Profile
A nationally recognized design leader, researcher, writer, and educator, Katie Swenson has served as a Senior Principal of MASS Design Group since 2020. Katie has over 20 years of experience in the theoretical and practical application of design thinking and is a talented global public speaker and thought leader. A prolific writer, she authored Design with Love: At Home in America, and In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness, and co-authored Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a Housing Development Model. Katie was awarded the AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture in 2021. Prior to joining MASS, Katie was the vice president of Design & Sustainability at Enterprise Community Partners, where, as a member of the second class, she led the Enterprise Rose Fellowship.
Degrees Held
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, Loeb Fellow, 2018-2019
University of Virginia, Master of Architecture, 2000
University of California, Berkeley, Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature, 1991
Professional Affiliation
Van Alen Institute, Board Member
University of Virginia, School of Architecture, Dean’s Advisory Board Member
New York Center for Architecture, Women in Design
American Institute of Architects (AIA) Awards Committee, Member
Recent Publications
In Bohemia: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Kindness. Schiffer Publishing, Pennsylvania, 2020. 232 pages.
Design with Love: At Home in America. Schiffer Publishing, Pennsylvania, 2020. 240 pages. Photography by Harry Connolly.
Growing Urban Habitats: Seeking a New Housing Development Model. Co-authored with William Morrish and Susanne Schindler. William Stout Publishers, San Francisco, 2008. 247 pages.
“Introduction: Design with Love” in Environmental Activism by Design by Coleman Coker and Sarah Gamble. Applied Research + Design, an imprint of ORO Editions, March 2023.
“Interview with Katie Swenson” in Many Voices: Architecture for Social Equity, eds Sara Caples and Everardo Jefferson. RIBA Publishing, December 2022.
“The Enterprise Rose Architectural Fellowship: An Evolving Role for Community Design in Affordable Housing” in Activist Architecture: Philosophy and Practice of Community Design Centers. Eds Dan Pitera and Craig Wilkins. Detroit Collaborative Design Center, 2015. Pages 172-180.
“Designing Better Designers: Families First” in Form Follows Family. HUD Cityscapes: A Journal of Policy Development and Research, Volume 16, Number 2. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, July 2014. Pages 103-116.
“A Local Housing Crisis Spawns a New Design Center” in Expanding Architecture: Design as Activism. Edited by Bryan Bell and Katie Wakeford, Metropolis Books, 2008. Pages 66-67.
“Discours Sexué et Intersexué,” co-written with Mark Calkins. In Sexes et Genres À Travers La Langue by Luce Irigaray, Grasset. Pages 167-188.
Performances and Appearances
"These are the Gifts: Author in Residence" - Designed with Stephen Burke and Malika Leiper, this exhibition was held at Contemporaries in Brooklyn, New York, in November 2020. It uniquely showcased the intersection of literature and design, highlighting how these distinct creative fields blend and influence each other.
“Undesign the Redline” - Showcased at various locations: Boston Architectural College (April 2019), Boston City Hall (June-July 2019), and Harvard Kennedy School, 2019. This exhibition focused on the historical and ongoing impacts of redlining in urban development.
Research Interests
Home Making, sustainability, architecture, urban design, writing.
Awards And Honors
AIA Architecture Firm of the Year, Awarded to MASS Design Group, 2022
AIA Award for Excellence in Public Architecture, 2021
Fast Company's Most Innovative Architecture Firm, Awarded to MASS Design Group, 2021
AIA Collaborative Achievement Awards, Awarded to MASS Design Group, 2021
AIA Collaborative Achievement Awards, Awarded to Enterprise for the Affordable Housing Design Leadership Institute, 2018
Top Design Innovator Award from the HIVE 50, November 2018
Honor Award from the Institute for Public Architecture, October 2016
Pioneer in Public Interest Design: Public Interest Design Week, University of Minnesota, 2013
SEED Award for Leadership in Public Interest Design: Structures for Inclusion Conference, 2013
Public Interest Design 100: Named to the Top 100 Public Interest Design Change Agents, co-recipient with Jonathan F. P. Rose, 2013
Steelcase Green Giant Award: Steelcase, 2009
Design Futures Council Emerging Leader Award: Design Futures Council, 2009
Design Corps Award: Structures for Inclusion Conference , Harvard Graduate School of Design, 2008
Commonwealth Environmental Leadership Award: Waldorf Foundation, 2006
Eldon Fields Wood Design Professional of the Year: Charlottesville City Council at City Hall, 2005