Alan Greenberger, FAIA, honored with the 2017 AIA Thomas Jefferson Award

Alan Greenberger, FAIA, former Philadelphia Deputy Mayor and Chairman of the City Planning Commission, has been selected to receive the 2017 Thomas Jefferson Award. The Thomas Jefferson Award recognizes excellence in architectural advocacy and achievement. Greenberger will be honored at the AIA Conference on Architecture 2017 in Orlando.

Lured from his role as a principal at Philadelphia’s MGA Partners by former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, Greenberger quickly assumed a dual role as deputy mayor and chairman of the City Planning Commission. Responsible for the Department of Commerce as well as oversight of planning and 10 additional agencies, Greenberger spearheaded an audacious initiative to rewrite the city’s antiquated and convoluted zoning code and create Philadelphia2035, a comprehensive plan for the city’s renaissance. During his tenure, he also completed and approved plans for all 37 miles of the city’s waterfront and led Philadelphia to its greatest redevelopment and population influx since the mid-20th century.

When the Nutter administration reached its two-term limit, Greenberger left full-time public office. He now shares his knowledge and wealth of experience with the next generation of design professionals as the Distinguished Teaching Professor and Lind Fellow in the Department of Architecture and Interiors at Drexel University. Later this year, he will assume the role of department head. Greenberger remains active with the city he helped become a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015, serving as chairman of the Philadelphia Art Commission. An independent body, it is tasked with design oversight of all public facilities, signage, and artwork.

Earlier this month, my colleague and I presented a session to a group of civil engineers and transportation agencies about the tech trends in the AEC space. Along with advice on how to prepare your plan for controlled collaboration, we also talked through some practical use cases. One such use case was especially interesting, as it outlined a challenge not unfamiliar to government agencies who are contemplating the leap from paper to digital processes: how to securely migrate workflows.

For an 1893 academic building in the Collegiate Gothic style at Bryn Mawr (Pa.)

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Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, East Lansing, Mich. Photo credit: Justin Macono

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David Chipperfield Architects has won the Nobel Center architectural competition

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Chipperfield's sparkling brass-clad scheme selected to be new home of Nobel Prize

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