Former and current jurors guide Charter Award improvements

At the Providence Congress, a talent-packed panel of former jury chairs or multiyear jurors of CNU’s Charter Awards gave audience members a behind-the-scenes look at the selection process for New Urbanism’s most coveted awards. Stephanie Bothwell, Ellen Dunham-Jones, Dhiru Thadani, Dan Solomon, and John Torti traded thoughts on what the award submissions cumulatively say about the state of New Urbanism today. They also shared a lot of practical advice, acknowledging that jurors have their hands full evaluating more than 140 detailed binders in one weekend and therefore respond to submissions that demonstrate the excellence of their subjects clearly and quickly. “When I get the Sunday paper, I read the funnies first,” said Torti to explain the value of submissions that begin making a compelling case for a project in ten seconds or less.

panel proposed change
Over the last year, a CNU board committee chaired by Ellen Dunham-Jones and composed of many of the Providence panelists plus former jury chair Ray Gindroz and current jury chair Stefanos Polyzoides, has given collective attention to the awards themselves and made recommendations for improving the awards program. With the support of the full board, several of the improvements recommended by the panel have been incorporated into the 2007 Charter Awards, for which CNU is welcoming submissions through Jan. 22, 2007. Visit cnu.org/awards for details and submission forms.
So entering its eighth year, the Charter Awards program is maturing and growing up a bit. In an area of widespread agreement, the former jurors on the committee acknowledged that the Charter Awards have recognized a diverse set of projects — Hope VI mixed-income housing developments, college campuses, new towns, military base urbanizations, to name just a few — but said there are types of work that are important within the world of New Urbanism that have nevertheless generated few submissions. To encourage the submission of three identified project types in particular – landscape architecture, civic spaces, and form-based codes — CNU staff worked with 2007 chief juror Polyzoides to revise the annual call for entries, awards web site and other promotional materials. The printed call for entries, for instance, draws attention to language in the Charter of the New Urbanism recognizing the importance of these and other aspects of urbanism to emphasize the point that the awards welcome “work representing the complete range of project types represented by the Charter.”
Led by Dunham-Jones, the board weighed the issue of whether form-based codes are unique enough that they require their own submission guidelines. The board decided to monitor how this year’s jury reacts to codes submissions that follow the usual format and to authorize the creation of separate guidelines if necessary. CNU is also cooperating with the Form-Based Codes Institute on its plans for a special awards program focusing exclusively on codes, with CNU agreeing to help publicize that call for entries and offer FBCI an opportunity to present the award at CNU’s annual Congress.
Those familiar with the Charter Awards instructions will notice a few other minor changes in 2007 — more clarity on the types of projects that are appropriate for entering in each of the three categories corresponding to scales of the Charter, clearer guidance on which work from academic settings can be submitted by either students or their professors, a request for the inclusion of a context map with each submission. The board also authorized the 2007 jury to designate truly distinguished unanimous selections as “exemplary winners” and set a course for a more dramatic change for 2008, the extension of the Charter Awards to academic research and the formation of a separate smaller jury to review these submissions.
“It’s impressive to see the committee give the Charter Awards the same kind of expert review and guidance that produced the Charter itself,” says CNU President John Norquist. “CNU is committed to having the awards both embody and recognize excellence.”