Shelly Kappe (December 30, 1928 – March 29, 2025) was an American architectural historian and academic known for her work on the residential architectural history of Los Angeles. She was a founding faculty member of the

Southern California Institute of Architecture Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) is a private architecture school in Los Angeles, California. SCI-Arc was founded in 1972 when it was initially regarded as both institutionally and artistically avant-garde. It consists o ...

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

Background

Kappe graduated from the

University of California, 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and earned a master’s degree in architectural history from the

. Kappe died on March 29, 2025, at the age of 96.

Career

Kappe was a prominent writer and historian focused on the modernist architects active in Los Angeles between the 1940s and 1970s. Her work appeared in Architecture California and L.A. Architect magazines. She was also the editor of Environmental Design West, writing extensively on the history of environmental design, and served on the editorial board of Architecture California in 1985. At SCI-Arc, Kappe was instrumental in establishing and coordinating the school's Design Forum Public Lecture Program, which featured leading figures in international design and architecture. In 1977, Kappe contributed to the exhibition "L.A. 12" at the

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

, which brought together twelve prominent Los Angeles architects—including

Frank Gehry Frank Owen Gehry ( ; ; born February 28, 1929) is a Canadian-American architect and designer. A number of his buildings, including his private residence in Santa Monica, California, have become attractions. Gehry rose to prominence in th ...

and her husband, Ray Kappe—to exhibit their work collectively for the first time. Her contribution included videotaped interviews that accompanied the photo exhibition and an associated two-day seminar. Kappe also served as the inaugural director of the Architecture Gallery at SCI-Arc, curating eight exhibitions. Notable shows included the 1981 inaugural exhibition ''Modern Architecture: Mexico''—for which she authored the catalog—and ''The Mystery of Form,'' an exhibition 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kappe, Shelly 1928 births 2025 deaths Architectural historians University of California, Los Angeles alumni Southern California Institute of Architecture alumni