UM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE CREATES NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON NEW URBANISM

Feb. 15, 2001—The nation’s premier professionals from a variety of fields ranging from architects to community builders and experts in economic development, will gather at the University of Miami School of Architecture March 7-10 for the Knight Program in Community Building Inaugural Seminar.

The Knight Fellows in Community Building will converge on this first-of-its-kind conference, that will serve as a national model at the UM School of Architecture, chosen because of its renowned reputation as a center for research and teaching focused on New Urbanism and smart growth.

“This program will provide a forum for a state-of-the-art experience for America’s community builders,” said Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, dean of UM’s School of Architecture. “The skills these Fellows will bring span a variety of disciplines. Design ability, leadership and salesmanship are all necessary skills to effectively shape the future of our physical environment,” said Plater-Zyberk.

The three-day conference begins with a reception and lecture, The Urban Assembly Kit, by new urbanist and Knight Fellow Raymond L. Gindroz, on Wednesday, March 7, at 6 p.m., at the Lowe Art Museum, 1301 Stanford Drive.

Gindroz, a co-founder and principal of Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, has pioneered the development of community involvement for neighborhoods, downtowns and regional projects.

An internationally recognized advocate and veteran practitioner of “architecture as city building,” he leads efforts to revitalize cities by transforming inner city neighborhoods and public housing projects into traditional mixed-income neighborhoods. He also works with downtowns to attract new residential, commercial and civic development.

The 2001 Knight Fellows represent a cross-section of professionals from a wide variety of disciplines including real estate, planning, community and economic development and housing. Together, their goal is to help tear down barriers between different fields that stand in the way fostering New Ubanism concepts.

This year’s Fellows are:

Peter Brown, Professor of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies and Director of Center for Community Development, Mercer University, Macon, GA
Richard Hall, President, Hall Planning and Engineering, Inc., Tallahassee, FL
Cecilia Holloman, Community Builder, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and Community Development, Niagara Fall, NY
Ken Hughes, State Planner and Staff in Waiting of the New Mexico Community Development Bank for the State of New Mexico, Sante Fe, NM
Jennifer Hurley, City Planner, Philadelphia City Planning Commission, Philadelphia, PA
Tim Keane, Director of Planning and Neighborhoods, City of Charleston, Charleston, SC
Philip Langdon, Freelance journalist and author focusing on architecture, design and urban planning, New Haven, CT
Joyce Marin, Councilman, Emmaus Borough Council, Board Member of Pennsylvania Downtown Center, Emmaus, PA
Peter Musty, Principal, Peter Musty Design Consulting, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN
Lee Sobel, Associate, Investment Properties Group, Miami, FL
L. Benjamin Starrett, Managing Director, Collins Center for Public Policy; Executive Director, Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities, Miami, FL
Dhiru Thadani, Principal, Thadani Hetzel Partnership, Washington, D.C.

The Knight Community Building Inaugural Seminar is funded by a $2.1 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and is directed by the University of Miami School of Architecture’s Charles Bohl. Bohl has taught in both planning and architecture programs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University’s (UNC) School of Design. Most recently, he established an interdisciplinary research program on Smart Growth and the New Economy at UNC’s Center for Urban and Regional Studies, where he was a Senior Research Associate.

The foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldrwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities.