Q and A: Craig Gossman
Urban Design and Planning Studio Leader
Q. What sets urban design and planning apart from your traditional architecture practice?
"The Urban Design Studio concerns itself primarily with the design and placement of appropriate built elements, spaces and landscapes in villages, towns and cities. It is the art of making places within the existing urban fabric, creating a desirable environment in which to live, work and play.
Planning, on the other hand is a combination of “visioning” and policy making which considers long-range goals for initiatives such as land-use strategies and zoning reform. In some cases, planning suggests an investigation and analysis of social, economic and demographic shifts within a community."
Q. How to you approach the work? Is there a certain philosophy that’s distinctive or is uniquely your own?
"My experience has demonstrated that engaging a philosophy of sustainability as a guiding principle throughout the planning and design process whether the context is environmental, social or economic will lead to a sound integrated solution. Our journey toward sustainability continues to evolve; we are pleased to contribute to the best practices in this field by learning from others' experiences and sharing the knowledge we've gained."
Q. How does a client know that the goals of a project have been achieved? What is the feeling they get from the finished product?
"I think that most of our Urban Design clients, those that engage fully in our services, look to us to enlighten them about trends and movement and forecast the future by producing not only a context appropriate solution but a creative one. Cities and municipalities typically don’t look upon our work as the endpoint, but rather the base upon which the development community will take notice and feel welcome to participate in the revitalization. We deliver grounded solutions that are forward-looking and can be implemented."
Q. What is your competitive advantage vs. someone else that does what you do?
"Our advantage is sound urban design and place making with contextual solutions that are based on market place realities supported by economic forecasting for sustainable growth and development. This ability to see the whole picture from many viewpoints is our strength, that and a heartfelt commitment to improve the quality of urban life.
We are very cognizant of the needs of the particular community we are serving based on its capacity to implement the solution we are proposing. We have learned that it is very much an advantage to provide an economic model of how the solution will contribute economic benefits well into the future.
Our approach of providing directional advice to the planning process by introducing an understanding of consumer behavior dynamics, profiling market sizes and consumer needs characteristics that will impact a project’s long term success have proved to be invaluable in predicting investment return. "
Q. What are the significant trends in Urban Design today?
"Some of the things we are watching…energy is at the top of the list…monitor how some communities are dealing with higher density and mixed-use environments, not only in terms of economics, but also from a quality of life stand point. There is a renewed interest in “center core and urban design” which touches everything from upgrades in infrastructure and school systems—the whole social ecosystem of a community. We are also looking at new strategies communities use to preserve the gains in tax base for continuing the public/private funding of the revitalization effort and rather than, say, losing the money to the general fund where it may ultimately be lost to short-term agendas with poor returns."