Allison Dvorak, AIA

{"version":"0.3.0","atoms":[],"cards":[],"markups":[],"sections":[[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Allison Dvorak, AIA, has shaped her young career by leveraging design\nprinciples that focus on the benefits architecture provides others. She is a\nleader in dignified and inclusive design and a champion for community\ndevelopment through meaningful design engagement. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"After earning her Master of Architecture from North Dakota State\nUniversity, Dvorak was tasked with documenting more than 200 bridges on Native\nAmerican land throughout the country for a civil engineering firm. That\nexperience, which she gained outside of a typical design firm, broadened her\nview on the ways architects can affect change in the built environment by\nworking closely with communities. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Her human-centered design process advocates for anyone who will\ninhabit the spaces she envisions. For her thesis, she designed a micro city for\nfamilies with children who were newly diagnosed with autism. Engaging with such\nchildren informed her design of a training facility as a safe, focused\nenvironment for families developing functional living skills. That approach\ncontinues in her work as the director of facility development for Sioux Falls\u2019\nAvera Health system, which operates more than 300 locations in 100 discrete\ncommunities. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In her role, she has overseen the development of a\n25,200-gross-square-foot addiction care center, a two-building campus that\narrived in 2019 as communities across the country began more openly addressing\nthe issues of addiction and mental health. During construction, when the\ncenter\u2019s staff raised security concerns for both patients and staff, Dvorak led\nthem through a detailed security assessment and provided a wide range of\noptions that did not detract from the dignity of the program."]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"Creating and nurturing connections between Sioux Falls and South\nDakota has long been one of Dvorak\u2019s priorities. To that end, she served as\nvice president for the Sioux Falls Design Center and has been an eager\ncontributor to its events. When the Sioux Falls Skatepark Association was\nfounded in 2017, Dvorak quickly joined its team of volunteers who are\ndetermined to shift the perception of skateboarding by building the city\u2019s\nfirst concrete skatepark. She turned to her architectural connections to\ncomplete feasibility studies and administer public forums in support of the\npark, which is anticipated to be completed in 2024. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"She joined the AIA South Dakota Board of Directors shortly after\nachieving licensure, becoming the chapter\u2019s youngest woman president last year.\nAs she leads the chapter, she remains focused on highlighting the value of\narchitecture in the state through focused community outreach while supporting\nmembers who are eligible for the Young Architect Award and elevation to\nfellowship. "]]],[1,"p",[[0,[],0,"In her designs, Dvorak works to ensure that patients feel their needs\nare being met and that they matter. She embodies the concept of a well-rounded\narchitect, one who contributes meaningfully to the built environment and the\ncommunities she serves."]]]]}