On August 16, 2011, the Citydesign Studio and Dallas Architecture Forum partnered to present CityShaping, a panel discussion featuring well known architects and urban designers: Simon Pastucha of LA Urban Design Studio, Lyle Bicknell of Seattle CityDesign Studio, Brent Brown of Dallas Citydesign Studio, David Whitley of Dallas Citydesign Studio and Larry Beasley, Retired Director of Planning for Vancouver and Dallas Citydesign Studio Special Advisor.
The event was held at the Horchow at the Dallas Museum of Architecture, each design director discussed focused urban design has played in shaping their city, their Studio's influence on advancing design dialogue and partnership as well as a candid discussion about the opportunities and challenges they face collaborating with public and private sectors. The event was sponsored in part by a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
LARRY BEASLEY is the retired Director of Planning for the City of Vancouver. He is now the "Distinguished Practice Professor of Planning" at the University of British Columbia and the founding principal of Beasley and Associates, an international planning consultancy. He is also vice president for planning of a major Canadian development company, Aquilini Development. He now teaches and advises the private sector and governments around the world. He is the Chief Advisor for the Dallas Citydesign Studio.
LYLE BICKNELL, is the principal urban designer for the City of Seattle's Department of Planning and Development. His specific areas of expertise include street and open space design, and creating successful, walkable communities. Before joining the City of Seattle, Lyle worked in the private sector as an architect and urban designer. Established in 1999 CityDesign was created to ensure the highest standard of public realm design. In 2004 CityDesign became part of the Planning Division at the Department of Planning and Development, combining its work with the long term planning and land use policy teams. This transformation strengthened and consolidated its role as Seattle's urban design office.
BRENT BROWN is a Dallas based architect working to bring design thinking to all communities. In October 2009, he was named the Founding Director of the Dallas Citydesign Studio. He is also the Founding Director of the buildingcommunityWORKSHOP (bcWORKSHOP).
SIMON PASTUCHA, lives in Los Angeles without a car. He is the head of the Urban Design Studio in the Los Angeles Department of City Planning. Simon was part of the core team that developed the Downtown Design Guidelines and revised Street Standards. Created in late 2006, the mission of the Urban Design Studio is to partner with all Angelenos to transform Los Angeles into a tapestry of distinctive, healthy and sustainable of neighborhoods. Studio works to create a shared a vision for the direction of Los Angeles and set a framework for city design to implement that vision.
DAVID WHITLEY was the Associate Director of the Dallas Citydesign Studio. David has worked on a number of planning initiatives including development code amendments for neighborhood stabilization