Insights from the 2024 Charter Awards jury chair
Note: I sat down with 2024 Charter Awards Jury Chair Matthew Bell to discuss his New Urbanist background and experience with CNU’s Charter Awards. The conversation has been edited for clarity. Learn more about the 2024 Charter Awards application here.
Matthew Bell came to New Urbanism from an academic background. Through the Cornell Graduate Urban Design studio network, he was engaged with early New Urbanist practitioners in Miami such as Jorge and Luis Trelles and, as a visiting critic at the University of Miami, he was hosted by Lizz Plater-Zyberk and Andres Duany for the semester. Through these connections he joined the conversations about setting up an organization as a response to CIAM (International Congresses of Modern Architecture). “I remember distinctly sitting with Andres and others talking about the need for this sort of movement and how both the teaching and the practice of urbanism and town planning needed to be completely recast.”
Since his time in Rome as an undergraduate at Notre Dame, Matt had always been inclined towards seeing the world of architecture through the lens of urbanism, and the early conversations about New Urbanism provided valuable insights into how to respond to the sprawl-centric design of the mid-20th Century. One early insight Bell gained that is especially relevant to the Charter Awards is the role of real estate developers in creating quality places, something that is almost never mentioned in academia, even though good design using New Urbanist principles has shown to result in a greater return on investment and builds the unique places people love like Paris and London, among others.
As a Principal at Perkins Eastman Matt has led teams that earned Charter Awards for Dunbar High School and Collection 14, both in Washington, DC. The new Dunbar High School design engaged the historically neglected surrounding neighborhoods with a modern and eco friendly campus while also re-opening a L’Enfant Plan street that has been closed since the 1970’s. Collection 14 incorporated existing historic main street buildings with a surgical approach to infill that preserved whole buildings, added new ones and brought unique community assets such as new retail and community meeting spaces to the neighborhood.
As a Professor at the University of Maryland, Bell integrates new urbanist principles into his studio and lecture courses. “I’m also very proud of the Charter Awards that our students have won because it is a validation of their talent and hard work. I find that students catch on to New Urbanism very quickly because, as compared to what goes on in many academic contexts, it is easy to teach and learn. It is particularly gratifying to see them succeed in such an important context.”
For this year’s Charter Awards, Matt would like to see high-quality design and innovative thinking in addition to projects demonstrating how well they evince the principles of the Charter. He says, “It is important for projects that aren’t built yet to demonstrate something unique about the project so that people will understand that when it is built, it will have a significant impact.” And for projects that have been built, he advises, “One of the most important things is to show what it was like before the project was built and how the design transformed the public environment.”
Matt will not be the only one evaluating projects. The jury that has been assembled represents a diversity of practices and perspectives within the New Urbanism so projects can be evaluated holistically. This year’s jury is: Matt Bell, David Baker, CJ Howard, Diane Jones Allen, Neal Payton, and Rico Quirindongo.
The theme of this year’s Charter Awards aligns with the CNU 32 Congress Focus: Restorative Urbanism. Cincinnati, Ohio is a city that has focused on restoring its existing neighborhoods and centers with more walkable mixed-use urban investment. However, any project that demonstrates quality New Urbanism will be considered. Adds Matt, “Projects don’t need to check every box but what they aim to do they need to do well and also make an argument about why this project is worthy of an award.”
With the submissions this year, Matt would like to see more projects from both emerging practitioners as well as larger, big-name firms that don’t necessarily specialize only in New Urban design but have projects that illustrate Charter principles. He would also like to see more international submissions. “New Urbanism has a role to play in a world that is urbanizing at a fast rate and also, in places that are seeing wide-scale destruction that will need to be completely rebuilt, a list that is growing everyday and in need of ‘restorative urbanism.’ It is important to celebrate the projects that embrace New Urbanism in new contexts as well as those that restore what has been lost.” Matt and the jury are hoping to select from a wide array of diverse projects that move the practice of New Urbanism forward in new and exciting ways.
Submissions for the 2024 Charter Awards are due December 31, 2023. Learn more and submit your projects here.
