Architect to share 9\11 lessons in China

Real Estate Weekly, Sept 4, 2002

Planner and architect Mark Strauss will be taking 9\11-related planning lessons from lower Manhattan all the way to China for the 46th International Federation for Housing and Planning (IFHP) World Congress in Tianjin, Peoples Republic of China.

Strauss is a principal at Fox & Fowle Architects, the vice president for public outreach of the AIA NY Chapter, and a founding member and past chair of the Long-Term Planning effort for the New York New Visions design coalition. At the IFHP World Congress, he will make a keynote speech on the "Re-construction and Revitalization of Downtown Manhattan." His presentation will take place on Sept. 9, almost one year to the day after terrorists destroyed the World Trade Center.

In his presentation, Strauss will describe how the New York New Visions coalition was formed by the AIA to assist the city in addressing both short-term needs and addressing long-term redevelopment objectives for Lower Manhattan. The coalition now represents twenty-one separate groups, and thousands of firms and individual professionals.

"Prior to Sept. 11, on issues of planning and design, you would have the AIA taking one position, the Architectural League advocating a different viewpoint, the Van Alen Institute a third, the APA another point of view, and the RPA with its own take, so that the public sector did not know how to respond to design and planning issues," he said. "That is why we were often not invited to participate, and our role was limited. Because of this realization, we made a conscious effort to reach out to a broad group of professional organizations involved with planning, design, engineering and architecture, so that we could find a way to speak with one voice."

The bulk of his presentation will be dedicated to describing the proposals laid out in the 54-page document published by New York New Visions: Principles for Rebuilding Lower Manhattan, issued in February 2002. He concludes by noting that now that the architects, designers and planners are speaking with one voice, public officials are now listening to the design and planning community--and in fact taking its unity for granted. This was most recently reflected by New York City's Mayor Michael Bloomberg statement in May in the New York Times, when he said, "You shouldn't be surprised that there is a broad consensus. All the city planners have been saying the same thing. And it makes sense."

Strauss is both an architect and certified planner with over 25 years of experience in the practice of architecture, planning and urban design. Strauss joined Fox & Fowle Architects as a principal when the firm he co-founded, Jambhekar Strauss, merged with Fox & Fowle in 2000.