Fellows in the News: Blaik, Gorlin, Libeskind, Palmieri, Safdie, Sennett, Sheffer, Stepner, Walker, & Wong

Monday, March 21st, 2011

Detroit is abuzz with talk about Omar Blaik’s revitalization plan for the historic Midtown neighborhood, which recently got extensive write-ups from the Detroit News and the Free-Press; the latest issue of Dwell features a two-page spread on Alexander Gorlin’s The Brook development in the Bronx; a torquing tower designed by Daniel Libeskind will soon join a new cluster of skyscrapers rising in Jerusalem; John Palmieri recently visited Belfast as a guest lecturer for the city’s State of the City Development Debate; the Architect’s Newspaper recently visited Moshe Safdie’s studio for a look at his current projects, while the Huffington Post featured a slideshow of the architect’s daring Golden Dream Bay Sky Garden Apartments in Qinhuangdao; Richard Sennett wrote an article in the Guardian on the recent funding scandal at the London School of Economics; New York magazine talked to Ethel Sheffer about the uniquely depressing quality of long-vacant storefronts in newer buildings; Michael Stepner spoke to the Voice of San Diego about the challenges presented by “invisible parks”; construction is just getting underway to transform a disused stretch of Sydney’s waterfront into the 15-acre Headlands Park, designed by Peter Walker; and HuffPo visited the serenely swooping gardens (pictured at left), designed by John Wong, at the base of the world’s tallest building, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa.

IfUD Well-Represented Amongst AIA Institute Honor Awardees

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Patron Steven Holl and Fellows Phil Enquist and Michael Manfredi each took home a 2011 AIA Institute Honor Award. Holl and Manfredi won in the Architecture category, for the Horizontal Skyscraper Vanke Center and the Barnard College Diana Center, respectively; Enquist’s Beijing CBD East Expansion master plan (pictured at left) was honored in Urban Design. Congratulations to all three men!

Open Cities 2010 Call for Partners

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010

Rebuilding a Sustainable Haiti media partner Next American City recently issued a Call for Partners for their upcoming Open Cities 2010 conference, which will convene top federal urban policy officials, cutting edge designers and programmers, and leading think tank theorists in Washington, DC, for two days of discussion of the future of American cities. If you are interested in getting involved in the planning of this event, check out the project page here.

http://americancity.org/opencities2010

Benepe, Burden, and Burney to Discuss Design in New York

Monday, July 19th, 2010

The third installment of the Architectural League’s Conversations on New York series will take place tomorrow, July 20, at 7:00 PM in the Cooper Union’s Great Hall, 7 East 7th Street. This session will bring together the heads of three of New York City’s most design-conscious departments: Adrian Benepe (Parks), Amanda Burden (Planning), and David Burney (Design and Construction). The discussion will be moderated by New Yorker architecture critic Paul Goldberger. League members may reserve a ticket by e-mailing: rsvp@archleague.org; non-members can purchase tickets here for $15.

StastnyBrun Architects Evolves

Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010

We’re excited to report that StastnyBrun Architects, Inc., led by IfUD Fellow Donald J. Stastny, FAIA, FAICP, announced today that, on July 1, 2010, the firm will evolve into a new consultancy, STATSNY: architect. The Portland, Oregon-based firm, which recently celebrated its 35th anniversary, will continue to focus on place-making, planning and urban design, and design process innovation.

“It’s difficult to let go of something you’ve spent 35 years building, but I feel like we’ve lived up to our commitment to do really good design work and created an environment for others to do good work as well,” Stastny said of StastnyBrun, adding: “The biggest impact we can have now is teaching and mentoring, rather than just ‘doing.’ It’s time to pass on our belief system and experience.”

June Williamson Featured in GOOD Magazine

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Institute Fellow June Williamson, Associate Professor of Urban Design at the City College of New York, was recently featured in GOOD Magazine’s Neighborhoods Issue. The article, “Agriculture is the New Golf: Rethinking Suburban Communities” by Allison Arieff, cites Williamson’s expertise in suburban development patterns. Williamson has worked extensively in the field  and co-authored the book Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburb with Ellen Dunham-Jones.

Urban Design for an Urban Century

Thursday, January 15th, 2009

urban-century_sm

John Wiley & Sons released Urban Design for an Urban Century: Placemaking for People. Institute fellows Lance Jay Brown, David Dixon, and Oliver Gillham collaborated on the book. More

Retrofitting Suburbia by Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson

Monday, December 1st, 2008

retrofitting-suburbia

Wiley Press released Retrofitting Suburbia: Urban Design Solutions for Redesigning Suburbs by acclaimed architects Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, Institute fellow and contributor to The New York 2030 Notebook. More