The Skyscraper Museum: Vertical Density: The Public Dimension

The Skyscraper Museum is devoted to the study of high-rise building, past, present, and future. The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence. This site will look better in a browser that supports web standards, but it is accessible to any browser or Internet device.

Presented by: The Hong Kong | New York Urban Exchange Group, AIA Hong Kong, and The Skyscraper Museum
Organized by: The Government of the Hong Kong SAR, Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Executive Committee
Sponsored by: Hong Kong Land, Kohn Pedersen Fox

Joint Conference Chairs: Nicholas Brooke, Chairman Professional Property Services Limited; Chairman Hong Kong Science Parks Corporation; Carol Willis, Director and Founder, The Skyscraper Museum, New York; Paul Katz, President, KPF, New York

This conference is the second of an ongoing exchange between the world's great vertical cities. The first conference, Vertical Density | Sustainable Solutions was presented in New York in October 2008.

Vertical Density: the Public Dimension will bring together city officials, planners, architects, and developers from Hong Kong, New York, and Shanghai to discuss the comparative architecture, urbanism, and public space. The delegation from New York–the featured speakers introducing the themes of the dialogue–include Robert Tierney, Chairman, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, Alex Washburn, Chief Urban Designer, NYC Department of City Planning, as well as Paul Katz, Principal, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Carol Willis, Director of The Skyscraper Museum, both of whom served as conference organizers.

Other speakers who will discuss the creation of waterfront and urban parks, pedestrianization projects, and public-private partnerships include: Hilary Ballon, Associate Vice Chancellor and Professor of History of Art & Architecture, New York University, Abu Dhabi, UAE; James Cavanaugh, President, The Battery Park City Authority; Vishaan Chakrabarti, Marc Holliday Professor of Real Estate Development and Director, Real Estate Development Program, Columbia University, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, Preservation (GSAPP); Charles Maikish, Managing Director of Global Corporate Services and Real Estate, BlackRock and BlackRock/Barclays; and Carl Weisbrod, former President, Times Square and Lower Manhattan BIDs, and currently President, Trinity Church Realty Division.

The Hong Kong conference is the second of an ongoing exchange between the world's great vertical cities. The first conference, Hong Kong | New York: Vertical Density | Sustainable Solutions was organized by The Skyscraper Museum and presented in New York in October 2008. This year’s conference also includes Shanghai, which is rapidly transforming into one of the world’s premier skyscraper cities and will host the 2010 World Expo under the theme “Better City, Better Life.” Organized by The Skyscraper Museum, the Hong Kong - New York Urban Exchange Group, and AIA Hong Kong, and supported by the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Shanghai World Expo 2010 Executive Committee, the 2010 conference Vertical Density: the Public Dimension will examine how the essential character and culture of a place be promoted, and how government and private interests can work together to create, maintain, and celebrate a positive public dimension.

Members of the Organizing Committee of the HK-NY Urban Dialogues described the motivation of the now-annual series. Carol Willis, Founder and Director of The Skyscraper Museum notes: “New York and Hong Kong share exceptional affinities, both historical and contemporary. Developed from colonial ports into dominant centers of international finance and commerce, each embraced the skyscraper as the principal instrument of modern urbanism. While New York’s high-rise history evolved over a century, and Hong Kong's vertical density has developed since the 1970s, Shanghai's skyline has ascended even faster, in just two decades.”

Panel Discussion

PARTICIPANT BIOGRAPHIES

Hilary Ballon
ASSOCIATE VICE CHANCELLOR, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ABU DHABI

Hilary Ballon is Associate Vice Chancellor for New York University Abu Dhabi. An architectural historian, her work focuses on cities and the intersection of architecture, politics, and social life in two fields of research, 20th-century America and 17th-century Europe.

Before joining NYU in September 2007, Ballon taught for more than 20 years at Columbia University, where she served as Director of Art Humanities and Chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology and received Columbia University's highest teaching awards: the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, the Great Teacher Award, and the Philip and Ruth Hettleman Teaching Award. Ballon serves on the Board of Directors of The Skyscraper Museum, the Museum of the City of New York, the Regional Plan Association, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Ballon was chairman of the Planning Board of Englewood, New Jersey from 2000-05. She received a B.A. from Princeton University and Ph.D. from M.I.T.

