Kate Ascher

Kate Ascher, head of Happold Consulting’s U.S. practice, has perhaps become better known for her popular books on how cities work. Ascher received her masters and doctorate degrees from the London School of Economics, where she focused on the interface between the public and private sectors. She previously worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the City’s Economic Development Corporation, and Vornado Realty Trust. Currently, Ascher teaches at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation as the Milstein Professor of Urban Development. Ascher explains the complex systems and structures of cities in her books, The Works: Anatomy of a City (Penguin 2005), and the recently published The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper (Penguin 2011). (more…)