The New Haven Independent reports today on the Town Green Special Services District's 10th anniversary event. The highlight of the event was a one hour lecture by internationally-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, who discussed projects throughout New Haven and around the world. He also explained why his office, which currently employs close to 100 architects, is located in Downtown New Haven. His explanation found a chord of agreement around the packed room.
"People ask me why I don’t live in New York. I think New York is too noisy, too distracting. New Haven is ideal for an architect. After a typical day of work, at 5:30, you can walk home and have a nice dinner with your family. Then, later in the evening, around 8:00, we all come back to work. That would never happen in New York City - it would be impossible."
“In what other city in the world does half of your staff walk to work? I even walk to work, sometimes.”
In showcasing his projects, Pelli kept referring to the critical need for walkability and developing an interface and dialogue with surrounding city streets. He was particularly proud of his newly-completed, $450-million Carnival Center for the Performing Arts in Miami, which closes down a section of U.S. Highway 1 at times so as to activate a pedestrian plaza between two buildings (see photo above courtesy of Critical Miami - how's that for traffic calming?).
In response to a question, he also stated his belief that civic, public projects "should always be more important than" private-sector projects. A native of Argentina and the recipient of hundreds of architecture awards, Pelli is currently on one of the teams applying to develop the former New Haven Coliseum site and Long Wharf Theater.
Pelli's speech was the capstone on the city's successful "Wine Dine Design" series, which discussed architecture and the future of New Haven, receiving widespread local and national attention. In addition, Stewart Johnson of Hull's, Wareck Real Estate chief John Wareck and SeeClickFix founder Ben Berkowitz received awards for their civic engagement. Town Green District Executive Director Scott Healy predicted that SeeClickFix would "soon be sweeping the nation." Expect to hear more on that this summer.
Meanwhile, a post from our neighbors at BlogStamford outlines some of the other reasons for promoting walkable urban districts.
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