Archinect - News

Pratt Institute to offer masters in "Placemaking and Management"

2015-04-06T14:42:00-04:00

The 40-credit, four-semester master of science degree program — which purports to be the first of its kind in the United States focused on creating successful public spaces based on community planning [...] “Rather than allowing these spaces to be formed as an afterthought of building design, placemaking sees the creation of successful public spaces as the starting point, which in turn dictates the siting and design of other components of the urban fabric.”

The "Urban Placemaking and Management" masters program will be led by David Burney FAIA, who was also recently appointed interim Executive Director of AIANY and the Center for Architecture. The program will be part of Pratt's Programs for Sustainable Planning and Development.

Pratt's full description of the program is available here.

David Burney named interim Executive Director of AIANY and Center for Architecture

2015-04-03T18:50:00-04:00

While the search for a permanent director continues, David Burney, FAIA, will serve as interim Executive Director of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter and the Center for Architecture, taking the place of former director Rick Bell FAIA.

Burney currently serves as an Associate Professor of Planning and Placemaking at the Pratt Institute's School of Architecture, as well as the Board Chair for the Center for Active Design. Previously, he was Commissioner of the City's Department of Design and Construction (2004-2014).

The complete press release from AIA NY is as follows:

New York, NY (April 3, 2015)—The American Institute of Architects New York Chapter (AIANY) and the Center for Architecture today named David Burney, FAIA, interim Executive
Director. Burney, an architect, urbanist, educator, and former Commissioner of the City’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC), will serve in the post until the organization hires a permanent Executive Director.

Burney is credi...

New York Design Commissioner David Burney on the Politics of the Public

2013-05-28T20:33:00-04:00

Increasingly it's been cities that have taken the lead on critical issues, from gun control to immigration reform to economic stimulus to climate change. Given the migration of people into cities worldwide, this trend is sure to continue. We might even be in a de facto transition to a society dominated by economically and politically powerful cities — a contemporary version of the great city-states that arose in the 13th century and ruled Europe until the consolidation of modern nation-states.

For almost a decade David Burney has been Commissioner of the Department of Design and Construction in New York City.

In an interview with Places editor Nancy Levinson, he reflects on the urban design record of the Bloomberg years, focusing especially on PlaNYC, the ongoing post-Sandy recovery effort, and the potential for cities to take the lead in 21st-century sustainability planning.