A prolific author and curator, Ballon's most recent project was "Robert Moses and the Modern City" the three-venue exhibition that re-evaluated Moses's physical transformation of 20th-century New York. Ballon was a principal author and co-editor of the accompanying book, Robert Moses and the Modern City: The Transformation of New York (with Kenneth T. Jackson, W.W. Norton, 2007). Her previous books include New York's Pennsylvania Stations (W.W. Norton, 2002); Louis Le Vau: Mazarin's College, Colbert's Revenge (Princeton University Press, 1999), which won the Prix d'Academie from the Academie Francaise; and The Paris of Henri IV: Architecture and Urbanism (Architectural History Foundation/MIT Press, 1991), which won the Alice Davis Hitchcock Prize for the Most Distinguished Work in Architectural History. She has also curated "Gateway to Metropolis: New York's Pennsylvania Stations" at the Wallach Art Gallery and "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Vertical Dimension at The Skyscraper Museum. Ballon is Editor of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (JSAH), the journal of record in the field.

Nicholas Brooke
CHAIRMAN, PROFESSIONAL PROPERTY SERVICES LIMITED

Nicholas Brooke, Professional Property Services Limited

Nicholas Brooke, JP, BBS, FRICS, FHKIS, RPS is the Chairman of Professional Property Services Limited, a specialist real estate consultancy based in Hong Kong, with clients across the Asia Pacific Region.

Mr. Brooke is a recognized authority on land administration and planning matters and has provided advice in these areas to several Asian Governments as well as the US State Department. He is a Justice of the Peace, and a former Deputy Chairman of the Hong Kong Town Planning Board and member of the Hong Kong Housing Authority. He currently sits on the Board of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service, the Hong Kong Harbour-front Enhancement Committee, and is the Chairman of the Hong Kong Coalition of Service Industries, which is the voice of the service sector in Hong Kong. He is also a member of the Election Committee responsible for the selection of the future Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR.

Mr. Brooke was the 2003-2004 President of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), the premier organization for property and construction professionals worldwide, which was founded in 1868 and has an international membership of some 110,000. In 1999, Mr. Brooke was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star by the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR for his dedicated public service in Hong Kong, and in particular, his valuable contribution to the work of the Housing Authority. He is an active member of Vision 2047, a group of long term Hong Kong residents dedicated to the support and promotion of Hong Kong.

Ann L. Buttenwieser
PRESIDENT, THE NEPTUNE FOUNDATION INC.

Ann L. Buttenwieser, an urban planner, parks advocate, and urban historian, is the President of the Neptune Foundation. She holds a Ph.D from Columbia University where she is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. As the author of Manhattan Water-Bound and Governors Island: The Jewel of New York Harbor, she is a leading expert on the history of the New York waterfront. On July 4, 2007, after nearly twenty years of effort and advocacy, her not-for-profit Neptune Foundation opened America's only floating swimming pool, aka The Floating Pool Lady, on the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn, New York; the pool recently completed its second season in the South Bronx. Her other civic activities include service on the boards of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC), New Yorkers for Parks, The Skyscraper Museum, and emeritus member of the Board of the Waterfront Center. In October 2009 she was granted a Top Woman in Parks award.

Click here for the the booktalk on Governor's Island: The Jewel of New York Harbor.

James Cavanaugh
PRESIDENT & CEO, HUGH L. CAREY BATTERY PARK CITY AUTHORITY

James Cavanaugh is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Hugh L. Carey Battery Park City Authority, a public benefit corporation created by the New York State Legislature to develop and maintain a 92-acre parcel of land located on the southern tip of Manhattan across from the World Trade Center site. Under Mr. Cavanaugh's leadership the Battery Park City Authority continues to undertake development of its remaining residential and commercial sites, with completion of the master plan expected by 2010. The Authority is the leader in sustainable building design, having recently enhanced its standards for energy use reduction, recycling, green power generation, and other elements of green. Prior to being named President & CEO in 2005, Mr. Cavanaugh served as the Authority's Chief Operating Officer.

Prior to joining Battery Park City Authority, Mr. Cavanaugh served for 10 years as the town supervisor of Eastchester, N.Y.

The Battery Park City Authority recently reached an agreement with the School Construction Authority to build New York City's first green school, which will use 25% less energy than a comparable school, as well as generate solar power on-site. Also under construction is New York's first residential high rise that will carry a LEED Platinum designation from the United States Green Building Council.

Click here for the report on the 2009 Making New York History Award and Ceremony, with which James Cavanaugh was honored.

