Shelly Kappe (born 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an architectural historian and academic who specializes in the residential history of Los Angeles. She was a founding member of the faculty at the

Southern California Institute of Architecture Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1972, SCI-Arc was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde and more adventurous than t ...

(SCI-Arc), an independent school of architecture created in 1972.

Education

Shelly graduated from the

University of California at Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. She earned a master's degree in Architectural History from the

Work

As a writer, Shelly Kappe focused academic attention on the modernist architects working in Los Angeles in the 1940s-1970s through articles in Architecture California and LA Architect magazines. Shelly has been the editor of Environmental Design West and has written about the history of environmental design. In 1985, she was a member of the editorial board of Architecture California, the journal of the AIA/California Council. In addition to her role as a faculty member at SCI-ARC, Shelly Kappe was “instrumental in establishing and coordinating…” the school's Design Forum Public Lecture Program, “…which featured prominent figures in national and international design and architecture…”. In 1977, 12 Los Angeles architects (including

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry, , FAIA (; ; born ) is a Canadian-born American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become world-renowned attractions. His works are considered ...

and Kappe's husband, Raymond Kappe) came together to exhibit their work for the first time as a group. Shelly Kappe contributed videotaped interviews used in conjunction with the photo exhibition of L.A. 12 work at the

Pacific Design Center The Pacific Design Center, or PDC, is a multi-use facility for the design community located in West Hollywood, California. One of the buildings is often described as the ''Blue Whale'' because of its large size relative to surrounding buildings a ...

and an associated two-day seminar. Shelly Kappe served as inaugural director of the Architecture Gallery at SCI-ARC, for which she curated 8 exhibits. Among them are the 1981 inaugural exhibit, ''Modern Architecture: Mexico'' (for which Kappe authored the catalog) and an exhibit of work by Finnish architect

Alvar Aalto Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto (; 3 February 1898 – 11 May 1976) was a Finnish architect and designer. His work includes architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. He never regarded himself as an artist, see ...

entitled ''The Mystery of Form.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappe, Shelly Living people 1928 births Architectural historians University of California, Los Angeles alumni Southern California Institute of Architecture alumni