John Burrell has been presented with an Honor Award for Excellence in Designing Public Places for Community, Democratic Dialogue, Health & Equity at the International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The award recognises Burrell Foley Fischer’s work with organisations such as SAVE Britain’s Heritage and The Spitalfields Trust in proposing alternative viable schemes for Smithfield Market, King’s College Strand and the Norton Folgate Area of Spitalfields.
The Honor Award, in the Proposed Category, is given to the project that best showcases the general urban design principles and livability criteria espoused by IMCL. Their criteria states that:
“Winning projects will respect the fundamental DNA of the city, including the cultural and physical history, and should be socially as well as ecologically sustainable. Projects may be public or private; neighborhoods, districts, streets, spaces, places, buildings or art; regional or local in scope ……. but every project must enhance the livability of the city by creating a more humane, multi-functional, stimulating, useful, beautiful, egalitarian public realm. They will contribute to creating a city integrated with its region and landscape, a city that is good for children and the poor, a city based on human scale and the pedestrian, a city that promotes health and healthy behavior, a city of short distances, an equitable city, a city that is a work of art, a city that future generations will enjoy ……. A Livable City.”
Prior to receiving the award, John Burrell presented a paper on his work at Smithfield Market, King's College Strand and Spitalfields to the conference. He also hosted a session on 'Reclaiming Neglected Neighbourhoods' based on his award-winning experience of working with residents on public housing, with speakers discussing examples from New York, Montana and Texas.