Vishaan Chakrabarti
DIRECTOR, REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING, AND PRESERVATION, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

Vishaan Chakrabarti, The Related Companies

Vishaan Chakrabarti is the Marc Holliday Professor of Real Estate Development and the Director of the Real Estate Development program in the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University. For 2009-2010, the University of Virginia has also named Chakrabarti as the Jaquelin T. Robertson Visiting Professorship in Architecture. He is also the founding principal of Vishaan Chakrabarti Design Collaborative (VCDC, llc), an urban design, planning, and strategic advisory firm based in Manhattan. Formerly an Executive Vice President of Related Companies, Chakrabarti ran the design operations for the firm's development portfolio including Moynihan Station. From 2002 to 2005, Chakrabarti served as the Director of the Manhattan Office for the New York Department of City Planning. Prior to this, Chakrabarti was an Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Click here to see Vishaan Chakrabarti's lecture as part of The Skyscraper Museum's October 2008 "Vertical Density" international symposium.

Keith Griffiths
RA (UK), RA (HK), FHKIA, CHAIRMAN, AEDEAS ASIA

Keith read Architecture at St John's College, Cambridge University and has practiced architecture for three decades. He formed his architectural practice in Hong Kong in 1985 and led the company into the creation of Aedas in 2001. He has overseen the phenomenal growth of Aedas to become the world's second largest architectural practice with 40 offices worldwide. He is a recognized and sought after designer who promotes sustainable design excellence and cultural integration as the keystones of Aedas' philosophy. Keith facilitates international design workshops, reviews, staff training and educational outreach programs. He provides a driving force in Aedas' work to improve our environment through our built form and its integration into the fabric of our communities. Keith has established Retreats Group as a privately owned historic building Trust to purchase and rehabilitate important historic buildings. The Trust is currently restoring its first three properties in West Wales for completion in 2010.

Paul Katz
FAIA HKIA, PRESIDENT, KOHN PEDERSEN FOX ARCHITECTS

As President in the New York office of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Paul Katz focuses on the planning, design, and development of office, mixed-use, and high-rise buildings. He has senior responsibilities in all aspects of commercial architecture, including business development, management, and design. Mr. Katz helped to establish KPF's strong presence in Japan and Hong Kong, and has been instrumental in setting up the firm's China operations in Shanghai.

Mr. Katz is currently working with several leading commercial developers in the U.S., Europe and Asia, including Canary Wharf, Mori Building, Sun Hung Kai, Hongkong Land, and Shui On Land. His recent projects include: 505 Fifth Avenue, New York Sports and Convention Center, part of the New York 2012 Olympic Games bid; the Clifford Chance office tower in Canary Wharf, London; Roppongi Hills, which includes facilities for Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, and a Grand Hyatt Tokyo; and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

An active member of the Urban Land Institute, he has helped internationally promote its activities. He co-authored Building Type Basics for Office Buildings, published by Wiley in 2002. Mr. Katz has provided expert interviews in tall building design to print media such as Newsweek, The Economist, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Wired, among others.

Click here to see Paul Katz's lecture as part of The Skyscraper Museum's October 2008 "Vertical Density" international symposium.

Mrs. Carrie Lam
SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT, HONG KONG SAR

Mrs. Carrie Lam was appointed Secretary for Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government on July 1, 2007. Prior to assuming this prestigious and powerful position, Mrs. Lam served the Government as an Administrative Officer for 27 years.

Mrs. Lam has served in various bureaus and departments. She was the Director of Social Welfare; Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands (Planning and Lands); Director-General, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, and Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs.

Click here to see Mrs. Carrie Lam's lecture as part of The Skyscraper Museum's October 2008 "Vertical Density" international symposium.

Christoper Law
FOUNDING DIRECTOR, OVAL PARTNERSHIP

Christopher Law is the Founding Director of the Oval partnership. He is also a Director of INTEGER China Ltd, an organization that promotes intelligent and green housing in China. Under Mr. Law's direction, Oval Partnership has been driving and executing Sustainable Lifestyle projects in the Asia Pacific region to ensure a continuous growth in its economic and social capital. These include heritage projects and testing methodology for community participation in architecture and planning. The Partnership conducts design-fests, consensus building workshops, surveys, street meetings and evaluations for community projects and projects of sensitive nature. Recent cases in Hong Kong include Luen Fat Street Re-creation Space and the residents' counterproposal of Lee Tung Street re-development, both against the backdrop of the old Wanchai re-generation.

