![[logo]](https://static.lib.vt.edu/images/logo/lockup-color-347x75.png)
Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech
Special Collections and University Archives, University Libraries (0434)560 Drillfield Drive
Newman Library, Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
Business Number: 540-231-6308
specref@vt.edu
URL: http://spec.lib.vt.edu
Emily Ryan, Undergraduate Assistant, and Jade Snelling
Administrative Information
Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use
Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction .
Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication .
Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [Describe item], Kathryn Clarke Albright Architectural Papers, Ms2025-021, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
Source of Acquisition
The Kathryn Clarke-Albright Architectural Papers were donated to the International Archive of Women in Architecture by the creator in July 2024.
Processing Information
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Kathryn Clarke Albright Papers was completed in July 2025.
Accruals
Additional material is expected.
Biographical / Historical
Born in 1960, Kathryn Clarke Albright was educated in Virginia. Albright began studying architecture at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1978, and graduated with her Bachelor of Architecture in 1982. Following some time in professional practice working for several firms, Albright went on to complete her Master of Design Studies at Harvard University in 1994.
Shortly after her graduation in 1982, Albright joined San Francisco-based architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill (SOM). During the time she spent at the firm she worked on a number of commercial and urban planning projects until 1986, when she was hired as a Senior Designer at another San Francisco firm, Daniel Solomon & Associates (later Solomon, In.c). After three years of working at the firm she rose to the level of principal in 1989, and she would remain at the firm as a Principal Architect until 1993. In early 1993, she applied and was accepted at Harvard Unniversity's Graduate School of Design. Following her M. Arch., she returned to Virginia to work at Virginia Tech.
In 1995, Albright became licensed in the State of Virginia and started working as a Principal Architect alongside her academic and architecture colleague Donna Dunay at Dunay + Albright Architects. The firm focused on commercial,retail, planning, education, and single-family residential projects in southern Virginia. Albright would work with Dunay until 2001 when she started her own practice, Kathryn Albright Design.
Over the past 20 years, Kathryn Clarke Albright has continued to teach at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University School of Architecture, and still serves as a consultant for several Chicago-based firms, including DeStefano + Partners and Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Her research interests include urban design and community planning, communal gathering places, and locally-grown food.
Throughout her career Albright has been a member of the national professional organization American Institute of Architects (AIA) and she is a current member of the Blue Ridge Chapter of the Virginia Society. She has also served as a chair for many professional and public committees including for the Town of Blacksburg, the AIA, Harvard Alumni Council, Norwich University Steering Committee, and many Virginia Tech committees.
She has written two books on farmers markets, including Blacksburg Farmers Market: An Archive (2010), and Exploring the Architecture of Place in America's Farmers Markets (2020).
Scope and Content
The Kathryn Clarke Albright Architectural Papers include design projects Albright developed during her years as an undergraduate student at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Additionally, the collection contains 67 pen-and-ink travel sketches drawn during her 1982 trip to Europe.
Albright's papers also include a mixture of professional work and project records spanning her years working at private firms, like Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill and Solomon, Inc., and in academia. Project records primarily consist of bound project notebooks that are either portfolios (built projects) or meant for the evaluation of urban planning bodies. These early projects are all located throughout California.
Albright's later academic work centers on community planning and urban design.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into four series:
Series I: Student Work
Series II: Professional Papers
Series III: Project and Office Records
Series IV: Digital Files
Related Material
Kathryn Clarke Albright's books are cataloged as part of Special Collections and University Archives' rare book collection. The following titles may be requested and viewed in the department's reading room: Albright, Kathryn Clarke. Blacksburg Farmers Market : An Archive . Place of publication not identified: [publisher not identified], 2010. [Call number: SCUA Large SB319.863.A43 2010] Albright, Kathryn Clarke. Exploring the Architecture of Place in America's Farmers Markets . Cincinnati, Ohio: University of Cincinnati Press, 2020. [Call number: SCUA Large NA9068.A43 2020]
Subjects and Indexing Terms
- Architects
- Architectural drawing -- 20th century
- Architectural drawings (visual works)
- International Archive of Women in Architecture (IAWA)
- Women -- History
Rights Statement for Archival Description
The guide to the Kathryn Clarke Albright Architectural Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).
