Katherine Sundermann
Katherine Sundermann
Katherine is Principal at MGS Architects, Senior Lecturer of Urban Planning and Design at Monash University and President of Urban Design Forum Australia. As an architect and urbanist with extensive experience working in Australia, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark, Katherine is passionate about supporting the public interest in terms of how our cities are designed and governed and in creating the right governance and spatial frameworks for inclusive, resilient neighbourhoods.
At MGS Architects, Katherine has delivered planning frameworks, policy, research, urban strategies and masterplans. Her key areas of focus have included university campus transformation, innovation precincts, urban regeneration and social and affordable housing masterplans and strategies, including the award-winning City of Ballarat Creative Precinct Masterplan, Central Geelong Framework Plan and North Richmond Masterplan for Homes Victoria.
Katherine is committed to lifting the quality and profile of urbanism in Australia, through curating events, exhibitions, research and advocacy, galvanised through her work with Urban Design Forum Australia. Katherine has strong commitment to educating the next generation of public-interest urbanists, and has led international interdisciplinary design studios, introducing students to the ‘Dutch approach’ to urbanism where the practice of planning, urban design and architecture are integrated.
Her research agenda includes alternative housing models, and the design and governance of urban transformation. She is a recipient of the City of Sydney’s Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge, the Lord Mayors Charitable Foundation Affordable Housing Challenge and the Bunya Fund Grant for the development of the 'Middle Ground' cooperative housing model, providing sustainable, rent-stabilised housing for Australians locked out of home ownership.