Based in Brooklyn, NY, Kat is a designer, educator, artist, storyteller, and advocate for sustainable practices - particularly in the field of design.
Kat’s personal work investigates the increasingly ambiguous boundaries between the built and natural* environment, exploring the possibilities of biodesign in terrestrial and interplanetary applications. Their educational work encourages the exercise of thinking through making, while instructing students in design, visual representation, and sustainable strategies.
nightnurse images, New York, Visualizer
nightnurse-images.com
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, US, Visiting Assistant Professor
School of Continuing and Professional Studies | February 2019 - Present
Wrote curriculum for, and currently co-teaching courses in the Sustainable Design Certificate Program, including courses Sustainable Design Foundation, Sustainable Processes & Materials.
Pratt Institute Center K-12 | July 2018
Developed curriculum and led a two-week introductory course on architectural design for local high schoolers. Each student created their own pavilion design through guided exercises in sketching, drafting, modeling, and rendering.
Pratt Institute School of Architecture | September - December 2017
Co-taught architectural representation course. Demonstrated construction of orthographic and perspectival drawings, 3D modeling and rendering.
Freelance, Brooklyn, NY, US, Designer
Independent Contractor | April 2014 - Present
Designer, render artist, draftsperson for hire. Some previous clients include:
NorthSouth Productions: rendered 3D models of fictitious architectural proposals for the television series Impractical Jokers (February 2019).
Evolution Ventures: prepared drawings to develop visualizations, including virtual reality simulations, for marketing real estate. Coordinated with clients to install and troubleshoot software (April - August 2014, January - April 2015).
LEAD Architecture + Design Studios, Brooklyn, NY, US, Associate
Associate | August 2017 - May 2019
Involved in all phases of design for renovations across the boroughs and upstate NY. Balanced deadlines for several simultaneous projects in various phases of design. Participated in client meetings throughout the design process, discussing options and taking notes on clients' needs and preferences. Collected material samples and generated 3D renderings and 2D drawings to prepare presentations for clients.
Drafted construction document sets for filing, bidding, and construction. Surveyed existing buildings as needed. Coordinated with engineers and contractors, marking up drawing sets and issuing clarifications when necessary. Leveled bids and generated schedules to keep projects within budget. Completed regular site visits during construction to ensure that the work reflected the design intent.
Independent Contractor | June 2014 - February 2015
Took part in schematic design, design development, construction documents, and construction administration for a kitchen and bath renovation in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Prepared presentations for clients. Drafted plans and interior elevations to communicate design intent. Documented site conditions during construction administration, taking notes and measurements as required.
Freelance, New York, NY, US, Artist Assistant
Independent Contractor | May 2014 - February 2018
Aided artist John Powers in assembly of installation +time at Postmasters Gallery (May - June 2014). Hired by patrons to repair damaged sculpture Terminal (November 2014). Aided in assembly and installation of twin suspended sculptures at Davidson Gallery (July 2015). Drafted templates for scale model of sculpture Lanchals in preparation for Bruges Triennial 2018 (February 2018).
Aided artist William Powhida in preparation of exhibition After the Contemporary to be installed at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum (December - January 2017).
RSVP Architecture Studio, Brooklyn, NY, US, Independent Contractor
Independent Contractor | October - December 2015, June - August 2016
Hired to work in the design studio part-time (2015), then full-time (2016). Drafted construction document sets for filing and to communicate design intent. Prepared presentations for clients. Organized the studio work space and library.
Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, US, BArch, Architecture
Bachelor's Degree in Architecture
Minor in Sustainability Studies
Graduated with Highest Honors
Blank Space: Outer Space 2019 Competition, Honorable Mention
In Blank Space Project's Outer Space 2019 competition, Kat Choate and Stephen Smolko II received an honorable mention for their entry, Records of the Traveler - the inaugural project of their shared design practice, sourhaus.
Kat is a biophilic designer and a professor of sustainability at Pratt Institute. Stephen is a designer focused on the intersection of conscientious land use and community-building. Collaborating under the name sourhaus, they employ techniques from their architectural education to tell stories of sustainable futures - what they call "design fiction" - on Earth and elsewhere.
You can read the story, and see the other winning entries, at blankspaceproject.com
Michael Hollander Drawing Excellence Award, 1st Place
Peristalsis
https://www.choatekm.work/peristalsis
Peristalsis is the degree project of Kat Choate and Daniel Armitano, which won the Michael Hollander Drawing Excellence Award at Pratt Institute in 2017. Their winning drawing is displayed in a permanent exhibition within Higgins Hall South Main Stairwell, at Pratt Institute School of Architecture.
Under the guidance of Professor Abigail Coover Hume of Hume Coover Studio and Professor Michael Szivos of SOFTlab, the project began with the prompt "Free Time" and the site: Manhattan.
Biodesign Challenge Finalist at MoMA 2017 Summit, Nomination
Symbiotic Merger
www.choatekm.work/symbiotic-merger
Pratt Institute Architecture’s 2017 entry to the Biodesign Challenge earned the team a place as finalists and the opportunity to present the work at MoMA for the Biodesign Challenge Summit. The project was a collaboration between students from Pratt’s Undergraduate School of Architecture, including Kat Choate, Alejandra Chinea, Martin Orr, Batya Abadie, Anna Seidman, Andy Kim, Ashley Katz, Alicem Bozdag, Kay Choi, Annette Veliz, Eric Hanshen, Elaine Tan, Nohar Agadi, and Ann Chai, advised by Professors Richard Sarrach and Catherine Ingraham.
"The 2017 BDC Summit gallery show's title plays on Salvador Dali's famous proclamation that the future of architecture 'will be soft and hairy.' The student projects portrayed futures where materials, garments, foods, and more will be produced with the tools of biotech and through symbiotic relationships with other species.
The 24 projects chosen from over a hundred developed throughout 2017 by university students working with art and design professors, scientists, and subject-matter experts explored the many possible ways biotechnology may reshape our lives and environment."
