2011 Charter Awards winners announced
Early this March, the winners for the 11th annual CNU Charter Awards were announced. A crowded field of over 100 entries from around the world submitted this year, which the jury whittled down to seven professional projects and two academic submissions that earned marks of excellence in urbanism. The grand prize for professional projects was awarded to South Coast Rail Economic Development & Land Use Corridor Plan by Goody Clancy, which received a $5,000 honor, courtesy of The Oram Foundation Inc./Fund for the Environment and Urban Life. In the academic competition, first place, and its $1,000 reward, also courtesy of The Oram Foundation Inc./Fund for the Environment and Urban Life, were bestowed upon Strategies for Sustainable Skaneateles, submitted by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture. All of the recognized projects, including an additional nine honorable mentions, will be feted June 2nd at the 19th annual Congress for the New Urbanism in Madison, Wisconsin.
Transportation meets economic development
South Coast Rail Economic Development & Land Use Corridor Plan, the grand prizewinner from Goody Clancy, coordinates transportation investment with economic development, and in the process represents high-level collaboration between towns, cities, and regional and state agencies. The top winner for the academic award, Strategies for Sustainable Skaneateles, submitted by the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, sets out to preserve the rural character of the small, upstate New York town it focuses on, while at the same time incorporating innovative land-use ideas to increase the density of development.
This year’s Jury Chair, Elizabeth Moule, of Moule-Polyzoides in Pasadena, California, and a co-founder of CNU, praised all of the projects for their sensitivity towards the continued economic constraints facing the market. “The strongest projects this year were very sophisticated about design, policy, and sustainability, yet very modest and pragmatic in their solutions,” Moule said. “With the current state of the economy and the need to embrace the frugality of sustainability, projects that use limited resources towards ambitious goals will be most relevant to solving the problems of today and tomorrow. And as always, we continue to encourage the marriage between high design, careful craft, and critical policy objectives.”
Charter Awards winners are rewarded for embodying the 27 principles of livability and sustainability that form the core of the Charter for New Urbanism (cnu.org/charter). Winners also respond to principles in a companion to the Charter, the Canons of Sustainable Architecture and Urbanism (cnu.org/canons). The winning projects are a testament to the adaptability of New Urbanist fundamentals to an extraordinary range of contexts and concerns. The June 2nd ceremony at the 19th annual Congress for the New Urbanism represents the best of these principles moving forward. Project descriptions and images of this work can be found online at cnu.org/awards.
