Episode 136: Verna Cook Salomonsky Shipman
Verna Cook was born on October 19, 1890 in Spokane, Washington. Her parents were Harlan J. Cook and Mara S. Taylor Cook. She graduated from Spokane High School in 1908 and went to study at the Commonwealth Avenue School in Boston, Massachusetts. She then went to Paris to study at the Ecole Speciale d’Architecture where she studied for two years before she ran out of money. She had to return to the US and ended up working for William Knighton’s architectural office in Salem, Oregon for two and a half years to save up and return to Paris. However, WWI broke out in 1914, which stopped her plans to return to Europe. Instead she enrolled at Columbia University in New York City and worked for Dwight James Baum while she studied. While in school she met Edgar Salomonsky and they were married in 1919. In 1920, they opened their own firm in New York City. Their work was primarily on residential projects in Westchester County. Their work was published in magazines and won competitions. In 1929, Edgar committed suicide. Verna continued the firm on her own, renaming it Verna Cook Salomonsky, Architect. In 1930, she was licensed in the state of New York and in 1932 she got licensed in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. In 1935 she was chosen to design the ‘Ideal House’ for House & Garden and the plans were published in the July 1935 issue. The house was then built in Scarsdale, New York and was open for tours after completion. In 1937, she became a member of the AIA. In 1939, the World’s Fair in Queens, New York had an exhibit called “Town of Tomorrow” which featured 15 houses as demos. Verna was chosen to design house #13, called ‘Garden Home’. It was the third most popular house of the exhibit, and a couple on their honeymoon chose it to build for themselves in Sevierville, Tennessee. In 1939, Verna retired due to failing eyesight. She moved to France in June of 1939 and had to promptly return four months later when WWII broke out. Upon her return she met Warren Butler Shipman and they were married soon after. They lived in DC during the war and Verna was active with different volunteer organizations. After the war, Warren was sent to London for a year, and Verna finally got to live her European dream. In 1947, the couple moved to LA for Warren’s job. Verna designed them a home in Brentwood. In 1950, Warren retired and they moved down to Rancho Santa Fe, and Verna designed them a Spanish Colonial house. In 1958, Verna and Warren visited Cuernavaca, Mexico with friends and were inspired by the architecture there. Warren was a photographer in his spare time, so he took photos and she drew details and wrote captions for the details and photographs. Verna and Warren went on to publish 5 books about Mexican residential architecture from 1960-1970. In 1972, Warren died and Verna moved to La Jolla where she lived until she passed away in 1978.
Caryatid: Tatiana Bilbao
Tatiana Bilbao was born in Mexico and apparently there are a lot of architects in her family including her grandfather. So she was exposed and interested in the profession from a very young age. She studied at Universidad Iberoamericana and got her Bachelors of Architecture and Urbanism in 1996 and in 1998 her thesis was awarded Best Architecture Thesis of the Year. After graduation she worked for the city on urban planning and housing developments. In 1999 she started Laboratiorio de la Ciudad de Mexico with Fernando Romero. Their work was mainly high-end homes. Then in 2004, Tatiana went off on her own to form Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, an urban think-tank. The firm focuses on sustainable design and also does a lot of affordable housing projects. Her firm has been focusing on creating an affordable housing prototype. They researched and interviewed future inhabitants of these housing units to find out what they wanted and needed in a space. Then they came up with a design that can adapt as needed to geographic, social, or cultural conditions. The prototype has a base layout with a cinderblock core, and then low-cost materials are used around that and can be added on to as needed. Their site says ‘The project’s objective is providing every Mexican family the possibility to have access to an intelligently designed affordable solution for a house.’
References
Allaback, Sarah. “Salomonsky, Verna Cook (1890-1978).” The First American Women Architects, University of Illinois Press, 2008, pp. 214–16.
Gamolina, Julia. “Forms of Care: Tatiana Bilbao on Responsibility, Opportunity, and Staying True to Your Values — Madame Architect.” Madame Architect, 13 Dec. 2021, www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2021/11/29/tatiana-bilbao.
Morton, Patricia. “Verna Cook Salomonsky Shipman.” Pioneering Women of American Architecture, pioneeringwomen.bwaf.org/verna-cook-salomonsky-shipway.
Robbie D. Jones, "Dwight and Kate Wade House", [Sevierville, Tennessee], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TN-01-155-0094.
Tatiana Bilbao Estudio. “Tatiana Bilbao Estudio | About.” Tatiana Bilbao Estudio | About, tatianabilbao.com/about.
---. “Tatiana Bilbao Estudio | Housing +.” Tatiana Bilbao Estudio, tatianabilbao.com/projects/housing.
Wikipedia contributors. “Tatiana Bilbao.” Wikipedia, 5 Aug. 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatiana_Bilbao.
---. “Verna Cook Salomonsky.” Wikipedia, 31 July 2025, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verna_Cook_Salomonsky.
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