Katherine Solomonson

Katherine Solomonson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Minnesota's College of Design. She holds additional affiliations with the Departments of American Studies, Art History, and Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, reflecting her interdisciplinary scholarship in architectural and urban history.

Her research explores the social and cultural roles of built environments, with a focus on American and European architecture from 1700 to the present. Key areas include the history of suburbia, American housing, cultural landscapes, and historic preservation. She has led significant projects on postwar suburbia and public housing through the Design Center for American Urban Landscape, and is currently researching the early work of architect Cass Gilbert in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Katherine Solomonson received her Ph.D. in the History of Art from Stanford University. Her acclaimed book, The Chicago Tribune Tower Competition: Skyscraper Design and Cultural Change in the 1920s, won the Society of Architectural Historians' Alice Davis Hitchcock Award. She has also been honored with the Ralph Rapson Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Roy Jones Award for Outstanding Research from CALA.

She serves on the Minnesota State Review Board for National Register Nominations, the board of Buildings of the United States (Society of Architectural Historians), and the University of Minnesota Press's Committee on the Press. Her work bridges scholarship, public engagement, and policy, particularly in the fields of urban planning and heritage conservation.