizenberg Architecture and the founding leader of the firm’s Denver office. Since joining the practice in 2012, he has led community-focused projects with an emphasis on placemaking and multi-family housing. Troy is known for integrating community voices and landscape into cohesive architectural narratives, while also fostering a collaborative studio culture. Beyond the office, he is active in design education and advocacy, volunteering with the Urban Land Institute’s Urban Plan program and serving on AIA Colorado committees. He is a frequent guest critic at institutions such as Washington University in St. Louis, USC, and Cal Poly Pomona. Troy holds a Master of Architecture from Washington University, where he received the Frederick Widman Prize. He is licensed in Colorado, California, and Nebraska.

Kendra Garrett is a Housing Development Officer at the City and County of Denver, where she works to expand access to safe, high-quality, affordable housing. With a professional background that bridges public policy and engineering, Kendra brings a systems-oriented approach to housing development. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Caeli Hill is a Project Coordinator for the Affordable Housing Review Team at the City and County of Denver. Trained in urban and regional planning, she brings experience from both the public and nonprofit sectors, having worked as a planner for local jurisdictions and as an affordable housing developer. Her work has focused on managing construction and finance for both new-build and rehabilitation housing projects. Caeli holds a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado Denver.

Gosia Kung is the Deputy Chief Real Estate Investment Officer at the Denver Housing Authority, where she leads strategic initiatives to advance equitable, community-centered development across the city. With over 30 years of experience in architecture, urban design, and civic leadership, she brings a multidisciplinary approach to housing and urban infrastructure. An immigrant from Europe, Kung integrates a global perspective with a strong local commitment, focusing on inclusive growth that benefits individuals, businesses, and public systems alike. Her work emphasizes the importance of process-driven design and public-private collaboration in addressing affordable housing challenges.

Andrew Maynard is Principal and Architect at Melbourne-based Austin Maynard Architects. Andrew initially established the firm in 2002. He is Tasmanian and earned his bachelor of Environmental Design and a bachelor of Architecture at the University of Tasmania. Andrew is especially interested in the way that the ubiquitous nature of media influences culture. He has been interviewed and written about in various new media, on TV and in newspapers, magazines and books. In 2014 Andrew became a founding board member, and a director, of Nightingale Housing, a social enterprise creating ethical, socially sustainable and cost effective housing. Austin Maynard Architects was named Architecture studio of the year 2022 by Dezeen.

Brenna Malaney is the New Buildings Electrification and Outreach Administrator at the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability, and Resiliency for the City and County of Denver. In this role, she leads programs that promote building electrification and Passive House design as part of the city's goal to achieve zero emissions by 2040. Prior to joining the City, Brenna worked as an architectural project manager on a range of developments, including affordable housing and restaurant projects. Her work is rooted in a commitment to sustainable and accessible design that benefits communities at all scales.

Dean Maltz, AIA, is the Managing Partner of Shigeru Ban Architect’s (SBA) New York Office and is responsible for projects in North and South America. For over 25 years, Maltz has collaborated with Ban on implementing innovative design solutions that utilize natural, recyclable, and reusable materials for both client-driven and humanitarian projects.  Through his leadership, the office has designed the AIA award-winning Aspen Art Museum (2014) and Cast Iron House (2021), as well as Metal Shutter House (2011) and the Nomadic Museum (2005). He is currently leading HOUSE by Shigeru Ban, a 320-unit condominium and affordable housing development in Miami and working on humanitarian projects in Maui and Los Angeles after the devastating fires. An industry leader in sustainable design and construction, Maltz has taught at ColumbiaUniversity and Cornell University, and he frequently presents SBA’s work focusing on mass timber. Maltz is licensed in eight U.S. states and is a graduate of the Cooper Union School of Architecture (B.Arch) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (M.Arch).

Rozana Montiel is the founder and director of Rozana Montiel Estudio de Arquitectura, an interdisciplinary architecture practice based in Mexico City. Her work explores the intersection of architecture, urbanism, and social engagement, with a focus on transforming public and collective spaces through participatory design processes.Montiel holds a Master’s degree in Architectural Theory and Criticism from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Spain and a Bachelor's degree with Honors in Architecture and Urban Planning from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico. Her projects have been widely published and exhibited internationally, including in Mexico, Italy, Spain, France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and China. She has presented her work at major architectural biennales in Venice, Versailles, São Paulo, Rotterdam, and Lima. In addition to her professional practice, Montiel is a contributing editorial board member of Arquine magazine and has lectured and taught at leading academic institutions, including Kent University, Cornell AAP, Columbia GSAPP, Miami University, UC Berkeley, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. She is currently a visiting professor at the École Spéciale d’Architecture in Paris. Her book UH: Common Spaces in Housing Units was published in 2018 by Arquine, reflecting her ongoing research into shared domestic and urban space.

Susan Powers is the founder and president of Urban Ventures, LLC, a Denver-based development company she launched in 1998. Her work centers on complex real estate projects that support mixed-income, mixed-use neighborhoods and adaptive reuse, including Aria Denver and STEAM on the Platte. A consistent advocate for affordable housing, Susan has contributed to both rental and ownership developments and serves on nonprofit boards to support policy and implementation. Before founding Urban Ventures, she was the Executive Director of the Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) from the late 1980s through the 1990s, helping lead the revitalization of downtown Denver through the development of 18 major real estate projects.

Katie Swenson, Assoc, AIA, is a nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator. She is a Senior Principal at MASS Design Group, where she has worked since 2020, bringing over two decades of experience in socially engaged architecture and design thinking. Prior to joining MASS, she served as Vice President of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners, where she led the Enterprise Rose Fellowship program. Katie is the author of several books, including Design with Love: At Home in America and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness, and co-author of Growing Urban Habitats. In 2021, she received the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture. Based in New York City, she teaches at Columbia University and Parsons School of Design and serves on the board of the Van Alen Institute.