Container List
- box-folder 2 folder: 1
Photographic sampling of undergraduate design work, 1979-1981 [6 black-and-white prints]Scope and Contents
Photographs of undergraduate design work: Brick competition, plaster cast into sand Chess set, edge detail Chess set Sketches, Pembroked School Bowls, slab-built clay Staggered wall
- box-folder 2 folder: 2 box-folder 2 folder: 3
European travel sketches, 1981 [67 original sketches, 2 folders]Scope and Contents
Two folders containing 67 original pen-and-ink sketches, organized alphabetically by location: A flower analysis Amsterdam, Berlage, Stock Exchange Amsterdam, DeKlerk, Eigen Haard housing Amsterdam, railings Andorra, Spain, Bofill, Sanctuary of Mexitell Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Hertzberger, Centraal Beheer Arc-et-Senans, France, Ledoux, salt works column Arles, France, Arena, passages Assisi, Italy, pathway with steps Assisi, Italy, street Barcelona, Bofill, Walden-7 housing, cement factory-RBTA office Barcelona, Bofill, Walden-7 housing, cement factory Barcelona, Bohigas & MacKay, Garbi school Barcelona, Gaudi, Casa Mila, Casa Barilto Barcelona, Gaudi, Casa Mila, rooftop stairs Barcelona, Gaudi, chapel ceiling Barcelona, Gaudi, Parc Guell, passage Barcelona, Gaudi, Parc Guell, steeple Barcelona, Gaudi, Sagrada Famalia, Parc Guell, Gothic cathedral Barcelona, Sert, Foundacio Juan Miro Bellinzona, Switzerland, Campi, Museo Civico nel Castello di Montebello Bern, Switzerland, arcade Bern, Switzerland, Rathasgrasse Bern, Switzerland, Rathasgrasse Boswill, Switzerland, stone steps Bre, Switzerland, steps Carcasonne, France, inside fort walls Carcasonne, France, turrets Carona, Switzerland, passages Carona, Switzerland, portals, passages Corippo, Switzerland, streets Dole, France, Commune turret Eveux, France, Corbusier, La Tourette Convent, chapel Eveux, France, Corbusier, La Tourette, entrance view of courtyard Eveux, France, Corbusier, La Tourette, exterior Florence, Italy, passages Florence, Italy, street Le Thoronet, France, Cistercian Abbey Les Baux, France, ruins Les Baux, France, stairs Lucciagnano, Italy, church Lugano, Switzerland, Mont Bre Lugano, Switzerland, street with steps Luzern, Switzerland, Jesuit church Milano, Italy, Santa Maria Della Gracie Montebello Morbio Inferiore, Switzerland, Secondary School Narbonne, France, cathedral nave Nimes, France, Arena, portals Nimes, France, paving, railing Nimes. France, Aux Heroes Et Matyrs Orvieto & Assisi, Italy, portals Paul Klee, painting analysis Rome, Italy, Bernini, colonnade Rome, Italy, Bernini, Piazza Narvonna Ronchamp, France, Corbusier, Chapelle Notre Dame du Haut Sarnen, Switzerland, windows Schaffhausen, Germany, arches Schaffhausen, Germany, rooftops Siena, Italy, Piazza Della Campo Siena, Italy, Via Della Galluza St Martin's Kirsche Stein AmRhein, Germany, street Stein AmRhein, Germany, windows Tivoli, Italy, Hadrian's Villa, portals Turin, Italy, arcade Turin, Italy, shopping arcade unknown location Zurich, Switzerland, arcade
- box-folder 2 folder: 4 box-folder 2 folder: 5
Early career portfolio mock-up [2 folders]
- box-folder 2 folder: 6
Harvard Graduate School of Design, application materials, 1992-1993
- box-folder 2 folder: 7
Letters related to Clarke Albright's role at ACSA/AIA Professional Practice Summer Institute, 1996
- box-folder 2 folder: 8
Thank you note from Lorenz Moser, 2001
- Daniel Solomon & Associates [later Solomon, Inc.]
- box-folder 1 folder: 1
Project portfolio, Glen Cove, Matrix Land and Development, Inc., Vallejo, California, undated
- box-folder 1 folder: 2
Planning notebook, Mission Bay Plan, San Francisco, California, 1988
- box-folder 1 folder: 3
"Mission Bay Plan," Progressive Architecture , Citation, 1988
- box-folder 1 folder: 4
Planning notebook, A City of Gardens, Pasadena, California, 1988
- box-folder 1 folder: 5
"A City of Gardens," Progressive Architecture , Citation, 1989
- box-folder 1 folder: 6
"A City of Gardens: The Challenges of Implementaiton," Phoebe Wall feat. illustrations from Kathryn Clarke-Albright, Architecture California , p. 45-50, 1989
- box-folder 1 folder: 7
Project portfolio, Lee's Orchard, Milpitas, California, 1991
- box-folder 1 folder: 8
"Suburban Harvest," Kevin Powell, Landscape Architecture , p. 52-55, 1991
- box-folder 1 folder: 9
Yountville General Plan, Yountville, California, 1992
- box-folder 1 folder: 10
Yountville Zoning Ordinance, Yountville, California, 1992
- box-folder 1 folder: 11
Yountville Design Document, Yountville, California, 1992
- box-folder 1 folder: 12
A Specific Plan for Communications Hill, San Jose, California, 1991
- box-folder 2 folder: 9
Site plans, Communications Hill and Curtner Neighborhood, San Jose, California, c. 1991
- box-folder 1 folder: 13
Planning notebook, The Curtner Neighborhood, Communications Hill, San Jose, California, 1993
- box-folder 1 folder: 14
"Communications Hill," Progressive Architecture , Citation, p. 36-39, 1994
- box-folder 1 folder: 15
Solomon, Inc., firm portfolio, c. 1994
- box-folder 1 folder: 1
- Dunay + Albright Architects
- box-folder 2 folder: 10
Community planning pamphlets, Blacksburg Schools, Virginia, 1996
- box-folder 2 folder: 10
- Consultation Work
- box-folder 2 folder: 11
Booklet, New Schools for Chicago, DeStefano + Partners, 1998
- box-folder 2 folder: 11