Shelly Kappe

Shelly Kappe (December 30, 1928 – March 29, 2025) was an American architectural historian and academic known for her work on the residential architectural history of Los Angeles. She was a founding faculty member of the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc), an independent school of architecture established in 1972.

Kappe died on March 29, 2025, at the age of 96.

Career Kappe was a prominent writer and historian focused on the modernist architects active in Los Angeles between the 1940s and 1970s. Her work appeared in Architecture California and L.A. Architect magazines. She was also the editor of Environmental Design West, writing extensively on the history of environmental design,

Kappe also served as the inaugural director of the Architecture Gallery at SCI-Arc, curating eight exhibitions. Notable shows included the 1981 inaugural exhibition Modern Architecture: Mexico—for which she authored the catalog —and The Mystery of Form, an exhibition of work by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.