Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence

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Sponsored by
  
The Bruner Foundation

First awarded
  
1987

Country
  
United States

Last awarded
  
2013

Awarded for
  
A biennial award recognizing "places that are developed with such vision and imagination that they transform urban problems into creative solutions."

Reward(s)
  
US$50,000 (Gold Medal) US$10,000 (Silver Medal)

The Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA) was established in 1986 by Cambridge, Massachusetts architect Simeon Bruner. The award is named after Simeon Bruner’s late father, Rudy Bruner, founder of the Bruner Foundation. According to the Bruner Foundation, the RBA was created to increase understanding of the role of architecture in the urban environment and promote discussion of what constitutes urban excellence. The award seeks to identify and honor places, rather than people, that address economic and social concerns along with urban design..

Contents

Description

According to the Bruner Foundation, the award is intended to be a platform for the discussion of issues related to urban architecture, planning and revitalization. It has been recognized by the United States Conference of Mayors, The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Environmental Design Research Association.

The biennial award recognizes one Gold Medal and four silver medal winners each cycle. Each medalist is documented with a detailed case study published online and in a book by the Bruner Foundation. The gold medal winner receives $50,000 and the four silver medalists each receive $10,000 which must be used to benefit the project. These winners are chosen by a diverse committee of professionals involved in design and development. These committee members include architects, landscape architects, planners, developers, community organizers, financiers, and the mayor of a major metropolitan area.

Criteria and selection process

The selection process involves a study of a project’s effect on its urban environment including a detailed application, discussion by selection committee members, and site visits to finalist projects. A selection committee is organized anew for each award cycle.

In order to be eligible for consideration, projects must be:

  • an actual place, not just a plan or a program;
  • completed and in operation for sufficient amount of time to demonstrate success
  • located in the continental US
  • There are no distinct categories. Projects may include any type that makes a positive contribution to the urban environment. Urban environment is broadly defined to include cities, towns, neighborhoods, counties and/or regions. Previous applicants and honorable mention winners may apply up to three times. Previous winners are not eligible.

    List of winners

    2015 Gold Medal

    Miller's Court, Baltimore, MD

    2015 Silver Medals

    Falls Park on the Reedy, Greenville, SC Grand Rapids Downtown Market, Grand Rapids, MI Quixote Village, Olympia, WA Uptown District, Cleveland, OH


    2013 Gold Medal

    Inspiration Kitchens--Garfield Park, Chicago, Illinois

    2013 Silver Medals

    Congo Street Initiative, Dallas, Texas Louisville Waterfront Park, Louisville, Kentucky The Steel Yard, Providence, Rhode Island Via Verde, Bronx, New York

    2011 Gold Medal:

    The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center, Dallas, Texas

    2011 Silver Medals:

    Brooklyn Bridge Park, Brooklyn, New York Phoenix Civic Space Park, Phoenix, Arizona Gary Comer Youth Center/Gary Comer College Prep, Chicago, Illinois The Santa Fe Railyard Redevelopment, Santa Fe, New Mexico

    2009 Gold Medal:

    Inner-City Arts, Los Angeles, California

    2009 Silver Medals:

    Hunts Point Riverside Park, Bronx, New York Millennium Park, Chicago, Illinois St. Joseph Rebuild Center, New Orleans, Louisiana The Community Chalkboard and Podium, Charlottesville, Virginia

    2007 Gold Medal:

    Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

    2007 Silver Medals:

    Artists for Humanity Epicenter, Boston, Massachusetts Crossroads Project and Marsupial Bridge, Milwaukee, Wisconsin High Point Redevelopment Project, Seattle, Washington LA Design Center, Los Angeles, California Columbus Circle Public Plaza, New York, New York

    2005 Gold Medal:

    Portland Streetcar Project, Portland, Oregon

    2005 Silver Medals:

    Lower Town Artist Relocation Program, Paducah, Kentucky Heidelberg Project, Detroit, Michigan Fruitvale Village, Oakland, California Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland

    2003 Gold Medal:

    Camino Nuevo Charter Academy, Los Angeles, California

    2003 Silver Medals:

    Bridgemarket, New York, New York Colorado Court Housing, Santa Monica, California Red Hook Community Justice Center, Brooklyn, New York Providence River Relocation, Providence, Rhode Island

