Shelly Kappe

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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 (SCI-Arc),[1][2] an independent school of architecture created in 1972.[2]

Education[edit]

Shelly graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles.[3] She earned a master's degree in Architectural History from the Southern California Institute of Architecture.[3]

Work[edit]

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.[4][5] Shelly has been the editor of Environmental Design West and has written about the history of environmental design.[3]  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…”.[1]  In 1977, 12 Los Angeles architects (including Frank Gehry 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 and an associated two-day seminar.[6]

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 [7] (for which Kappe authored the catalog) and an exhibit of work by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto entitled The Mystery of Form.[8]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "SCI-Arc Visionary Shelly Kappe Honored with 90th Birthday Celebration". sciarc.edu. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "History of SCI-Arc". sciarc.edu. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Peck, Stacy (April 27, 1980). "Shelly & Ray Kappe: Looking to the Future, They Visualize a New Life in our Inner Cities". Los Angeles Times.
  4. ^ Kappe, Shelly (November–December 1986). "Idiom of the Fifties: What Really Happened in Los Angeles". Architecture California. 8: 15–25.
  5. ^ Kappe, Shelly (April 1992). "The Influence of Richard Neutra". L.A. Architect: 12.
  6. ^ Dreyfuss, John (August 14, 1977). "The L.A. 12: Good Idea Which Has Gone Nowhere". Los Angeles Times.
  7. ^ Dreyfuss, John (May 18, 1981). "Architecture Gallery Off to a Modest Start". Los Angeles Times.
  8. ^ Dreyfuss, John (November 29, 1981). "Architect Blends His Designs with Nature: Aalto's Buildings, Furniture, Words of Wisdom Displayed". Los Angeles Times.