Synopsis

"At long last we have a great book on public participation in the planning process. Designing Public Consensus presents examples of the interaction between architects, planners, landscape designers, engineers, and the public. More important, Barbara Faga presents situations when that interaction has worked, when it has not, and why. She is able to extract, from what she has dubbed "civic theater," practical recommendations for professionals who practice in a democracy that requires such interaction." —From the Foreword by Alexander Garvin, former vice president for planning, design and development for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation

Designing Public Consensus is an insightful and useful resource for architects, planners, and urban designers, with case study examples illustrating approaches for working with small towns, large cities, government agencies, citizen activists, community groups, and other stakeholders.

By examining the public process implemented by EDAW and a variety of design firms in urban design projects of different scales, Faga reveals the lessons learned by the design practitioners. Throughout the case studies, first-person accounts by the designers, government officials, clients, and other stakeholders reveal the moments of brilliance as well as the good intentions gone wrong.

Biography

BARBARA FAGA, FASLA, chair of the board of EDAW—an international firm focused on landscape design, environment, economics, and planning—is an urban designer with more than twenty-five years of experience emphasizing urban projects. She has directed complex teams on large, time-sensitive, and award-winning projects for waterfronts, parks and recreation, housing and community developments, preservation plans, retail and downtown revitalization plans, and land management plans. Recent projects include the Wharf District Park in Boston's Rose Kennedy Greenway, Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Diagonal Mar Parc in Barcelona, Schuylkill River master plan in Philadelphia, and the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. Design Intelligence named Faga one of the top fifteen women who are changing the world of architecture.