Centre to Edge: An urban design summer school

25 — 27 August 2009

Held at Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland, over the course of three days, this unique event demonstrated tools for effective placemaking to help equip participants to play a leadership role in meeting some of the key urban challenges of the coming decade.

The enduringly successful principles of traditional town-building were considered in relation to current issues of climate change, traffic and transport, integrated land uses and new building typologies.

In addition to a strong academic component, the Summer School employed a model of ‘teaching through practice’ to address two different contexts within the City of Aberdeen boundary using a condensed version of The Prince’s Foundation’s widely recognised Enquiry by Design process.

One site covered the city centre and addressed issues of restructuring and reclamation of the public realm, whilst a second site considered the planning and integration of new sustainable neighbourhoods at the urban edge, in readiness for anticipated growth beyond the current downturn. The design projects were led by Ray Gindroz, Principal Emeritus of Urban Design Associates, and Ben Bolgar, Senior Design Director at The Prince’s Foundation.

Additional speakers included Dr William Brogden, an architectural historian, author and an authority on the history of Aberdeen. The Summer School will closed with a Civic Reception at the Town House, Aberdeen.

Download the 'Centre to Edge: Urban Design Summer School' Report  [3.5 Mb]

Of interest to:

• Students
• Architects and landscape architects
• Planners and urban designers from the public and private sectors
• Planning and property consultants
• Private developers and housebuilders
• Community groups and elected members

Ray Gindroz is a Senior Fellow of The Prince’s Foundation. In the United States, he pioneered the development of participatory planning processes. For more than 20 years, Ray taught urban design at the Yale University School of Architecture. An engaging, popular speaker in both the US and Europe, Ray has also published prolifically throughout his career, most recently as a principal author of The Urban Design Handbook and The Architectural Pattern Book. Urban Design Associates and The Prince’s Foundation have collaborated on a number of major projects in Scotland.

Ben Bolgar is Senior Design Director at The Prince’s Foundation in Shoreditch, London. Since 2000 he has led multi-disciplinary design workshops and design teams ranging in scale from new towns to single buildings focused on community engagement and skills building. Ben has been interviewed for radio, television, national and local newspaper and magazine articles and has taught at the Universities of Notre Dame and Yale.