Katarina Richter-Lunn

About Katarina Richter-Lunn

Katarina Richter-Lunn was born in Palma de Mallorca, an island off the southern coast of Spain, to a British mother and a German father, who at this time were voyaging between Europe and the Americas. Her father’s job as a ship captain, coupled with her mother’s determination to keep her small family together, meant that they had to move often, from port to port. By the time Katarina was seven, they had already lived in Spain, Germany, Italy, England, Greece, and finally France. As she entered her schooling years, switching schools and languages became increasingly difficult; thus, her mother decided to set anchor in Antibes, France. In the eight years that followed, Katarina became fluent in French and assimilated to French culture.

At 18, Katarina moved to the United States to pursue a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the California Polytechnic State University, in San Luis Obispo. Her conviction to go to California stemmed from her mother, who became a naturalized US citizen in 1974 and pursued her career in San Diego. Inspired by her mother who was both a psychologist and an art therapist, Katarina wanted to reach beyond the discipline of architecture, an ambition that led her to begin her interest in addressing mental health through design.

After practicing professionally at several world-renowned architecture firms, including Gehry Partners, where she worked for three years, Katarina returned to academia to earn a Master's in Design Technology followed by a Doctor of Design degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Inspired by the work she had begun during her undergraduate studies, as well as by her own experiences with stress and anxiety, Katarina's research focuses on how architecture can be enriched by psychology, technology, and neuroscience to promote mental wellbeing through the built environment.

Katarina is now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Industrial Design at Wentworth Institute of Technology. In addition to her primary appointment, she is also a Visiting Lecturer in Design Engineering at Harvard University's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and in Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Her work focuses on using emerging technologies, neurological and physiological metrics, and research in cognitive psychology to better understand and quantify the built environment's effects on mental health. Through this research, Katarina investigates how architecture, design, and physical computing can give rise to spatial forms of therapy, creating more empathetic, seamless, and accessible design solutions that support emotional wellbeing.