• State-of-the-art code for a walkable city

    In its new form-based code, Somerville ditches a Model T zoning engine and adopts 21st Century green design. The code won a 2020 CNU Charter Award in the Metropolis, City, and Town category for the City of Somerville.
    Somerville, Massachusetts, recently adopted a state-of-the-art form-based code that brings together much of the wisdom that urbanists have acquired over the last 30 years. Remarkably, the code was largely written by in-house city planners, who include skilled urbanists with many years of experience...Read more

  • Introducing townhouse living to a city

    Beatrice Row brings the classical row house to Coral Gables, Florida, along with zoning guidelines for this type. The project won a 2020 CNU Charter Award in the Block, Street, and Building category for de la Guardia Victoria Architects & Urbanists.
    Beatrice Row elegantly introduces a new building type, the townhouse, to the City of Coral Gables in a way that allows a transition between the high-rise downtown to surrounding single-story detached neighborhoods. The design elegantly employs classical architecture on an infill site. The block of...Read more

  • Building a knowledge base for sustainable urban habitation

    The Center of Territorial Intelligence in Biodiversity in Curridabat, Costa Rica, is a model for studying climate change on an urban environment. The project won a 2020 CNU Charter Award in the Emerging Projects category for Tandem Arquitectura.
    The Center of Territorial Intelligence in Biodiversity (CITBIO) is building a knowledge base on urban landscape performance that sets a model for communities in this era of climate change. The center consists of simple, well-designed buildings that are easy to construct, low in maintenance,...Read more

  • Civic buildings connect street to park

    The King Open/Cambridge Street Community Complex provides much-needed public spaces and inclusive facilities in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The project won a 2020 CNU Charter Award in the Block, Street, and Building category for William Rawn Associates.
    The Community Complex on Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, comprises a versatile set of civic uses that serves all ages of residents, throughout the day, seven days a week. The 6-acre complex, with two large buildings, elegantly combines multiple school facilities, a public library, two...Read more