AIA Vermont is pleased to announce that the winner of this year's Carol Miklos Community Outreach Grant is Allie Rood, for her documentary documentary film, "Prickly Mountain". The grant funding will help to support editing the final cut of Prickly Mountain.

Prickly Mountain is a feature documentary about the radical Vermont design/build movement that began in the 1960s and still shapes how we imagine architecture, community, and making today. More than an architectural curiosity, it’s a blueprint for living differently—born from rejecting the rules, embracing messiness, and finding power in collective action.  Filmed over eight years, it follows the movement’s “slow build” philosophy: jump in, make mistakes and learn as you go.

In the late ’60s and ’70s, a group of renegade architects landed in Vermont with big ideas and a simple goal: to stop just designing buildings and start making them too. Influenced by Bauhaus ideals but rebelling against academic rigidity, they built by hand, embraced mistakes, and turned architecture into a joyful, improvisational experiment. More than just homes, they built a lifestyle rooted in community, creativity, and imperfection. This is design/build—a movement about learning by doing, and doing it together. Fast-forward: Director Allie grew up in that world. Literally. She played in half-finished houses, learned to solve problems with her hands, and internalized a way of thinking that values process over perfection. 

Years later, as a filmmaker, Allie picked up a camera to document the design/build movement.  She ended up rediscovering her roots—and building a house of her own. Prickly Mountain is a story about radical architecture, yes. But it's also a story about community, freedom, and what happens when we slow down and make things with care. It’s about building things — and lives — from the ground up.

Allie is thrilled to announce the world premiere date in NYC next week!

• Website: https://www.pricklymountainfilm.com/ (sign up for the newsletter to hear about upcoming screenings, film festivals, etc)

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prickymountainfilm/

• Seed&Spark Campaign: https://seedandspark.com/fund/prickly-mountain#story

• Vimeo Crowdfunding teaser: https://vimeo.com/1087414259

AIA Vermont's Scholarship and Awards Committee members reviewed the applications, and committee members were impressed with this project's ambition and vision. They appreciated the ways in which the documentary aligns with the grant's intention of fostering engagement with architecture and design in Vermont's communities, and look forward to attending a screening once the film is released.