Join CPM for a presentation and discussion on traditional architecture and classic planning with Dr. Nir Buras, an accomplished architect, planner, educator and author of The Art of Classic Planning: Building Beautiful and Enduring Communities (2020). Buras visited over 100 cities worldwide to write this compendium on what makes urban spaces attractive and livable, memorably revitalizing the fundamentals of urban design and planning to present a template for reintroducing beauty to modern cities. Combining theory and clear examples he contends, however provocatively, that classical approaches to urban design and planning are vastly superior to current planning practices. Buras argues that city planning solutions being offered today—sustainability, walkability, smart and green technologies—remain superficial and disjointed in their efforts, and asserts that the time-tested and holistic practices of classic planning still offer hope (to practitioners, politicians and developers alike) that we can restore function and beauty to our urban spaces for the long term.
For more information on The Art of Classic Planning and a discussion of Boston's Seaport Neighborhood as a prime example of Modernist aspirations gone awry, read CPM board member Mark Favermann's review of the book on Arts Fuse. This event is part of the 2022-2023 Speaker Series presented by the Consulting Planners of Massachusetts.
The presentation will be held virtually. All CPM members are invited to join; if your firm is a CPM member, you are a CPM member and can register now. If you aren't a member yet, we invite you to join CPM today. Register to attend this event by 10:00am EDT on 10/21/2022. CPM is also working with speakers to make lecture recordings available.
Dr. Nir H. Buras
Nir Buras is an urban designer and architect with over 30 years of specialized experience in large, complex, and sensitive projects, strategic planning, architecture and transportation design, as well as teaching and lecturing. While writing a PhD on modernism and studying the reasons for why things look they way they do, Buras came out a classicist. He has since researched first-hand how architecture impacts urban planning and engaged in numerous projects; notable among them are the East Side Access at Grand Central Terminal in New York City, the International Terminal at the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the Tel Aviv Metro, and the U.S. Capitol State and House Office Buildings in Washington, DC. A strategic endorser of the New Classical Architecture movement, Buras founded the international Classic Planning Institute in 2020 to re-educate and better educate planning professionals.
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2022-2023 Speaker Series
This talk is part of the CPM 2022-2023 Speaker Series, a collection of talks and panels in which CPM seeks to provide a platform for non-traditional urban design and planning lectures and presentations. Featuring experts from government, private-sector, academia and nonprofit organizations speaking on timely and compelling topics—ranging from biometric research to augmented reality landscapes, equitable development, and more—CPM believes this series will be at once challenging and educational, as well as entertaining.
