In Memoriam: Katharine Hill Coleman, 1955-2021

Katharine Coleman, an architect and educator, died at her home in Los Angeles on February 1. She was 65 years old and had suffered from cancer.

As a practicing architect, she was co-founder of Cigolle X Coleman Architects. Coleman also taught design at the School of Architecture at the University of Southern California where she taught for 36 years.

Born in New York City in 1955, Coleman was raised in Greenwich, Connecticut and attended Greenwich Academy. She graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1977. After college, she took a job working for a general contractor doing renovations of older houses in the Washington, D.C., area and learned the construction trade hands-on. She managed subcontractors, building inspectors, and filled in on construction projects when necessary. She received her master of architecture degree from the University of Virginia in 1982.

Coleman joined the faculty at the University of Southern California in 1983. She was the first woman faculty member to be awarded tenure in the field of design and was promoted to full professor in 1986.

As a professional architect, Coleman focused mainly on residential homes. But her firm also designed the Wildwood School in Culver City and the University of Southern California Faculty Center in Exposition Park.