He is currently the Chairman of the Family Welfare Society, a charity with a staff of 600, and Chairman of the Centre for Community Renewal at St. James' Settlement. Mr. Law was educated at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire in the UK, and studied Architecture at the University College London. He has received the Architect of the Year Award and the Outstanding Young Person Award, among others.

Ralph Lerner
DEAN, FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Professor Ralph Lerner obtained his Bachelor of Architecture degree at The Cooper Union, School of Architecture in 1974 and his MArch Degree at Harvard University. His academic career began with teaching at the School of Architecture at The University of Virginia. In 1979-80, he was the Senior Lecturer in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Central London (University of Westminster). He became the Associate Professor of Architecture at Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. From 1984-89, Professor Lerner taught at School of Architecture at Princeton University. He became the Director of Graduate Studies of the School of Architecture in 1987. He served as the Dean of the School of Architecture from 1989 to 2002. He is a George Dutton '27 Professor of Architecture since 1994.

His research interests include city designs and architectural studies. His architect projects are the finalists at Great Falls Park Design Competition, NYC2012 Olympic Village Innovative Design Competition and Hoboken 9/11 Memorial Competition. His articles were published in various publications such as The New York Times, The New York Daily News and Herald News.

Currently, Professor Lerner is an Architect in Hong Kong and an Architect PC at Princeton, New Jersey. In 2007, he was the Director of The American Institute of Architects. He was the Director of Canadian Centre for Architecture Prize Competition for the Design of Cities - Montreal in 2002. In 1999, he was the Jury President of Springfield, Massachusetts Federal Courthouse for the General Services Administration.

CY Leung
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DTZ HOLDINGS PLC and CONVENER, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF THE HKSARG

Chun Ying Leung serves as the Executive Director of DTZ Holdings PLC, and has been Chairman of the Asia Pacific region at DTZ Holdings and its Director of Asia Pacific region. He has been a Non-Executive Director of Shui On Land Limited since January 12, 2007. In addition to serving as Honorary Consultant of the Pudong Development and leading the Shanghai Government Board, Mr. Leung serves as Honorary Advisor to a number to China Government Organizations, namely, Leading Group Shanghai Government on Land Reform, Shenzhen Government on Land Reform and Tianjin Government on Land Reform. In the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, he acts as Chairman of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute and Chairman for the Urban Land Institute in Asia.

Mr. Leung is an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration, University of the West of England, an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Valuation and Estate Management from Bristol Polytechnic, England.

Christine Loh
CEO, CIVIC EXCHANGE

Christine Loh is well known for her wide-ranging intellect and her background in law, business, politics, media and the non-profit sector has given her considerable knowledge and insight and experience to become a leading voice in public policy in Hong Kong. In 2000, she founded Civic Exchange with Lisa Hopkinson, and is responsible for charting the think tank's long-term strategic plan.

Trained as a lawyer, Ms. Loh enjoyed a highly successful 12-year career as a commodities trader, eventually rising to the position of managing director, before spending another two years as a Director of Business Development with a Hong Kong company.

Appointed to the Legislative Council (LegCo) in 1992, she had a popular career as a politician until 2000 when she chose not to seek re-election. Her legislative successes were many and Ms. Loh is particularly proud of the law amendment that enabled the indigenous women of the New Territories to inherit rural land, restructuring the controversial section 30 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, and sponsoring the historic Protection of the Harbor Ordinance.

Charles J. Maikish
MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL CORPORATE SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE, BLACKROCK AND BLACKROCK/BARCLAYS

Currently Managing Director of Global Corporate Services and Real Estate, BlackRock and BlackRock/Barclays, Charles J. Maikish has held a range of executive positions in government, the private sector, and academic and non-profit institutions. From 1968-1996 he served in various capacities as a lawyer, engineer, and real estate executive with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. In 1990, he became director of the World Trade Department with overall responsibility for the World Trade Center including operations, marketing, leasing, capital investment, and redevelopment of the complex. Mr. Maikish was appointed by the Board of Commissioners of the Port Authority as the senior executive in charge of the recovery, reconstruction, and repositioning of the World Trade Center after the February 1993 bombing.

