University
for the
Creative Arts

Canterbury
School of
Architecture


Dr Catharine Rossi

Professor of Architecture


Dr Catharine Rossi is a design historian and Professor of Architecture at University for the Creative Arts Canterbury. Prior to joining UCA in 2022 she was Associate Professor of Design History at Kingston School of Art, where her roles included Director of Research in the School of Critical Studies and Creative Industries and UoA 32 Coordinator for REF 2021.

Her research areas include contemporary design, post-war Italian design and architecture, craft, club culture, and feminism. Publications include Designing Craft in Italy: from Postwar to Postmodernism (MUP, 2015), and Post-Craft (Sternberg Press, 2022) and The Italian Avant-Garde, 1968-76 (Sternberg Press, 2013), both edited with Professor Alex Coles. Rossi also contributes to publications including Architectural Review and Disegno. Exhibitions include the co-curated At Home: Panorama de nos Vies Domestiques for the Biennale Internationale Design Saint-Etienne 2022, Space Electronic: Then and Now (14th Venice Architecture Biennale, 2014) and the co-curated touring exhibition Night Fever: Designing Club Culture 1960 to Today (Vitra Design Museum, 2018 – 2022). Her research was included as an Impact Case Study in REF 2021.

Cat is on the Advisory Board for the Journal of Modern Craft.

Twitter: @cat_rossi
Instagram: @_cat_rossi