    2001 Gold Medal:

    The Village of Arts and Humanities, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    2001 Silver Medals:

    Swan’s Marketplace (10th Street Market), Oakland, California South Platte River Greenway, Denver, Colorado New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, New Jersey Lower East Side Tenement Museum, New York, New York

    1999 Gold Medal:

    Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California

    1999 Silver Medals:

    ARTScorps LA, Los Angeles, California National AIDS Memorial Grove, San Francisco, California Parkside Historic Preservation Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Portland Public Market, Portland, Maine

    1997 Gold Medal:

    The Times Square, New York, New York

    1997 Silver Medals:

    Cleveland Historic Warehouse District, Cleveland, Ohio Project Row Houses, Houston, Texas Center in the Square, Roanoke, Virginia Hismen Hin-nu (Sun Gate) Terrace, Oakland, California

    1995 Winner:

    Maya Angelou Community Initiative, Portland, Oregon

    1995 Finalists:

    Campus Circle, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, Boston, Massachusetts Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center, Brooklyn, New York Harlem Meer, New York, New York Lowertown, Saint Paul, Minnesota

    1993 Co-winners:

    Harbor Point (Columbia Point), Boston, Massachusetts New Community Corporation, Newark, New Jersey

    1993 Finalists:

    Betts-Longworth Historic District, Cincinnati, Ohio Beyond Homelessness, San Francisco, California The Park at Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts

    1991 Winner:

    Greenmarket, New York, New York

    1991 Finalists:

    Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, Brooklyn and Queens, New York Ocean Drive Improvement Project, Miami Beach, Florida Roslindale Village Main Street, Boston, Massachusetts West Clinton Action Plan, Portland, Oregon

    1989 Co-winners:

    Tenant Interim Leasing Program, New York, New York Downtown Plan, Portland, Oregon

    1989 Finalists:

    Southwest Corridor Project, Boston, Massachusetts Stowe Recreation Path, Stowe, Vermont Radial Reuse Project, Lincoln, Nebraska Cabrillo Village, Saticoy, California

    1987 Winner:

    Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington

    1987 Finalists:

    Casa Rita, South Bronx, New York Quality Hill, Kansas City, Missouri Fairmount Health Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

    List of publications

    2015 Challenging Conventions: The 2015 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Richard Wener, PhD; Jay Farbstein, FAIA, PhD; Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA; and Robert Shibley, FAIA, FAICP; Edited by Elizabeth Chesla, MA


    2013 Inspiring Change: 2013 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Richard Wener, PhD; Jay Farbstein, FAIA, PhD; Anne-Marie Lubenau, AIA; and Robert Shibley, FAIA, AICP

    2011 Partnering Strategies for the Urban Edge: 2011 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, with Brandy Brooks, Director, Rudy Bruner Award, Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2011.

    2009 Urban Transformation: 2009 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, with Emily Axelrod, MCP, Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2009.

    2007 Building Sustainable Neighborhoods: 2007 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Richard Wener, PhD, with Emily Axelrod, MCP, Jay Farbstein, PhD, FAIA, and Robert Shibley, AIA, AICP, Bruner Foundation, 2007.

    2005 Reinventing Downtown: 2005 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Robert Shibley with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein, FAIA, and Richard Wener, PhD, Bruner Foundation, 2005.

    2003 New Directions in Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein with Emily Axelrod, Robert Shibley and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 2003.

    2001 Placemaking for Change: 2001 Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence, Richard Wener with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein and Polly Welch, Bruner Foundation, 2002.

    1999 Commitment to Place: Urban Excellence and Community, Robert G. Shibley with Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein, and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1999.

    1997 Visions of Urban Excellence, Emily Axelrod, Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1998.

    1995 Building Coalitions for Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1996.

    1993 Rebuilding Communities: Re-creating Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1993.

    1991 Connections: Creating Urban Excellence, Jay Farbstein and Richard Wener, Bruner Foundation, 1992.

    1989 Breakthroughs: Re-creating the American City, Neal R. Peirce and Robert Guskind, Center for Urban Policy Research, Rutgers University, 1993.

    1987 Urban Excellence, Philip Langdon with Robert Shibley and Polly Welch, Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1990.

    References

    Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence Wikipedia