From 2005-2008, he was executive director of the Lower Manhattan Construction Command Center, appointed by the Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg. In that position, Mr. Maikish was accountable directly to the Governor and Mayor for coordinating all public and private construction in Lower Manhattan south of Canal Street, from the Hudson River to the East River. He oversaw planning, construction, and development of numerous residential and commercial projects in lower Manhattan valued at over 30 Billion dollars, including the Fulton Street Transit Center, The WTC site and Memorial, the West Street Boulevard, and the new Path transit center

Before becoming executive director of the Command Center, Mr. Maikish was executive vice president of Global Real Estate Business Services (REBS) at JP Morgan Chase. While there, he had responsibility for managing the firm's worldwide real estate and client services, physical facilities, strategic space planning, and security services. He also oversaw financial services and distribution and support services. Prior to JP Morgan Chase, Mr. Maikish was in charge of facilities management at Columbia University and had responsibility for property acquisition, leasing, planning, and operations. His specific focus was implementing a $650 million five-year capital program for new construction and infrastructure improvements.

Mr. Maikish holds a J.D. degree from New York Law School and a B.S. from St. Joseph's College and Seminary and studied engineering at Manhattan College and completed the AMP program at Harvard Graduate Business School. He currently serves on numerous boards in both the real estate and civic community including the Regional Planning Association, and The Liberty Science Center, and in the recent past, several business improvement district boards, cultural councils.

Peter Cookson Smith
DIRECTOR, URBIS LIMITED

Dr. Peter Cookson Smith is an architect, planner and urban designer. He has been resident in Hong Kong since 1977 when he founded Urbis Limited one of the first specialist planning, urban design and landscape consultancies in S.E. Asia. The firm has carried out more than 2000 projects in Hong Kong, China and the Asia-Pacific area, and has won more than 100 local and international awards, including the Urban Land Institute's Global Award for Excellence and the American Waterfront Centre's Top Honour Award in 2008. He is the author of 'The Urban Design of Impermanence' on Hong Kong, and the forthcoming 'The Urban Design of Concession'. He is the 2009 Convenor of Hong Kong's Urban Design Alliance and Vice-President of the Hong Kong Institute of Planners. He was an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture, University of Hong Kong from 2000 to 2004 and is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Asian Studies.

Mr. Henry Tang
CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION, HKSARG

Mr. Tang was appointed the Chief Secretary for Administration in July 2007. Prior to this appointment, he was the Financial Secretary and formerly the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology.

Mr. Tang has been a member of the Executive Council since 1997. He served as a member of the Legislative Council for seven years from 1991 to 1998. Mr. Tang also served extensively on various government boards and public bodies, including the Trade Development Council, Town Planning Board, University Grants Committee, and Council of the City University of Hong Kong.

Before joining the Government in 2002, Mr. Tang was a leading industrialist in Hong Kong. He served as the Chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries between 1995 and 2001. He was also a Committee Member of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.

Oren Tatcher
PRINCIPAL, OTC LIMITED

Oren Tatcher is Principal of OTC Limited, a Hong Kong-based planning and design firm specializing in transportation facilities and transport-oriented urban master plans, which he started in 2007. Before that, he was Associate Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), working first in New York and, since 2003, in Hong Kong and Shanghai, where he was the urban design studio head. OTC's work has included planning and design of airport terminals, railway stations, marine transport terminals and intermodal stations in Hong Kong, Mainland China, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Parallel to his professional career, Oren has been actively supporting non-profit groups in Hong Kong, the U.S. and China promoting good practices in urban design, heritage preservation, and sustainable transport development.

Robert Tierney
CHAIRMAN, NYC LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION

Robert B. Tierney, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

Robert B. Tierney is Chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Commissioner Tierney oversees a staff of 70 with a budget of $4.6 million. Under his leadership, the Commission has granted landmark status to nearly 1,850 buildings, 82 percent of which are located outside of Manhattan. During this time, the Commission also has approved a record 50,000 permits for preservation work.

Prior to his appointment, Tierney was a visiting scholar at New York University's Taub Urban Research Center, where he focused on issues of state and local governance, and before that, was Director of Public Affairs at AT&T. He also served as Counsel to New York Mayor Edward I. Koch and as Assistant Counsel to New York Governor Hugh L. Carey. He earned a B.A. at Yale University and a J.D. at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Chairman Tierney currently serves as Mayor Bloomberg's representative on the Board of the Museum of the City of New York and on the Board of Directors at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

Click here to see Robert Tierney's lecture as part of The Skyscraper Museum's October 2008 "Vertical Density" international symposium.

