It’s not often anymore that Sir Peter Hall comes to the United States. So when he does, it must be important. Hall, legendary urban planner whose pinnacle work entitled “Urban and Regional Planning” is the well-recognized bible of landscape history, was front and center stage at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Berkeley College of Environmental Design September 25 through the 27th doing what he has done throughout his long and esteemed career: promoting a change in urban design that will create communities that are livable and sustainable.
Hall was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1998 for services to the Town and Country Planning Association, and in 2003 was named by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II as a “Pioneer in the Life of the Nation” for recognition of his services to establish rigorous design protocol throughout the United Kingdom, and to push forward on the British Rail Chunnel Link project, is Professor of Planning and Regeneration at the Bartlett School of Architecture and Planning, University College, London and Professor Emeritus of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley. He has maintained a long and vibrant relationship at Berkeley and has influenced the direction many graduates of the architecture program have pursued in their careers.
Hall called upon members of the architecture profession to revise their thinking and consider ways in which to make communities thrive within the context of a model that is environmentally collaborative. He cited examples of residential developments, such as those in Portland, Oregon, that succeeded in approaching this goal, but stressed that much more needs to be done and that without the backing of government and public recognition of the importance of a new model, it is very difficult to make meaningful and lasting change.
