Petra Kempf

Petra Kempf, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis. Her work focuses on the impact of urbanization on collective living, advocating for regenerative and responsive approaches to urban environments. She integrates game-making methodologies into pedagogy to explore urban life dynamics. Kempf has held roles at institutions like the New York City Department of City Planning and taught at RISD, Columbia, Cornell, and the University of Dortmund.

Her research initiative, Confront(ing) Urbanization, examines urbanization's influence on collective living. Exhibitions include the Venice Architecture Biennale, Chicago Biennale, and Carnegie Museum of Art. Awards include the Emerson Excellence in Teaching Award and grants from the Graham and Mellon Foundations.

Key projects include Party Wall Common (2024), Shaping Urban Commons (2023), and publications like You Are the City and To(wards) Common Ground. Her interdisciplinary work bridges architecture, urban studies, and socio-political analysis.