Alexandros Washburn
CHIEF URBAN DESIGNER, CITY OF NEW YORK, DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING

Alexandros E. Washburn, City of New York, Department of City Planning

In 2006, Alexandros Washburn joined the Bloomberg administration as Chief Urban Designer at the Department of City Planning, under Chair Amanda Burden. Mr. Washburn received a M.Arch from the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1988 and was licensed as an architect in 1991 in Washington, DC. In 1993, he joined the Capital Hill staff of the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York, covering issues of environment, transportation and federal architecture. He worked with Senator Moynihan to launch an effort to rebuild New York's legendary Penn Station in the Farley Post Office.

In 1996, he moved to New York and founded the Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corporation, now known as the Moynihan Station Development Corporation, where he raised $800 million for a new train station for New York, led its award winning design, and secured the first round of public approvals.

In 2001, he returned to private practice as a partner of W Architecture and Landscape Architecture LLC in New York until 2006 when he returned to government. His responsibilities again include the Moynihan Station, city-wide urban design policy, and design review of scores of new projects that are now being planned to accommodate a million more New Yorkers in a period of rapid climate change.

Even with regards to the most complex infrastructure projects, he judges success from the point of view of the pedestrian. In urban design, he tries to achieve the "quantity of Robert Moses with the quality of Jane Jacobs." And for this missing link - between the human-scale and the mega-project - he turns to another great New Yorker, Fredrick Law Olmsted, designer of Central Park, for inspiration. He sees the integration of urbanity and ecology as the next great wave in city-building. He is currently writing a book, The Nature of Urban Design.

Click here to see Alexandros Washburn's lecture as part of The Skyscraper Museum's October 2008 "Vertical Density" international symposium.

Carl Weisbrod
PRESIDENT, REAL ESTATE DIVISION OF TRINITY CHURCH

Carl B. Weisbrod is president of the Real Estate Division of Trinity Church in New York. From 1994 until 2005, Mr. Weisbrod was president of the Alliance for Downtown New York Inc. Prior to that, he was president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation from 1990 to 1994. Mr. Weisbrod has led efforts to transform New York City's Times Square area throughout his career in his roles as director of the Mayor's Office of Midtown Enforcement, as the executive director of the City Planning Commission and, as president of the New York State 42nd Street Development Project Inc.

He is an associate adjunct professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and served on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees until May 2008 as the chair of both the board's Peace and Social Justice and Audit committees.

Mr. Weisbrod's board affiliations include Tarragon Corporation, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New 42nd Street Inc., New York City Outward Bound Center, Convention Center Development Corp., Lower Manhattan Development Council, the Urban Land Institute, the Real Estate Board of New York and Wildcat Service Corporation.

Carol Willis
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, THE SKYSCRAPER MUSEUM

Carol Willis is the founder, director, and curator of The Skyscraper Museum. An architectural and urban historian, she has researched, taught, and written about the history of American city building. She is the author of Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago (Princeton Architectural Press, 1995), which received an AIA book award and was named "Best Book on North American Urbanism, 1995" by the Urban History Association. She has written introductions to numerous monographs and collections and has appeared in numerous television documentaries and radio broadcasts.

Ms. Willis is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Urban Studies at Columbia University where since 1989 she has taught in the program The Shape of Two Cities: New York and Paris in The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning.

Rocco Yim
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, ROCCO DESIGN ARCHITECTS LTD.

Rocco Yim founded his own practice in 1979, and was one of the co-founders of Rocco Design Partners in 1982. The firm has received many local and international awards and citations for design excellence since its inception and has won its first international competition in 1983. Under his stewardship in design, the firm has grown significantly over the years both in size and reputation. Rocco has been actively involved in dialogues with the cultural and architectural communities both local and overseas. His emphasis on design excellence and social responsibility has become very much the firm's aspiration for the future.

Paul Zimmerman
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DESIGNING HONG KONG

Paul Zimmerman is an urban activist and a founding member of Designing Hong Kong Limited, a not-for-profit organization promoting sustainable urban planning in Hong Kong (www.designinghongkong.com). He is also Vice-Chairman of the Coalition on Sustainable Tourism, Member of Heritage Watch and Save The Street Market, Non-Executive Director of the Business Environment Council and representative for The Society for the Protection of the Harbour on the Harbourfront Enhancement Committee.

Paul arrived in Hong Kong in 1984 and founded his own company, The Bridge Design, an identity and corporate literature design company which he sold in 1997. Since 2000, Paul has advised organizations on strategy and policy development and is currently a Director of Jebsen Travel Limited. Paul has a Masters in Social Science (Economics) from the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In September 2009, he commenced studies in Transport Planning at The University of Hong Kong.

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