Michael Stern

Biography: Michael focused his efforts on urban place making through urban design, master planning, site design, and landscape design. He has been involved in aspects of planning, urbanism, city-building, and public landscapes throughout his professional career. The focus of his work has been to improve the quality of urban environments through the practical application of sound design principles rooted in enduring values of urbanism. This pursuit has led him through a broad range and scale of projects from urban garden design to planning new edge cities. His professional experience in the New York firms of Cooper, Robertson & Partners and Quennell Rothchild Associates gave him broad training in the various aspects of planning, design, and construction of private and public urban precincts and landscapes. His subsequent teaching and research while a full-time faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Architecture focused on understanding the changing nature of urban form and organization in the face of new technologies and economies. Through his private practice, Michael was involved in many of Pittsburgh’s major urban design and planning efforts. He led the Pittsburgh Downtown Plan, the first comprehensive master plan for the greater Downtown area in 35 years, and the Pittsburgh Regional Parks Master Plan; these documents are still touchstones a decade after their completion. Recent projects led by Michael include the Bakery Square 2.0 Master Plan, Wheeling Cathedral Campus Design, West Virginia University Evansdale Campus Master Plan, the Rivers Casino and Riverfront Park, Dick’s Sporting Goods Corporate Headquarters and the Larimer Neighborhood Vision Plan. Michael has lectured widely, and he has published and edited numerous articles and journals on planning, urban design and landscape design theory.