Katherine Ashe

Senior Lecturer, Fremantle School of Architecture

Email: katherine.ashe@nd.edu.au

  • Biography

    Katherine Ashe is a senior lecturer at the Fremantle School of Architecture, where she leads the Design Stream with Dr Simon Pendal and Foreground Fremantle with the City of Fremantle. Prior to this she was a senior lecturer and the Chair of Architectural Methods at Curtin University. Katherine is also co-director of the award-winning architectural practice vittinoAshe.

    Katherine has been teaching, practicing and studying architecture in Western Australia since 1996 and her work engages different approaches to architectural design. She seeks to explore creative diversity through her relationships with different institutions, practice (or creative) partnerships, research and education.

    Influenced by her childhood in the remote arid regions of Australia, Katherine is particularly interested in working with Traditional Owners to develop project-specific ways of weaving Traditional Knowledge into architectural and academic practices. Katherine's creative works aim to foster direct connections between practice, research and education and this interplay informs her architectural design studios, which focus on individual generative processes that inform meaningful architectural propositions, deeply embedded in place and history.

    Katherine's architectural practice, vittinoAshe, which she co-founded with Marco Vittino, is a small studio committed to high-quality architecture. vittinoAshe engages in projects of varying scales and types, from strategic visioning to small highly crafted interiors. The studio's methods of practice respond to every project's specific research requirements and unique opportunities. Themes such as ageing in place, down-sizing and heritage fabrics are further explored in the studio setting at Notre Dame.

    Katherine is a Registered Architect and in 2018 received the Western Australian Institute of Architects' `Emerging Architects Prize' recognising her on-going contribution to practice, education and research.

  • Teaching areas

    • Architectural Design
    • Non-traditional practice-based research

  • Research expertise and supervision

    • 2005-2018 Supervision of Masters research projects at Curtin University

  • Book Chapters

    • 2010 Ashe, K and Doney, R. Re-defining the Edge `Conversations from the Edge' 1: 39-51

  • Journal Articles and Proceedings

    • 2020 Authored Article with Marco Vittino- Houses Issue 133 An open invitation: Welcoming spaces that make you feel at home ` Revisited: Way House by Darryl Way', p130-137
    • 2017 Authored Article with Simon Pendal -The Architect (AIA-WA) Spring 2016 Power `In real time: powerful partnerships', p85-87
    • 2016 Authored Article -The Architect (AIA-WA) Autumn 2016, Small | Medium | Large `Tailor made: Adelaide Terrace', p15-17.
    • 2009 Authored Article with Marco Vittino -The Architect (AIA-WA) Issue 12, `Packed Flat', p30-31.

  • Original Creative Works

    • 2020 Commercial Road Garden (vittinoAshe)
    • 2019 Flood | Light for the Fremantle Biennale (vittinoAshe + Simon Pendal)
    • 2019 Chelmsford Road Residence (vittinoAshe)
    • 2018 Palmerston Street Residence (vittinoAshe)
    • 2018 Orange Avenue Residence (vittinoAshe)
    • 2017 Hilton Design Competition (vittinoAshe)
    • 2015 Adelaide Terrace Apartment (vittinoAshe)
    • 2014 Dalkeith House Heritage Interior (vittinoAshe)
    • 2014 Dalkeith House Lighting (vittinoAshe + Ruth Allen)
    • 2013 Landcorp's Gen Y Demonstration House (vittinoAshe + Tom Hobbs)
    • 2013 Raise the Roof | Think Brick Invited Competition (vittinoAshe)
    • 2008 Hope Street Residence (vittinoAshe)
    • 2007 Russell Avenue Apartment (vittinoAshe)

  • Curated Exhibitions or Events

    • 2019 Fremantle Biennale: UNIT  - `Flood Light'  - Fremantle. vittinoAshe in collaboration Simon Pendal Architect
    • 2019 AIA Symposium: Connecting Narratives - `On Collaboration' - Cairns Art Gallery.  Key note speaker  - vittinoAshe
    • 2019 MIAW (Milan International Architecture Workshop): 6 chances to make public space with nature  - `Nature inside the Building' - Politecnico Di Milano. Katherine Ashe
    • 2017 Kidogo Arthouse  - `Silent Voices'  - Fremantle. Katherine Ashe in collaboration with Prof. Reena Tiwari and Associate Prof. Dianne Smith
    • 2015 Mundaring Arts Centre: Still Life  - `Some Green Bottles'  - Mundaring. vittinoAshe in collaboration with Ruth Allen
    • 2014 AIA National Architecture Conference: On Making `@ scale 1:1'  - Perth. vittinoAshe
    • 2011 Affirmative Architecture Symposium and Exhibition  - `the suburbs'  - Perth. vittinoAshe
    • 2009 4 over 3 under  - `On-reuse'  - Perth. vittinoAshe

  • In the Media

    • 2018 Australia by Design TV series 2 episode 3 `Palmerston' (4th place)
    • 2018 West Australian Newspaper, Streetwise Column No 75 with Holly Farley, September 5 2018, `Collaboration for a win-win'.
    • 2016 West Australian Newspaper, Streetwise Column No 53 with Meg Ryan, January 27 2016, `Planning must shift to meet need'.

  • Professional Affiliations

    • A+ Member of the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA)
    • Registered Architect, Architects Board of Western Australia (No. 3063)

  • Awards

    • 2020 Commercial Road | Houses Awards shortlist for Gardens - vittinoAshe
    • 2019 Chelmsford Road | AIA Peter Commendation for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 Orange Avenue | AIA National Architecture Awards shortlist for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 Orange Avenue | AIA Peter Overman Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions) - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 Orange Avenue | AIA shortlist for the George Temple Poole Award - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 Orange Avenue | Houses Awards shortlist for House Alteration and Addition under 200 m2 - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 Palmerston Street | Houses Awards Commendation for House Alteration and Addition above 200 m2 - vittinoAshe
    • 2018 AIA Emerging Architect prize for WA  - Katherine Ashe
    • 2017 HILTON U | Hilton Design Competition Commendation  - vittinoAshe
    • 2015 Landcorp's Gen Y Demonstration House | shortlist  - vittinoAshe + Thomas Hobbs
    • 2016 Adelaide Terrace | AIA Iwan Iwanoff Award for Small Project Architecture - vittinoAshe
    • 2011 Hope Street | AIA Iwan Iwanoff Award for Small Project Architecture - vittinoAshe
    • 2011 Hope Street | AIA Marshall Clifton Award for Residential Architecture - Houses (Alterations and Additions)  - vittinoAshe

  • Other

    • 2020 Australian Institute of Architects - Chair of Awards Jury | Iwan Iwanoff Award for Small Project Architecture.
    • 2018 Australian Institute of Architects - Chair of Awards Jury | Iwan Iwanoff Award for Small Project Architecture.
    • 2017 Access Committee Breakfast Seminar CPD event `Enabling Design: The later years'
    • 2017 Australian Institute of Architects Seminar CPD event `Starting a Practice'