Carol Ross, founder of Ross Barney Architects is the recipient of the 2023 American Institute of Architects Gold Medal, the most prestigious national honor an architect can receive for their influence on the profession. She is the first living woman to solely receive the AIA Gold Medal.
She has spent over four decades in her career, during which he won over 200 awards, creating exceptional public spaces that have made a lasting impact. Her designs have become cultural icons, including the Chicago Riverwalk and Railyard Park, showcasing her belief in the transformative power of the built environment in our daily lives.
A recognized urbanist, mentor, and educator, Carol Ross Barney has been at the forefront of contemporary civic space design. She believes that great design is a right, not a privilege and that cities everywhere should embrace it to further equity and quality of life aims.
This year she published ”The People Architect”, a book which celebrates the history and character of the people she designs for.
Carol graduated from the University of Illinois School of Architecture in 1971. The same year she co-founded Chicago Women in Architecture to unite against the numerous challenges to women in the profession.
She has taught an advanced Design Studio at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) for over thirty years, sharing her expertise and shaping the next generation of architects. Her popular design studio at IIT has garnered interest from a wide cross-section of students in Architecture, Urbanism, and Landscape Architecture.
