Transforming Communities Through Urban Architecture: A Conversation with Jaime Lerner and Hillary Brown

Jaime Lerner is a renowned architect and planner who served three terms as mayor of Curitiba, Brazil and two terms as governor of the State of Paraná.  As a pioneering architect and urbanist, Lerner transformed his city into a global model of the sustainable and livable community. In more than forty years of work in cities around the globe, he has been the driving force behind a host of innovative urban projects and serves as an inspiration to local leaders everywhere.

His innovative, locally-based solutions have made him a hero not only to his fellow Brazilians, but also to the growing ranks of municipal planners seeking greener, more sustainable cities. 

Jaime has won numerous international awards, including the United Nations Environmental Award in 1990, and was nominated as one of Time magazine's 25 most influential thinkers in the world in 2010. Lerner is Founder of Jaime Lerner Associated Architects and author of the upcoming book Urban Acupuncture from Island Press, described as required reading for all students of city planning and for anyone who wants to make a difference in their city.

Hillary Brown is a Professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture,City College of New York where she teaches in its interdisciplinary Masters program in Urban Sustainability She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

Hillary is also Principal of the firm, New Civic Works which engages  public and institutional clients in greening facility and infrastructure capital programs. As a New York City Assistant Commissioner, Brown was Founding Director of its Office of Sustainable Design, co-authoring the internationally recognized "City of New York High Performance  Building Guidelines" and its "High Performance Infrastructure Guidelines." Brown serves on the National Academies' Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment. A former member of both the national and NY chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council Board of Directors, she is a Fellow of the Post-Carbon Institute. 

Ms. Brown's work focuses on infrastructure as highly connected systems that work better together, resulting in projects that are more cost effective, less environmentally damaging and more resilient. Her new book, Next Generation Infrastructure: Priciples for Post-industrial Public Works, advocates system-level thinking to replacing America's aging infrastructure, where architects, engineers, urban planners, and public officials adapt holistic approaches to make smarter decisions about revamping outdated infrastructure.

Jim Russell Is an adjunct professor at the Spitzer School of Architecture at the City College of New York. An architecture critic, journalist, and consultant, he comments on WNYC public radio Morning Edition and All Things Considered. His editorial and strategic consulting work includes "Co-evolution," a project of American Forests that unites urban planning with ecological concerns to improve the environment in concert with economic growth.