The Bruner Foundation Inc., sponsor of the Rudy Bruner Award for Urban Excellence (RBA), today announced the five finalists for its 2015 award.
Founded in 1987, this pioneering, biennial accolade seeks to identify transformative urban places in America, and to celebrate their impact on the economic, social, and physical fabric of our cities. Pike Place Market in Seattle was the first RBA winner, and 73 places in 25 states have been recognized with the award since.
The 2015 RBA finalists are:
Falls Park on the Reedy - Greenville, S.C.
Photo: Rosales and Partners
The renaissance of a 26-acre river corridor running through the heart of Greenville, restoring public access to the falls and greenspace and catalyzing adjacent downtown development. (Submitted by the city of Greenville)
Grand Rapids Downtown Market – Grand Rapids, Mich.
Photo: Mike Buck
A new downtown public space promoting local food producers and community events, entrepreneurship, and education about nutrition and healthy lifestyles. (Submitted by Grand Rapids Downtown Market.)
Miller’s Court - Baltimore, Md.
Photo: Billy Michels
The redevelopment of a vacant manufacturing building into an affordable and supportive living and working environment for public school teachers and education-focused nonprofits. (Submitted by Enterprise Community Investment Inc.)
Quixote Village - Olympia, Wash.
Photo: Panza
A two-acre community of 30 tiny houses and a common building that provides permanent, supportive housing for chronically homeless adults. (Submitted by Panza)
Uptown District - Cleveland
Photo: Rien Van Rijthoven / Stanley Saitowitz, Natoma Architects Inc.
The vibrant redevelopment of a corridor linking art, educational and health care institutions with surrounding neighborhoods, creating lively outdoor gathering spaces, retail shops and restaurants, student and market-rate housing, and public transit connections. (Submitted by Case Western Reserve University)
Entries comprised completed projects in the continental United States. The finalists and ensuing Gold and Silver Medalists are selected by a nationwide committee of urban experts. The 2015 selection committee includes:
- Rebecca Flora - AICP, LEED ND-BD+C, Sustainable Communities Practice Leader, Ecology & Environment, Chestertown, Md.
- Larry Kearns - AIA, CSA, LEED AP, Principal, Wheeler Kearns Architects, Chicago
- India Pierce Lee - Program Director, Cleveland Foundation, Cleveland
- Mia Lehrer - FASLA, President, Mia Lehrer + Associates, Los Angeles
- James Stockard - Lecturer in Housing, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, Mass.
- Mark Stodola – Mayor, Little Rock, Ark.
“The Rudy Bruner Award offers the opportunity to showcase innovative placemaking responses to the needs of American cities and communities,” says Simeon Bruner, founder of the award. “We want to advance discourse about making cities better, and seek outstanding examples to share with those who care about improving our urban environments. There are a surprising number of inventive projects out there, if you just look for them.”
Next month, Bruner Foundation staff will begin site visits to each finalist project in preparation for the committee’s selection of the medal winners in June. The medalists will receive cash awards to support their projects: one Gold Medal recipient - $50,000, four Silver Medal recipients - $10,000 each. Case studies of all past RBA winners are available online. 2015 winner case studies will be posted in 2016.
Related Stories
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
Museums | Jun 28, 2022
The California Science Center breaks grounds on its Air and Space Center
The California Science Center—a hands-on science center in Los Angeles—recently broke ground on its Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center.
Headquarters | Jun 21, 2022
Walmart combines fitness and wellness in associates’ center that’s part of its new Home Office plan
Duda | Paine’s design leads visitors on a “journey.”
Cultural Facilities | Jun 15, 2022
Gehry-designed Children’s Institute aims to foster community outreach in L.A.’s Watts neighborhood
The Children’s Institute (CII) in Los Angeles will open a 200,000-sf campus designed by Frank Gehry this summer.
Cultural Facilities | Jun 10, 2022
After 10 Years, Taiwan’s new Taipei Music Center Reaches the Finish Line
RUR Architecture has finished the Taipei Music Center (TMC), turning a 22-acre (9-hectare) site into a new urban arts district.
Projects | Mar 24, 2022
A Hollywood home for creatives
A Hollywood development will serve as a collaborative center for artists, students, and those in the entertainment industry.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 10, 2022
A ‘reimagined’ David Geffen Hall in New York is on track to open this fall
Its half-billion-dollar reconstruction is positioning this performance space as an integral key to luring people to the city again.
Performing Arts Centers | Mar 8, 2022
Cincinnati Ballet’s new center embodies the idea that dance is for everyone
Cincinnati Ballet had become a victim of its own success, according to company president and CEO Scott Altman. “We were bursting at the seams in our old building. We had simply outgrown the facility,” Altman told the Cincinnati Enquirer.
