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Urban Design Prize to Calthorpe | |
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Chicago Landmark Awards | |
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World of Cities | |
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Urban Design Prize to Calthorpe The prize is named after the Kansas City, Missouri developer J.C. Nichols, a founding ULI member and influential entrepreneur during the first half of the 1900s. According to Calthorpe, the premise behind CNU can be attributed to Nichols's desire to build for permanence. "J.C. Nichols understood the importance of streetscape. He wanted to build a community that would last for generations, and be socially and environmentally sustainable," Calthorpe says. He adds that the business of urban design is the business of creating positive change. "My goal has been to work on projects that, in some serious way, lead to redirecting and repairing the missteps that we in design and development have made since World War II," he says. Putting into Practice "Urban design," contends Calthorpe, "involves a nuanced set of tradeoffs. It involves a balance of design, economics, politics, and the marketplace; they are all integrated." Although Calthorpe's designs vary broadly in project size and type, all are rooted in four principles pertaining to the need for diversity, building to human scale, a focus on restoring and preserving buildings, and taking a regional perspective. He constantly weighs his idealistic desire to stay true to those principles against the extent to which they can be fulfilled with each project. The urban center on the Tunis waterfront was designed to bring together a mix of highrise office buildings, hotels, retail and a convention center, surrounded by residential neighborhoods, and all linked together by boulevards and public transit. The planners expect the project will be "not only prime for international investment but also provide a setting for a successful residential environment." ABLA Homes, a Chicago public-housing revitalization, is designed to correct mistakes of past "urban renewal" attempts. Teaming with local residents and community leaders was key, and the plan more resembles a traditional urban neighborhood than a 20th century public housing project. ABLA boasts 12 different unit types including live/work, townhouses, and four flats over ground-floor retail. The plan will create 3000 housing units aimed at a range of socio-economic residents, some of whom will see their first opportunity for home and business ownership. When the citizens of Denver demanded that the redevelopment of the former Stapleton Airport be a model of sustainability, the developer turned to Calthorpe to design the master plan for the 4700-acre (1900-hectare) site. Instead of single-use tracts, the new community of Stapleton is made up of distinct transit-oriented neighborhoods, each defined by narrow, pedestrian-friendly streets, and by a mix of office, retail, civic, and residential uses. Architectural styles take cues from the local vernacular and Denver's historic districts. A. Eugene Kohn, chairman of Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects, chaired the 2006 Nichols Prize jury. He says the selection of Calthorpe as this year's laureate honors the work "not only of those who do the developing, but of those who do the planning and who influence planning and development through their ideas and vision. [Calthorpe's] legacy is one that shows the value of planning cities in an intelligent way." The Urban Land Institute is a 70-year-old global nonprofit education and research institute that provides leadership in the use of land in order to enhance the total environment. The Nichols Prize recognizes people and institutions that demonstrate a commitment to the highest standards of responsible development. Discuss this article in the Architecture Forum...
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