James Dougherty Presented at the Marcel Breuer Doctoral School

 

James Dougherty, Dover-Kohl’s Director of Design, was honored at the invitation to present on “New Urbanism” at the Marcel Breuer Doctoral School of the University of Pécs in Hungary.  

James’ presentation focused on the important work New Urbanists are doing to improve peoples’ quality of life by building and repairing cohesive settlements, reducing dependence on the automobile, and improving the environmental performance of our cities and towns. 

The well-received presentation also covered the origins of New Urbanism, key principles of the Movement, and discussion of a wide range of project types being implemented.

Dover, Kohl & Partners Continues its Work in Albany, NY

In what is proving to be a rewarding collaboration between consultant, the City, and community, Dover, Kohl & Partners is once again at work with the community of Albany, New York. Back in May of this year, Dover-Kohl worked closely with Clarion and the City for ReZone Albany's Warehous District Design Workshop. Dover-Kohl and the City have now turned their attention to the South End community this week. As part of the workshop, members of the public got together in small groups to discuss the community's future and what that could look like. 

Albany’s “South End” is bounded by the City limits to the south, the Hudson River to the east, and following Frisbee Avenue to Empire State Plaza along the west. The South End includes a diverse community with a mix of residential neighborhoods, public and private investments, as well as commercial and industrial areas.  
As Christopher Spencer, Albany's planning director said to us of the overall Rezone Albany project: "We want to have the right rules in place to get what the community is looking for." 

On Our Wheels

Watch three young professionals do a radical thing in this short film, "On Our Wheels," created for WHEELS week, a mega-event spotlighting quicker, cheaper, healthier, more environmentally-friendly ways of getting around. More info at www.wheelsflorida.org

This video was made possible by a grant from Green Mobility Network.

www.greenmobilitynetwork.org

People on WHEELS

This short PSA shows how folks in greater Miami are using bikes, trails and transit-- and combinations of all three-- to move around without sitting in traffic jams. Created for WHEELS week, a five-day mega-event spotlighting quicker, cheaper, healthier, more environmentally friendly ways of getting around. More info at www.wheelsflorida.org

This video was made possible by a grant from Green Mobility Network.

www.greenmobilitynetwork.org

 

Victor Dover Closes NACTO 15 Conference with Great Streets, Great Cities

Dover, Kohl, & Partners is honored to have Victor Dover serve as the closing plenary speaker at this year's NACTO  conference.  The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) is a non-profit association that represents large cities on transportation issues of local, regional and national significance.

This year's Designing Cities conference, held in Austin, Texas from October 28-31, allows transportation leaders and practitioners from across the country to discuss key trends in urban street design and transportation policy. Also, local leaders  can exchange best practices with major city transportation, and private-sector, stakeholders  committed to a common vision toward more vibrant, sustainable cities of tomorrow.

Victor will present "Great Streets, Great City," asking the question 'How can we elevate our cities by creating streets that are not just transportation corridors, but also beautiful and memorable places?' Through his closing remarks, Victor will be share inspiring images and examples from the great cities and boulevards of history. Showcasing the specific design elements that add up to great, inviting streets and cities, he’ll challenge city transportation engineers to expand their role toward moving beyond signage, striping and bollards to thoughtfully create handsome streets that generate civic pride.

Park(ing)'s on Us--Vehicle not Required!

Come PARK with us this Friday--just you, not your vehicle! Dover, Kohl & Partners is hosting its first parking space, joining thousands of organizations across the country, and throughout the world, Friday, September 18.

PARK(ing) Day calls attention to the need for more urban open space, and helps generate critical dialogue on how public space is utilized and its impact on urban human habitat--at least for the day!

PARK(ing) Day is a annual open-source global event where citizens, artists and activists collaborate to temporarily transform metered parking spaces into “PARK(ing)” spaces: temporary public places. The project began in 2005 when Rebar, a San Francisco art and design studio, converted a single metered parking space into a temporary public park in downtown San Francisco. Since 2005, PARK(ing) Day has evolved into a global movement, with organizations and individuals creating new forms of temporary public space in urban contexts around the world.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop on by. We'll be set up from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in front of our office, located at 1571 Sunset Drive, Coral Gables, FL 33143.

For more information about Park(ing) Day, visit parkingday.org.

"Zoning for Character" Workshops Being Held this Week

Dover, Kohl & Partners has been leading a series of workshops this week in San Marcos, Texas. These “Zoning for Character” workshops are allowing property owners and residents to learn additional details about the new “character”-based zoning districts and regulating plans being proposed in each of the six Vision San Marcos Intensity Zones.

Beginning in October 2014, the City of San Marcos, Texas and Dover, Kohl & Partners joined by The Street Plans Collaborative, helped re-envision downtown utilizing tactical urbanism—yielding low cost/high gain, long-term change. The Dover-Kohl team effectively engaged the city, the public, and transportation engineers and, in the end, the City of San Marcos presented a recommendation of changes in full detail that were publicized in the SMTX project, ready for permanent implementation.

As one of the fastest growing cities in the nation—for cities with a population of over 50,000 people—Long Range Planning Efforts, including the Code SMTX process to update the Land Development Code, are necessary steps in helping the City ensure positive growth within its community.

The remaining two workshops will be held today as follows: 

San Marcos Activity Center - Room 2

Thursday August 20, 2 - 4pm

Thursday August 20, 6 - 8pm

To learn more about CodeSMTX and the City's Long Range Planning Road Map , visit their website.

CNU 23 Art-Room Sessions Now Online

 

Art-Room session videos from this past April’s CNU 23 event are now available online. An engaging and instructive part of each yearly CNU, the Art-Room sessions aim to inform and educate participants in a wide range of topics including techniques, tools, and interdisciplinary themes from illustration to urban design.

Dover, Kohl & Partners’s James Dougherty—a leader in new urbanist design & illustration—has served as both organizer and a presenter of these sessions for the past three years.

The session topics include: “Modeling New Urbanist Building Types in SketchUp,” “Presentation Rendering Techniques for SketchUp,” and “The Art of Courtyard Design.”

You can view the videos here.

Walton Family Foundation Announces Design Excellence Program

 

A new initiative, the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program, was recently announced by the Walton Family Foundation. The foundation aims to promote the highest level of design excellence for public buildings and spaces. 

Victor Dover, principal of Dover, Kohl & Partners, is among the distinguished panel of professionals who form the program’s selection committee. The panel will review the submissions of local, national, and international designers to be considered for future work within the program.

Designers interested in the Northwest Arkansas Design Excellence Program will be able to apply through Sept. 16. The program expects to support up to three projects per year. 

You may read the foundation’s complete release, and also visithttp://www.waltonfamilyfoundation.org/design to learn more.