Meet Katherine Darnstadt

Katherine Darnstadt is the founder of Latent Design, a progressive architecture and urbanism firm leveraging civic innovation and social impact to design more equitable spaces and systems. Since founding her practice in 2010, Katherine and her firm have prototyped new urban design systems to advance urban agriculture, support small business, created spaces for youth makers, advanced building innovation, and created public space frameworks. She is also the founder of Boombox, Chicago's first micro retail popup in a shipping container. To date the program has supported over 150 small businesses and built new models of finance and policy to support micro retain in Chicago. She and the firm have been published, exhibited and featured widely, most notably forty feet in the air in Times Square for winning a Chicago Innovation Award, under water at the International Venice Architecture Biennial, the first Architizer A+ Awards, Chicago Ideas Week, NPR, American Institute of Architects Young Architects Honor Award winner and Crain’s Chicago 40 Under 40. She previously taught at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University.

Q+A

What do you believe? 

You are going to have to do it sometime, might as well be now.

What inspires you? 

I know what will inspire me in a few short weeks - all the other women on this site now that I know about them, their shape-shifting work and general badassery.  Unexpected connections and awareness keep me constantly inspired.

A little known fact about yourself? 

My son and I have the same birthmark.

If you had to change careers what would you want to do? 

Private investigator or eccentric millionaire. I got the eccentric part nailed.

What do you suck at? 

Subtly, using the appropriate amount of words, singing. This is not, oh, I’m so shy bad at singing. This is serious tone-deaf singing.  I have cleared a karaoke bar before and that is the one of the most inclusive places known.

Favorite quote? 

Some [wo]men give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal. While others obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than ever before. – Herodotus a.k.a. some old Greek guy

Have you ever stolen anything? 

Hearts.  

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